On Aug. 12, 2022, a 66-year-old man sustained life-threatening injuries when he was pinned under a car during a multi-vehicle crash in Salt Lake City. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. The accident involved a delivery truck driver, who lost control of the truck and struck four parked cars.
The accident caused major traffic jams in the area that lasted for hours. The delivery truck driver was also taken to the hospital to get checked for injuries. Investigators are trying to determine if the driver had a medical episode when the accident occurred.
Car Accidents Frequently Result in Hospitalizations
Car accidents frequently result in severe injuries, like broken bones and head injuries, that land people in the hospital. Accident victims may be hospitalized for days or even weeks. Being hospitalized is bad enough, but if you become a victim of hospital negligence on top of it, the entire situation becomes even worse. Unfortunately, however, this happens more often than you might like to think.
Hospital negligence occurs when a doctor or other hospital staff member is careless and injures a patient as a result. Hospitals are held to a reasonable standard of care and can be considered liable if they deviate from that. Here are the most common examples of hospital negligence.
- Performing surgery on the wrong body part
- Performing surgery on the wrong patient
- Leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient
- Discharging a patient too early
- Failing to order CT scans and other imaging tests to diagnose a condition
- Failing to diagnose a medical condition
- Infections
Liable Parties in Hospital Negligence
Multiple individuals may be held liable if a patient suffers injuries in a hospital due to negligence. For example, if a nurse doesn’t wash his or her hands and a patient suffers an infection because of it, the nurse may be held responsible. Likewise, if a doctor leaves a surgical instrument inside a patient during an operation, he or she would be held liable. If the doctor is an independent contractor, the hospital might not be held responsible for the mistake. However, if the hospital continued to employ a doctor they knew was negligent, they may be held responsible in a legal claim.
Contact a Hospital Negligence Lawyer
Hospital negligence claims are one of the most complex types of personal injury cases. Therefore, if you suffered an injury in a hospital, it is important to have a hospital negligence lawyer Salt Lake City, UT residents trust on your side. A lawyer can thoroughly investigate your case and hold the right people accountable. He or she will know the true value of your case and won’t let the insurance company take advantage of you. At Rasmussen & Miner, we understand how devastating it is to be the victim of hospital negligence and want to help you get justice.