Following a painful or problematic medical treatment, many patients wonder, “Can I sue a hospital for poor medical care?” In short, the answer to this question depends on the nature of the “poor medical care” received by a patient, as well as who provided the problematic medical care. Granted, many medical treatments, evaluations, and checkups do occur in a hospital setting or in buildings adjacent to a hospital, but not all of these engagements place liability on the hospital itself. The following article outlines when a substandard medical treatment can become grounds for a lawsuit, who can potentially be held liable, and when a hospital can also be held liable for negligent treatment.
Define Negligent Treatment for Filing a Lawsuit
In order to file a viable medical malpractice lawsuit, a patient must first exhibit that he or she did in fact receive negligent care at some point. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the proof of negligent treatment requires that a plaintiff (patient) prove his or her treatment was below the standard of care applicable to their specific medical visit and treatment. The standard of care applicable to one patient, even if undergoing the exact same procedure, may widely vary from that of another. Hence, proving negligence by breach of standard of care is a highly case-specific determination, often requiring input and testimony from a medical expert witness. However, if negligent treatment is certain to have occurred, the following elements are still necessary to determine if one can sue a hospital for negligent treatment.
Who Was the Negligently Performing Party?
First, a plaintiff (patient) must define who the negligently performing medical professionals in their given case were, and furthermore, the patient must ascertain the professional relationship between this individual and the hospital itself. In most cases, negligence claims stem from the failure to perform of performance failure of a single medical professional, or perhaps a team of medical professionals. Initially, a patient will seek to hold this individual liable for his or her actions during the doctor-patient relationship. However, medical malpractice statutes often allow plaintiffs (patients) to take the assignment of liability one-step further and hold these individual’s employers liable for damages as well.
What Is the Relationship between the Hospital and a Negligent Medical Professional?
In most cases, if the plaintiff (patient) can show the hospital was an employer of the negligently performing medical professional, the patient can sue the hospital. Furthermore, the law in most states allows patients to hold hospitals liable for negligent actions of medical professionals that are not directly employed by the hospital, but have some form of affiliation with the hospital itself. A good example, but definitely not the only one, includes a case where a patient sought emergency medical treatment for a non-lethal ailment. The patient went to the hospital itself and was eventually assigned to receive treatment from a doctor, who ultimately performed negligently. Though the hospital did not actually directly employ the negligent physician, the patient initially sought medical treatment at the hospital itself, and ultimately, received treatment from another party at the same or adjacent location, while under the oversight of the hospital.
Getting Legal Help
Hospital liability for individual medical professional’s actions will vary from case to case, and in many states, the liability laws (most notably vicarious liability laws) will vary. It should be noted that hospitals might be directly responsible for negligent treatment as well, including post-operative care infections, premises liability claims, and others. Consult with a lawyer to learn more about your rights to recover damages following any instance of professional medical negligence.
