Can A Hospital Be Cited In A Medical Malpractice Suit?

by | Feb 5, 2021 | Law and legal

There are a number of circumstances in which a hospital or other medical facility can be found liable for medical malpractice or negligence. A medical malpractice attorney in Fort Lauderdale is fully aware that a hospital is charged with the responsibility of providing safe medical care to patients.

Employee negligence:

A hospital can be held responsible for the actions of its employees and can be found guilty of negligence should one err. Nurses are usually the employees of the hospital, in some cases so are medical technicians and paramedics. As long as any hospital employee was doing anything related to his or her job when they injured a patient, the patient can hire a medical malpractice attorney in Fort Lauderdale and sue the hospital for damages caused by an employee.

The plaintiff will have to provide proof of negligence, was it an issue of professional health care or was it a simpler matter? If the case is one of professional negligence, perhaps a nurse administered the wrong medication then the case will be treated as medical malpractice. These cases can be very complex and in most cases the medical malpractice attorney in Fort Lauderdale will have to bring in qualified medical experts in an effort to prove liability.

If the case is simple, perhaps a member of the maintenance staff neglected to post warning that the floors are wet and someone slips and falls, the standard rules of negligence apply, this is not a medical malpractice case even though it happened in a hospital.

In some cases it is difficult to discern in advance how a judge will view a case, whether he or she will see the case as malpractice or otherwise. If an orderly does not secure a guardrail on a patients bed, is that medical malpractice or simple negligence? Different courts will view these things differently in many cases.

Corporate negligence:

Doctors are typically not employees of the hospital, they are independent contractors. In many cases the court will find a hospital guilty of medical malpractice if they allow staff privileges to a doctor who is dangerous or incompetent. This is also the case in the event a doctor who was safe in the past becomes dangerous.

If, for example, a doctor who enjoyed staff privileges at a hospital became addicted to illegal drugs and the hospital management was aware of this or was patently obvious and the hospital should have known about the addiction, any patient that was in anyway injured by this doctor can include the hospital in the medical malpractice law suit that will follow.

Medical malpractice is a very complex area of law and requires a seasoned medical malpractice attorney in Fort Lauderdale to successfully present a case to a judge and jury. You are invited to discuss your case with Business Name. Visit the site website domain for more information.

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