Hospital Negligence Lawyer Salt Lake City, UT

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Recovering After Suffering from Hospital Negligence

Hospital negligence occurs when an employee of a hospital, or medical center, causes harm to a patient through negligent acts, omission, or mistakes. Determining whether a doctor or the hospital is responsible can be difficult. Victims should only attempt it with our Salt Lake City, UT hospital negligence lawyer on your side. Someone looking for a hospital negligence lawyer Salt Lake City UT has to offer may already know that medical injuries involving negligence can be very complicated. When an injury occurs due to staff negligence at a professional medical facility, such as a hospital, the effects can be catastrophic. If you are in need of representation, contact Rasmussen & Miner today.

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The Challenges of Hospital Negligence

As one of our Salt Lake City, Utah hospital negligence lawyers can explain, the malpractice and injury is unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg if you choose to pursue legal action against a hospital. You may be swamped with bills for treatments you didn’t need, and your medical condition may be just as bad – or worse – than before. But filing a lawsuit is a whole other battle you’ll have to prepare for. If you’ve been abused, mistreated, or just plain suffered because of incompetent medical staff, you probably think you have a pretty solid case for a hospital negligence lawsuit. A medical malpractice or hospital negligence lawsuit involves a lot of moving parts, and you have to make sure you have everything lined up before you take legal action. Read on to learn more about what a hospital negligence suit requires, and see how the right lawyer can make all the difference.

Common Acts of Hospital Negligence

While most hospitals do their best to treat all of their patients in the best way possible, errors do occur. Some mistakes are minor and are not life-threatening. Others can cause catastrophic results that can alter a person’s life forever or even cause the patient to die. Some of the most common types of claims handled by a hospital negligence lawyer Salt Lake City UT can count on from our firm includes:

• Failure to properly treat an infection or illness.
• Leaving an object in the body after a surgical procedure.
• Surgical errors.
• Performing surgery on the wrong part or side of the patient.
• Improper use of a medical device.
• Misdiagnosis.
• Failure to order the right medical diagnostic tests.
• Failure to provide a referral to a specialist.
• Administering the wrong medication.
• Administering or prescribing too high a dose of a medication.
• Deadly interaction with multiple medications.
• Failure to recognize an emergency situation and react appropriately.
• Mixing up patients’ records.

Multiple parties can be responsible for hospital negligence. When a lawyer is determining who is at fault, they may take into consideration who of the following may be responsible: a clinical physician employed by the hospital, nurses, medical technicians, specialists, the medical center, a therapist or psychiatrist, ambulance technicians or drivers, pharmacists or the pharmacy, emergency room workers, administration, and more.

Proving Liability

Hospital negligence, in particular, can become very complicated simply because of the liability issues that may arise. Some hospitals do not directly employ doctors. Instead, they have agreements between doctors as independent contractors or with other medical offices that directly employ doctors. As an experienced Salt Lake City UT hospital negligence lawyer might attest, this complex web of contractual employees can make it difficult to collect damages because it can skew the lines of who should be held liable. The most critical point in these cases is that the hospital itself might not be responsible when a contract doctor makes a mistake. However, it may be possible to collect damages from the doctor or the firm that employs the doctor. Alternatively, certain situations involving negligence may justify seeking compensation from the hospital. If a hospital gives practicing privileges to a doctor who is not competent, the hospital might be responsible if that doctor is negligent and harms a patient. These situations depend on many individual factors. It is essential to talk with a hospital negligence lawyer in Salt Lake City, UT, to determine which party or parties may be liable in your case.

Attempting to Hold the Hospital Liable

If the doctor was negligent, there is a good chance that the hospital will not be held liable. In most cases, the doctor is not employed by the hospital; instead, they have admitting privileges and work as an independent contractor. If the doctor was an employee of the hospital, the facility could be held liable. Determining whether or not this is true will require research and investigation by a hospital negligence lawyer from the Salt Lake City, Utah area.

Malpractice in the Emergency Room

One of the most common places where hospital malpractice occurs is in emergency rooms. While no one really chooses to go to an ER, there are immediate medical issues that require that immediate trip in order to obtain the immediate treatment needed, such as when a person is having difficulty breathing or severe chest pains.

However, just the sometimes-chaotic nature alone of emergency rooms can create an atmosphere where medical professionals can make a mistake. Some of these mistakes are fairly harmless, but others can leave a patient with devasting – even fatal – injuries. If you think you have been a victim of ER malpractice, contact a Salt Lake City hospital negligence lawyer to discuss your legal options.

