Getting into a medical malpractice suit can be disheartening. Not only were you needing medical assistance because you were sick or injured, now you are dealing with a further injury and it looks pretty dismal. All types of people can be sued for medical malpractice: doctors, nurses, drug companies, and healthcare facilities like hospitals, too. If the company or the person was negligent, you can sue the party. Of course, you will need an experienced attorney on your side in order to get what is rightfully yours.
Hospitals are a major target for medical malpractice suits because, not only can they be sued for their own negligent and careless actions, the people who work there can also be brought into the suit. In other words, the hospital may end up paying for an action of one of their employees. This is called vicarious liability.
Medical staff at any hospital has nurses, physicians, nurse anesthetists, certified nurses’ aids and many more positions. Many times, before the hospital will hire them, the medical facility will do a level two background screening on the person to ensure that his or her record is clean. This is a nation-wide search, instead of just the state in which the professional now resides, which would be a level-one screening. The hospital also will need documentation to show that the professionals completed all the schooling that they needed to do in order to work at the hospital.
If you can prove that the medical professional was not properly vetted, you may have a case. You must also be able to prove through careful testimony and documentation that you were injured as a result of a surgery, medicine mix-up or even a slip and fall accident at the hospital.
Calling in a professional who knows the ropes of filing a medical malpractice suit can be a treasure at a time like this. You need to be healing, not chasing down an insurance company or arguing with the upper management at the hospital to get your medical bills paid.
Source: FindLaw, “Responsible Parties in Birth Injury Cases: Who Can Be Sued?,” accessed Dec. 07, 2015
