How a Hospital Lawsuit Works

The legal process can be long and complicated no matter what type of dispute you might be involved in.  Once you decide to file a medical malpractice complaint or lawsuit, the next step is to investigate various matters about your case.  This is called "discovery" and it allows you and your attorney to obtain information and evidence from the opposing party in a lawsuit. 

Investigation and Discovery

The discovery process generally consists of the following:

• Depositions are conducted—this is when you ask the other party to answer questions
• Written discovery—where interrogatories are conducted which are written questions submitted to the opposing party
• Document discovery—where you ask the other party to give you certain documents and papers

Once all the evidence has been gathered by both sides, each will begin to build thier relative cases and arguments.

Establishing Negligence

Medical negligence occurs when a medical provider fails to exercise the kind of care and prudence that other providers in the same field of medicine provide.  Quite often, the hospital is guilty of emergency room negligence due to the high volume of patients, often in critical condition.  Chronic staff shortages often plague hospital emergency rooms, creating an environment that is ripe for errors.  Rapid and specific treatment is essential for a patient in a hospital emergency room.

Hospitals can be held accountable for the negligence caused by the doctors, practitioners and administrative personnel staffed on their premises.  In order to establish hospital negligence, the victim must prove that the hospital employees were careless, lacked proper skills or disregarded established rules and procedures.

Settlements vs. Awards

Once the discovery period has been completed and negligence has been established, the plaintiff will file a demand letter which is essentially the beginning of a medical malpractice lawsuit. The hospital will usually attempt at this point, depending on the strength of the case, to settle out of court.

Prosecuting and defending a hospital lawsuit in court is extremely expensive and time consuming, so it is usually in the best interest of both parties to settle the matter without litigation.

Your attorney will evaluate the settlement offer by the defense and begin negotiating the settlement from there. A good medical malpractice lawyer should be able to recover a large settlement for their client, almost equivalent to a jury award amount, but get it much, much faster.

When to Talk to a Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured due to medical negligence, you should talk to a medical malpractice attorney to evaluate the circumstances surrounding the case.  Every state has regulations that determine the type of compensation a claimant may recover.  Most states allow a plaintiff to receive damages for past, present, and future medical treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Hospitals also have the right to hire a medical malpractice attorney when faced with the threat of a lawsuit.