HOSPITAL MALPRACTICE
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), at
least 98,000 people hospitalized in the US die as a
result of preventable hospital errors and 1 million more
are injured every year.
According to the Center for Disease Control, hospital
mistakes cause nearly 2 million patients to develop
preventable infections in United States hospitals every
year. At least 90,000 of these victims will die as a
result of their injuries. Hospital born infections were
the sixth leading cause of death to American adults in
2004, falling not far behind heart attacks, strokes, and
cancer. Infections are just one of the potentially
devastating damages that can result from hospital
mistakes.
Hospitals are held to professional standards of care,
just as individual healthcare professionals are. This
means that a hospital and its employees must use the
same degree of skill and learning, under the same or
similar circumstances, that are used by other hospitals
and healthcare professionals. When the actions or
omissions of a hospital or its employees cause injury or
death to a patient, the patient may have a claim against
the hospital.
Hospital malpractice includes any type of medical
negligence that occurs in a hospital setting, including
errors by doctors, nurses, technicians and other
hospital staff. Some common situations that may involve
hospital malpractice include:
- Improper use of anesthesia
- Incorrect treatment of a diagnosed illness
- Improper administration of drugs
- Failure to order proper tests or consult with a
specialist
- Failure to monitor a patient or stabilize a
patient
- Improper use of a medical device
- Birth injury or birth trauma
- Surgical procedures that are not necessary
Hospital mistakes can also involve prescription
errors which can result in serious harm to the patient.
The U.S. Pharmacopoeia has received at least 360,000
reports of prescription errors in American hospitals
since 1998. These are only the prescription-related
hospital mistakes that are reported. The most common
medication errors are prescribing errors, omission
errors, improper dosage errors, prescribing medications
a patient is allergic to, and more.
Other types of negligence include preventable hospital
mistakes during medical procedures like childbirth or
surgery. These mistakes can cause infections, delayed
healing, brain damage, disfigurement, and other serious
injuries. These errors can sometimes be so severe that a
surgery is performed on the wrong patient or at the
wrong surgery site altogether.
At The Law Offices of William F. Horsley, P.A. we have
the experience and resources to take on important and
challenging hospital malpractice cases and obtain
significant compensation for our hospital malpractice
clients. If you would like to learn more about hospital
malpractice, please call us at 1-800-953-2542 or contact
us through our online form.
You will speak with a qualified and experienced hospital
malpractice attorney who can evaluate your case to
determine your legal rights and options.
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