Emergency Room Visits

National data reveals that up to 10 percent of all emergency room visits result in some kind of medical error. The actual number of victims this translates into is jarring – 10 million. While not every medical error will leave a victim with permanent damage, there are still far too many that are very serious. Some of the more common emergency room errors that we see at our medical malpractice firm include:

• Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, including the failure to recognize and properly treat symptoms of heart attack or stroke.
• Errors in the entries in the patient’s medical file, such as incorrect lab results or mislabeling of the file
• Failure to obtain the patient’s medical history
• Failure to provide appropriate medical treatment
• Medication errors, such as giving the patient an incorrect dose
• Misdiagnosis of diagnostic or laboratory testing
• Misuse of medical equipment
• Unsanitary equipment or conditions that cause infections

Examples of Hospital Negligence

• Employee Negligence

The hospital typically employs nurses, technicians, and other staff. If a hospital employee was doing their job and caused injury to the patient, the hospital could be liable. An experienced hospital negligence lawyer from Salt Lake City, UT, has seen incidents including: -Failing to order tests -Failure to diagnose -Misreading lab tests -Performing unnecessary surgery -Surgical errors -Poor follow up care -Early discharge -Not taking the patient seriously -Disregarding the patient’s history -Failure to recognize symptoms of a condition

• Improper Hiring

A hospital could be held liable for negligence if it failed to make reasonable inquiring during the hiring process of staff. This may include keeping an individual on staff even when the hospital knew they were untrained or incompetent.

• Inadequate Staffing

A hospital has a duty to ensure there is enough medical staff on hand at all times to provide quality care. If the facility is understaffed and a patient was harmed because of this, they may be liable.

• Apparent Agency

In general, hospitals will inform patients that the doctor is not their employee on the admission forms. If you believed the doctor was an employee of the hospital, the facility could be liable.

Salt Lake City Hospital Negligence Infographic

Salt Lake City Hospital Negligence Statistics

According to national statistics, surgical errors account for one-quarter of all claims against negligent care providers. The majority of these surgical errors occur in hospital settings, which means there may be a number of liable parties for the injuries a patient suffers.

If you suffered an injury due to hospital negligence, call our office to speak with a Salt Lake City hospital negligence lawyer. Under Utah law, if you’ve been a victim of medical negligence, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your losses.  

Salt Lake City Hospital Negligence FAQs

What Are Examples of Hospital Negligence?

Hospital negligence happens when a patient suffers harm due to a hospital employee’s negligent act. Different types of hospital negligence may include unnecessary surgery, misdiagnosis of an injury or illness, failure to order proper testing, premature discharge, misreading laboratory results and surgical errors.

Why Does Hospital Negligence Occur?

When patients go to a hospital for treatment, they expect to come out feeling better. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. If hospital staff are negligent, patients are more likely to suffer injuries. One of the most common causes of hospital negligence is understaffed hospitals. Sometimes hospitals cut costs by hiring fewer doctors and nurses. This can delay treatment in patients.

Some doctors and nurses are overworked and don’t get enough rest. Without proper rest, they can’t focus and may make mistakes while working on patients.

Can I Sue for Hospital Negligence?

If a doctor or nurse at a hospital made a mistake and you suffered harm because of it, you may have a viable hospital malpractice claim. If you win your case, you may receive compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and other damages. A hospital negligence lawyer in Salt Lake City, UT may help you pursue a timely claim and gather the evidence you need to prove your case.

If I’m Not Satisfied with the Results of My Surgery, Do I Have a Valid Hospital Negligence Claim?

Probably not. In many cases, there are no guarantees of medical results. Just because you did not get the results you wanted, does not necessarily mean that negligence occurred. To have a successful malpractice case, you have to demonstrate that you suffered an injury because the doctor deviated from the standard of care.

How Long Do I Have to File a Hospital Negligence Claim?

In Utah, the statute of limitations to file a hospital negligence claim is two years from the date the injury is discovered. After that deadline has passed, you will no longer be eligible for compensation.

What Does a Hospital Negligence Lawsuit Require?

There are two main requirements behind every negligence case. First, you have to prove the hospital was negligent in the first place. Next – and just as importantly – you have to prove that you suffered an injury because of the negligence. When you prove negligence, you need to find evidence that the hospital’s staff neglected their duty of care and failed to keep you safe and healthy during any procedures or hospital stays. You could also find evidence that proves the hospital staff (doctors, nurses, technicians, and more) acted unreasonably. This evidence takes some searching, and it may also require the help of a third-party medical professional who can help you build your case. Proving you suffered injury may also require the input from another medical professional. You have to prove that any injury you suffered was directly because of a hospital’s negligence. This can be a challenge: A hospital can argue that you already had the injuries when you checked in, before you underwent any treatment. This is why it’s important to have a medical witness you can trust, and this is why it’s important to get in touch with a hospital negligence lawyer who can help you analyze your case.

Rasmussen & Miner, Salt Lake City Hospital Negligence Lawyer

1334 2nd Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Contact Our Salt Lake City Hospital Negligence Lawyer Today

At Rasmussen & Miner, we know that a hospital negligence suit is an uphill battle – but it’s a battle you can still win with proper preparation and evidence. When you reach out to us for legal help with your hospital negligence case, we don’t look at you like just another paycheck, and we don’t offer cookie-cutter solutions. Every case is different, and every case needs its own team of experts to prove there was negligence so you can get the compensation you deserve. A hospital negligence case can turn your life upside-down. Suffering at the hands of medical professionals you trusted to deliver proper care is a painful and embittering experience, and you shouldn’t hesitate to get in touch with a lawyer so you can get the justice you need. Contact us today, and see how a hospital negligence lawyer in Salt Lake City, UT can help you move on.