Hospital Negligence Lawyer

When you are severely injured or ill, you trust the medical providers at your local hospital to care for you and help you get better. You do not expect that your condition could be made worse because someone was negligent. Hospitals in Pennsylvania are held to the same high standards across the Commonwealth, but when mistakes and failures occur, you need a medical malpractice attorney to fight for your rights.

At Lopez McHugh LLP, you can speak with a qualified Pennsylvania hospital negligence lawyer to understand your options for seeking compensation. We will listen to your story during a free initial consultation, then get to work creating a powerful case against those who harmed you. Contact us to schedule a meeting today.

What is Hospital Negligence?

Hospital negligence includes any action that recklessly or intentionally causes an injury while a patient is receiving care. It can also result from a lack of action when necessary steps are clearly warranted.

In fact, negligence can happen at any time during a hospital visit or stay. Quick and competent care should be provided to patients who need emergency treatment. However, as many Philadelphia hospital negligence victims have experienced, this does not always happen. Sadly, seeking medical care injures thousands of patients annually.

One critical component of demonstrating hospital negligence is whether the actions of the staff or administrators failed to meet the established standard of care. The standard is applied across all hospitals and consists of the actions normally used and accepted within the medical community for treating a medical condition.

How Often Does Hospital Negligence Happen?

Getting an exact count of instances of hospital negligence is difficult. Some occurrences may never be discovered by the patients if no significant harm results. In other situations, the victim may choose not to pursue a case, or the hospital may successfully cover up the mistake.

However, we can look at the number of medical malpractice cases that have been filed to get an idea of how many incidents occur each year. According to the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, between 1,450 and 1,580 cases of medical malpractice were filed in court in the last five reporting years across the state.

The long hours and understaffing problems that are rampant in the medical community can now also play a part in hospital negligence. Administrators may implement shortcuts or pressure medical providers to speed things up, leading to mistakes and poor decisions. Regardless of why hospital negligence happens, you need professional guidance from a skilled law firm to make things right.

Three Types of Hospital Negligence

Hospital negligence can be divided into three main categories, all of which are equally harmful. Regardless of category, these actions can inflict lifelong injury and illness, if not death, to patients.

Deviation from the Standard of Care

When someone working in a hospital fails to abide by the reasonable standard of care, this is a form of hospital negligence. The medical community is required to provide services in compliance with applicable standards of care to all patients.

When these standards are not met, patients suffer. Patients have the right to expect and receive quality and appropriate medical attention from healthcare professionals.

Worsening an Existing Condition

When a hospital worker’s negligence worsens a patient’s condition, the patient can face an escalation to their injury or illness. They will be left with medical concerns that are more severe than they were when they originally sought medical attention.

New Injury or Illness

When the medical treatment received in a hospital setting results in a new injury or illness, these new conditions are legally actionable. This is unfortunately common in hospitals that fail to meet proper health and sanitation standards, as well as with healthcare professionals who act recklessly.

Common Examples of Hospital Negligence

Remember that hospital negligence can result when someone working in or for the facility behaves in a way that is not in keeping with the standard of care. This can involve taking the wrong action, taking the right action but not soon enough, or not taking any action when it is clearly indicated. If you are harmed by a provider’s choices, it could be negligence. In addition, hospital negligence is far more common than people realize, and for vulnerable patients it often proves deadly.

If you or a loved one was harmed by a medical mistake not listed here, contact our Pennsylvania hospital negligence lawyers to discuss whether you have a valid claim. We can put our knowledge and experience to work for you. Common forms of hospital negligence include:

Receiving Care in Time

Receiving the proper medical care in a timely manner can mean life or death for a patient, depending on their injury or illness. When healthcare professionals such as emergency room staff, nurses, and physicians fail to properly assess and treat patients in a timely manner, a multitude of problems can result for patients.

Serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks, internal bleeding, and strokes, require immediate medical attention, and any time wasted could have devastating effects.

Failure to Diagnose or Misdiagnosis

These actions can have effects similar to those resulting from a failure to provide care in time, as the delay in correctly diagnosing the issue at hand prolongs the wait for needed medical treatment. Patients trust that physicians and nurses are competent and able to correctly assess their symptoms and injuries. When they do not perform these actions in time or accurately, patients suffer.

Surgical Errors

Surgical errors can cause a range of deadly infections and other serious medical issues, such as internal bleeding. Patients may require additional surgery to correct the error, leading to longer recovery times, risk of more problems, and increased medical bills.

