Occasionally when an individual is admitted to the hospital or is a patient visiting on an outpatient basis, the individual does not receive the appropriate level of medical treatment. In such an instance, the person may develop an injury. The individual may wonder, can I sue a hospital for neglect? The answer is generally, yes. If an injury is due to a lack of appropriate care, a medical malpractice case may ensue.
How a Hospital Neglect Case Arises
Typically, a neglect case arises against a hospital when a patient receives a lack of appropriate medical care. This type of a case is based upon medical malpractice. In a medical malpractice case, a health care provider fails to provide the accepted standard of care which results in an injury, or death. The patient may receive substandard care, or simply be ignored despite having urgent symptoms. Moreover, neglect cases can arise where a hospital fails to diagnose the patient’s illness and the patient sustains an injury as a result.
Common Scenarios of Hospital Neglect
There are various common scenarios in which hospital neglect arises. These scenarios include, but are not limited to the following:
- surgical error
- medication error
- physician impairment (where a physician is under the influence of drugs/alcohol which impairs his or her medical judgment when treating a patient)
- failure to diagnose a condition/illness
- failure to timely treat a patient
- birth injury/trauma
- improper procedure
- anesthesia error
- emergency room error
Types of Damages Which Can Be Sought
In the event that a patient has incurred an injury due to a hospital’s neglect, there are different types of damages one may be able to recover. All jurisdictions have different rules pertaining to the kind and amount of damages one can seek, so it is imperative to check with the laws of one’s state. However, generally, the following types of damages can be recovered in a neglect case:
- medical bills
- punitive damages (these are damages designed to punish the wrongdoer and deter the conduct from reoccurrence)
- compensatory damages (designed to compensate a victim)
- lost future earnings
- lost wages
Getting Legal Help
Hospital neglect cases are complicated and require the expertise of a seasoned legal practitioner. Therefore, if one is faced with a potential hospital neglect lawsuit, one should seriously consider retaining an experienced medical malpractice attorney. An experienced attorney can not only review one’s case in order to determine what options one may have, but also an attorney can help one select the most appropriate course of action. Moreover, a seasoned medical malpractice attorney will have the resources necessary to provide a client with the best possible representation in a case and therefore obtain the best possible outcome.
