When suing in a medical malpractice case, victims can list one or more responsible parties. These can be institutions, such as hospitals or outpatient clinics, or individuals, such as doctors, nurses, or pharmacists.
Determining which parties should be part of the malpractice claim can be difficult. A medical malpractice lawyer can help victims work through the facts in the case and determine which parties behaved negligently.
Studying Your Case to Determine Who to Hold Accountable
Before starting a case or lawsuit, you must determine which medical professional made the error that left you with additional injuries. Proving your medical malpractice losses can be a challenging process.
You must read through and understand medical reports and doctor’s notes, which can be difficult. A lawyer with experience in malpractice cases can decipher the medical-related jargon and determine the at-fault party.
Doctors
When a doctor makes an error that leads to additional injuries for you, the individual doctor can be part of a malpractice claim.
You and your malpractice attorney must show that the doctor’s error was preventable. The doctor could have taken a course of action while treating you that was different from what an average doctor’s treatment plan would have been. This could indicate negligence.
Other Medical Professionals
Doctors are not the only possibly negligent medical professionals. A nurse could have made an error in your treatment. This could include failing to follow a doctor’s orders or giving you incorrect medication.
Medical specialists, such as anesthesiologists, pharmacists, eye doctors, and dentists, could be at fault. The specialist simply needs to make a negligent error in your treatment, resulting in your losses.
Hospital
The hospital itself could be responsible. Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.113 defines a hospital as any person, corporation, association, authority, or entity responsible for the hospital’s operation.
This often means that you could sue the hospital after a clerical error that harmed you. You could include the hospital in your claim when an individual working for the hospital or representing the hospital commits an error.
Other Health Care Facilities
If you seek treatment at an outpatient facility, urgent care facility, or physical therapy clinic, you deserve a standard of care that does not worsen your illness or injury. Should an error occur at one of these places, you could include the business as part of your malpractice claim.
Pharmaceutical Company
A drug manufacturer that causes additional injury or illness for you potentially could be responsible. However, the pharmaceutical company might not be at fault. In this case, the manufacturer must have provided adequate warnings about side effects or unsafe drug interactions to the doctor who prescribed the drug to you.
You Must Show a Relationship to the At-Fault Party
To bring a claim against any party as part of a malpractice case, you must show that you had a relationship with the medical professional in question.
The following does not indicate a relationship:
- If you only speak with a doctor in an informal setting.
- You overhear a doctor give another person medical advice and apply that advice to your own case.
The doctor or medical entity must be officially treating you.
Understanding What Constitutes Medical Malpractice
Before you can sue someone for medical malpractice, you must prove malpractice occurred. If a medical professional makes an error when treating you, and if this error was preventable, this could fit the definition of medical malpractice.
According to StatPearls, some of the most preventable medical errors can involve:
- Adverse drug events
- Inaccurate drug administration
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Overtreatment
- Undertreatment
- Surgical injuries and mistakes
Should this error lead to additional injuries or illnesses for you, this fits other criteria required in a malpractice case. You cannot seek financial damages for the original illness or injury you sought treatment for. You only can seek damages for the additional health problems you now have.
What Damages Could I Sue for After Suffering Medical Malpractice?
You could recover a settlement or judgment that covers the following losses, depending on the situation:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Disfigurement
- Loss of limb
- Wrongful death (if you lost a loved one to malpractice)
We Will Be
There To Help
You All The Way
Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers Are Ready to Help With Your Case
It can be challenging to prove medical malpractice for the victim working alone. The Fitch Law Firm LLC is ready to assist you. We will use our experience to help you in your medical malpractice case.
For a free review of your case, call us today at (614) 545-3930. We are ready to begin working on your claim as soon as you hire us.