When it comes to being treated in a hospital, many people are hesitant to seek treatment. Though most hospital visits go off without a hitch, every now and again things do happen, and malpractice can occur. For those that are dealing with medical malpractice, medical malpractice attorneys at Wapner Newman can help.
Can You Sue a Hospital for Malpractice?
When filing for a malpractice suit is important to remember that not all cases qualify for malpractice, and you cannot sue a hospital itself for malpractice. When you do sue for malpractice, you have to sue the doctor or the medical staff that caused the malpractice rather than the establishment.
This means that if you are in a hospital setting and you are misdiagnosed, if you are treated with the wrong treatment, or if you are made worse after treatment, you cannot sue the hospital but would instead need to sue the person that caused the malpractice instead of the institution.
The theory behind this is that the hospital is not the one that did not treat you correctly, they did not administer or not administer vital care, and they did not make the mistake that caused you further injury. They did hire the doctor, but they do have insurance in place that protects them from malpractice. Most doctors are going to have malpractice insurance on their own to help protect them from being sued.
If you are dealing with a case of medical malpractice, it is always best to talk with an attorney to see what options you have and to help ensure that you are going to be able to get what you need and to bring those that have perpetrated the malpractice to justice. Though you might be hesitant to sue for malpractice, it is not your fault that you were injured, and it is also important that a doctor that does cause a malpractice suit is held accountable so that they cannot do the same thing to someone else.
You can also file a malpractice suit on behalf of someone else that has passed away and you can also file a wrongful death suit.
What is Medical Malpractice?
It is also helpful to learn what malpractice is and what constitutes malpractice that you can sue for. Malpractice is harm or illness that is caused by the negligence of a medical professional. This could be injury that you got during a procedure, illness that you contracted while you were at the hospital, or other pain and suffering that could have been avoided had the person doing the treatment paid closer attention or taken another course of treatment.
You can file for malpractice if you were injured for instance as the result of a treatment that maybe you did not need or that was given to you as a mistake. When filing a malpractice suit you do need to take the time to make sure that you are collecting information as much as possible. If you are looking to file a suit you do need to do things like take down reports, get second opinions, and take the time to document your entire experience. With this type of suit, proof is going to be your best help to make a case and to make sure that it is going to go over well.
Medical malpractice is a rather flexible term and many people do not fully know what it means. It is this flexibility that makes it hard to define and also makes it something difficult to prove in a court of law. It can be any range of things from intentional oversight to forgetting to do something that was necessary to keep you safe and healthy. When a medical professional fails to protect you and fails to keep you healthy, they can be held responsible.
When to Hire an Attorney?
If you feel that you have been part of a medical malpractice issue it is important to hire an attorney as quickly as possible. The sooner you hire an attorney the better as they can help you to build your case from start to finish and can help you to figure out what direction you need to go in. Attorneys can help you to make sure your case is well rounded and that you follow all the right steps to make sure your case is going to be complete.
With malpractice suits, proof is your best friend. It is going to be able to prove that you are in fact a victim of malpractice and that it was not something that you did. The right attorney can help you prove that, and they can help you to get your case built and the settlement you need. Your attorney can help you to figure out what you need to include in your case, what you need to do to get a settlement, and to make sure that your case is heard and that your information is accurate to get the best outcome possible.
No one wants to be part of a medical malpractice suit, but accountability is important.