Should You Sue A Doctor or A Hospital for Medical Negligence – A Brief Guide

Hospital stays are stressful in their own way, and no one really worries about whether they will be receiving the standard treatment or not, as everyone automatically assumes that they are safe in the hands of their healthcare provider and medical staff. 

Unfortunately, more than twenty percent of patients in the USA report potential errors in the treatment – a small percentage of which also contributes to wrongful death. On that note, if you or your loved one has received a wrongful treatment, you might be wondering whether or not you can sue a doctor or a hospital. 

Can You Sue A Doctor for Medical Error?

Now, when we say doctor, we also include the hospital and the staff that might have attended to your medical needs at the time you were admitted. Perhaps you lost a loved one because of medical negligence, in which case, you might want to contact a wrongful death lawyer and discuss your case with them so they can help with deciding whether or not it is indeed a case of medical negligence and you can get compensated for the loss or not. 

Several reasons can make a strong case for you to sue a hospital. Some of them are as follows:

Doctors Failed to Diagnose

Typically, all doctors are required to follow a standard protocol to diagnose a medical condition. However, there can be cases when medical professionals deviate from the standards and fail to order or perform tests that would otherwise have been crucial for determining the medical issue at hand. 

Doctors Overlooked Possible Treatments

You might be in a position to sue a doctor or a hospital when the doctors and medical staff overlook possible treatment possibilities and miss out on crucial diagnoses. A common example of this aspect is the failure to remove a burst appendix. However, sometimes, patients can also get infected while they are in surgery. Resultantly, medical conditions, such as sepsis, can go untreated, leaving the patient seriously ill. 

Doctors Caused Surgical Errors

Surgical errors are more common than you might think. For instance, a common occurrence is for blood vessels to rupture during the surgery, leading to a serious case of bruising. Some of such surgical errors can also result in permanent disability – or – in the worst case scenario, death. 

Absence of Documentation

You can be eligible to sue a hospital if there has been a failure to document potential errors that were raised during the treatment or surgery, leading to wrong actions or medical diagnosis.  

Errors in Medication

The FDA, which stands for “Food and Drug Administration,” receives more than one hundred thousand reports every year about medication errors. A majority of these errors happen in busy hospitals where there is a serious lack of communication between patients and medical staff. 

Patient Experienced Discrimination

You are in a position to sue a hospital when the hospital or medical staff refuses to administer medical care due to discrimination based on regional, racial, or sexual aspects. 

Doctors Administered Dangerous Practices

Sometimes, hospital staff engage in dangerous practices, such as a failure to sanitize the medical equipment properly. They might even make the mistake of reusing needles or operating on patients in potentially dangerous conditions, such as wet floors. 

All of these aspects fall under the category of medical negligence, and with the help of a lawyer, you can take legal action against the doctor or the hospital. 

Who Exactly Can You Sue?

Now that you know about the various situations that can make you eligible to sue hospitals, it is time to move on to the next important question of “whom exactly are you suing?” The answer to this important question depends on your specific case that you will discuss with a professional attorney who deals with medical negligence or wrongful death – in case you have lost a loved one due to medical negligence. 

So, depending on the situation, you can sue specific medical professionals, the hospital, or both. 

Medical Malpractice vs. Suing A Hospital

Now, when it comes to medical malpractice, you should know that it includes a serious or specific action that involves negligence or an act of omission by a medical healthcare provider. This act of omission or negligence must prove that there was a deviation from the standards of healthcare or what any other reasonable doctor would have done in that specific situation. 

This aspect comes down to the element of meeting the burden of proof.

On that note, if the medical healthcare provider who deviated from the standards was an employee of the hospital – and they were the one causing medical malpractice, you can sue the hospital. The underlying reason is that in such a scenario, the hospital, in general, is legally responsible for potential negligence and omissions made by their employee.  

This aspect refers to the fact that the hospital acts as the respondent’s superior. 

When Can You Not Sue the Hospital?

You cannot sue the hospital for medical negligence or wrongful death if the hospital is only responsible for administrative aspects, such as paperwork and hiring. In this case, the hospital won’t be liable for medical malpractice. 

The thing about medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuits is that these can take various forms. For instance, if the doctor who practiced medical negligence was hired at the hospital based on a contract, you will be suing the doctor for medical malpractice, but you might sue the hospital for negligence in hiring.

It all comes down to the potential relationship between the doctor or medical staff and the hospital that can help decide whether or not to sue the hospital. 

Final Thoughts

Irrespective of the fact whether you are suing a doctor or a hospital for negligence, you need sufficient proof to show in the courtroom that things happened a certain way. So, you need to work on your proof before you can successfully pursue medical malpractice, medical negligence, or a wrongful death claim. You must prove that the doctor or hospital had legal responsibilities to care for you or your loved one and that their practices or treatments didn’t reach the established standard of care.