Surgical errors can also include physicians and operating room staff leaving surgical tools or other surgical materials inside a patient, causing serious internal injuries. Additionally, failure to properly sanitize an operating room and surgical tools or perform proper hand hygiene can inflict harm on patients.

Prescription Medication Errors

Prescription medication errors in a hospital can leave patients with lifelong problems or even kill them. Patients given the incorrect dosage or incorrect prescription are at risk of death and serious illness if a severe reaction is triggered. Patients can be given too much or inadequate amounts of medication needed to treat their conditions, as well as be prescribed the incorrect medication, either of which can cause injury.

Poor Sanitation and Health Standards

Hospitals require a significant level of sanitation and regular, thorough cleaning to protect vulnerable patients receiving care. All equipment and surfaces must be kept extremely clean and often sterilized. If the providers fail to clean properly, it can cause a hospital to become a breeding ground for highly infectious bacteria and viruses.

Dirty bed linens, reused medical equipment, and a general lack of routine cleaning with proper supplies can leave victims and their loved ones susceptible to further illness and injury, such as staph infections and other hospital superbugs.

Additional Causes of Hospital Negligence

There are a number of other causes of hospital negligence, including:

• Anesthesia errors
• Documentation errors or failures
• Inadequate communication with patients
• Inadequate monitoring
• Incorrect treatment
• Physical or verbal assault of a patient by staff

While these are just some of the common causes of hospital negligence, victims can sustain injuries and illnesses for many reasons. Increasing hospital negligence-related accidents signals that healthcare providers have shifted away from their oaths to provide proper care to patients.

When to Pursue a Claim of Hospital Negligence in Pennsylvania

When you are already ill or injured, you are likely focused on trying to get better, even if a medical provider caused you additional harm by their negligence. It can be overwhelming to consider filing a medical malpractice claim against the hospital and staff. You need someone with experience who can diligently pursue the case on your behalf.

The best time to speak with a hospital negligence attorney in Pennsylvania is as soon as possible after you suspect you have been a victim of negligence. Gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, collaborating with experts, and building a case can take many months, even for a skilled legal team. The longer you wait, the less time they have to prepare.

Time is not on your side for a medical malpractice claim. The Pennsylvania statute of limitations for these cases is only two years from the day you discover the harm. While you concentrate on healing, the hospital negligence lawyers at Lopez McHugh LLP can get to work crafting a personalized approach for your claim. We are ready to help right away.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Hospital Negligence

There are multiple parties who could be at fault for your injury or illness in a case of hospital negligence. For example, ER doctors, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, pharmacists, and other staff members could make mistakes that rise to the level of medical malpractice. In many cases, the problem may extend to administrators who failed to establish procedures to protect patients.

Equipment manufacturers and maintenance personnel can also be included in a claim if they do not ensure medical devices and tools are functioning properly. Even contractors and other people who are not direct hospital employees could be held liable. Your attorney will investigate and determine all potential defendants to ensure all responsible parties are held accountable and to maximize your financial compensation.

The Potential Value of a Hospital Negligence Claim

In addition to being treated for any injury or illness you suffer after hospital negligence, you may wonder what the value of your claim could be. You will be eligible to seek compensation for your losses, which can include:

• Medical bills
• Rehabilitation costs
• Mental anguish
• Emotional distress
• Lost income
• Paralysis or disability
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Specialist fees

The value of your claim will depend on your unique circumstances. Hospitals and doctors are hesitant to admit fault and will protect their interests over your need for justice. While your attorney can provide a better estimate of your claim’s potential value after your free consultation, a recent report showed that the average verdict for a medical malpractice case in Pennsylvania was between $500,000 and $5 million.

Speak With Our Skilled Philadelphia Hospital Negligence Attorneys Today

Sadly, hospitals have a reputation for failing patients, but this does not mean that those seeking medical care in Philadelphia deserve to be victims of hospital negligence. All patients deserve to have their medical concerns listened to and properly assessed. They also deserve to receive necessary and quality treatment for their condition.

Hospitals that fail to meet the appropriate standard of care and harm – not help – patients should be held responsible for their actions. Instead of trying to tackle this challenge on your own, you should turn to the services of an experienced Philadelphia hospital negligence lawyer. At Lopez McHugh LLP, we will stand by your side and fight for you.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of hospital negligence in Philadelphia, reach out to our medical malpractice attorneys immediately to discuss your options at no charge. Time limitations apply to your potential claims, so do not delay in contacting a lawyer to get help and find out about your legal options.