While a hospital can be held responsible for the negligent behavior of any employee in a medical malpractice personal injury lawsuit, the facility itself may not always be liable for that which occurs in a treatment environment. If you sustain injuries while receiving any form of medical care, you may be able to sue the facility where you were treated for medical malpractice or negligence.
Many hospital medical technicians and nurses have been on the hook and accused of employee incompetence when treating patients. However, there are some who are not always responsible for the physician’s medical malpractice. The following information will give you a better idea of when a clinic, hospital, or other medical facility is or isn’t liable for anesthesiologist, employee, or physician medical malpractice.
Hospitals and Employees
If a medical facility employee acts incompetently and a patient gets hurt as a result, the hospital will normally be held liable for employee negligence and the injuries that the patient sustained. Just remember that some mistakes or unfortunate events do not constitute negligence. In this case, the term “hospital or medical facility employees” refers to medical technicians, nurses, and the support staff. If they were performing a job-related task and the patient sustained injuries, they can sue for damages.
Physician Error
The hospital will not be held liable and named in a medical malpractice personal injury claim or lawsuit if a patient is injured due to a physician’s error provided he or she is not employed by the facility. Furthermore, the patient can sue the physician if an employee commits medical malpractice while under that doctor’s supervision. However, the hospital may be in the clear. In this case, being “under a doctor’s supervision” depends on one of two factors.
Either the physician was present – or – the physician could have controlled or prevented the employee’s negligent behavior. Example: An attending nurse miscounts how many surgical sponges were used during a procedure. As a result, the surgeon leaves one of the sponges inside of the patient. Therefore, the surgeon is liable for negligence and can be sued in a personal injury lawsuit for medical malpractice. As you can see, these types of cases can be extremely complex.
Usually all medical malpractice cases are complex and pinning the liability is the forte of an experienced injury lawyer in Richmond Hill that deals with such cases. Thus, it is important to find a good lawyer as soon as you realize that there has been misdiagnosis or errors in treatment. Ensure that all medical reports and documents pertaining to the treatment are with you or the lawyer will work to get the medical documents released.