When a patient is injured due to the negligence of a medical professional or employee/agent of a healthcare providing entity they may be able to sue for medical malpractice to recover compensation for their injuries and damages. Depending on the circumstances of an injury, liability in a medical malpractice case could be attributed to various parties.
Physician Liability in Medical Malpractice Cases
It is important to determine the proper potentially liable healthcare professionals as many hospitals no longer directly employ their physicians. Instead, the physicians belong to a separate medical entity that is independent of the hospital entity. It is in this context that agency comes into play. The physician’s contracts with the hospital and patient consent forms must be thoroughly examined on a case by case basis.
If you were injured because of a physician’s negligent acts or omissions you may be able to hold them responsible for the permanent damage caused. Physicians must adhere to the standard of care when providing medical care and a deviation from that standard may allow a medical malpractice case to proceed if the deviation caused permanent injuries.
Hospital Liability for Medical Malpractice
In some cases, patients may hold a hospital liable for institutional negligence. Typically, when a hospital is being sued for medical malpractice, so is the patient’s attending physician or shift nurse. If the hospital directly employed the physician or nurse a hospital can be held jointly accountable for not implementing proper procedures to ensure patient safety. If a hospital is not adequately staffed and sanitary, it may be held liable when its employees commit harmful errors or fail to treat patients in a timely, effective, and safe manner.
Nursing Malpractice
Nurses can also be held responsible for an injurious error and sued for their negligence, depending on the type of permanent injury sustained by the patient. Nursing negligence claims may be viable if the nurse in question failed to act in a patient’s best interest, failed to take notice of critical signs or failed to properly communicate with physicians. Nurses may also be held liable in cases of patient injury by medical equipment, such as in cases of post-surgical object retention, falling equipment, or unnecessary wounds created during a procedure.
Pharmacy Liability for Malpractice
Because medication travels through multiple channels before arriving in the hands of the patient, pharmacy malpractice lawsuits typically occur in conjunction with malpractice suits against hospitals and individual doctors. Patients who are prescribed the wrong medication, who are given the wrong prescription or wrong dosage tend to suffer negative side effects, which can range from discomfort to fatality.
Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Chicago
Our team at the Leonard Law Group is prepared to take on and win your medical malpractice case, no matter whose error caused the injury. Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers are here to seek justice on your behalf and work to help you get the compensation you deserve. Let us help right the wrongs committed against you.
Call (312) 487-2513 or contact us to receive a free consultation today.