The hospital did not treat my appendicitis in time. Are they legally liable?

To determine if the hospital is legally liable for not properly treating your appendicitis, you will need to understand whether or not the hospitals actions fall into the legal definition of medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice is a special type of tort law under which professional negligence is governed. Doctors and other professionals have a duty to perform with reasonable competence and if they fail to do so, they can be considered legally negligent. Provided this legal negligence leads to some type of damage to you, you may file suit. 

So, for your hospital to be liable for not treating your appendicitis on time:

• You would need to prove that a reasonable hospital would have acted more quickly, done something different or otherwise behaved in a different way than the hospital you wen to did. If no reasonable hospital would have delayed as your hospital did, then your hospital may be viewed as being negligent
• You would then need to prove that the negligence caused you damage. If your appendicitis would have caused you precisely the same amount of damage even if the hospital had not been negligent, then you have no actual damages based on the negligence and you therefore have no right to recover any money based on the negligence. 

To get help determining if your case gives rise to a negligence lawsuit or not, you should strongly consider scheduling a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice. Assuming you do have a case, your lawyer will help you gather the evidence you need to prove it.