If you suffered an injury while staying in a hospital, you deserve to speak to hospital accident lawyers in Montgomery County MD. You may be entitled to compensation. A lawyer can help you pursue a timely lawsuit and protect your legal rights.
Common Types of Hospital Negligence
When you go in for medical treatment at a hospital, you expect to come out feeling better. Unfortunately, however, this doesn’t always happen. Doctors and other hospital staff can make errors that result in injuries to patients. Here are the most common types of hospital negligence.
- Surgical errors. Surgery is sometimes needed to treat certain health conditions and injuries. However, if the proper standard of care isn’t followed during the procedure, a patient is more likely to suffer serious injuries. Types of surgical errors may include operating on the wrong patient, leaving surgical instruments inside a body and operating on the wrong site.
- Improper administration of anesthesia. For very invasive procedures, anesthesia is necessary to keep patients comfortable. However, if it’s not administered correctly, anesthesia can cause life-threatening complications. Anesthesia errors include administering too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor patients and delaying the delivery of anesthesia.
- Childbirth injuries. If doctors and other hospital staff are careless during the labor and delivery process, newborns can suffer serious injuries. Common types of childbirth injuries caused by negligence include bone fractures, brain injuries, Erb’s Palsy, facial paralysis and spinal cord injuries.
- Infections. As hospital accident lawyers in Montgomery County in MD can confirm, infections can also occur in hospitals. If hospital staff fail to wash their hands properly or sterilize tools or don’t administer antibiotics, patients are more likely to suffer infections.
What to Do If You Were Injured in a Hospital
If you were hurt in a hospital, the first thing you should do is go to a different doctor to get treated. Your health is of the utmost importance. Then, you should retrieve medical records from the hospital you sustained the injuries in as soon as possible.
If you plan to pursue monetary compensation for your injury, it’s critical to consult an experienced hospital accident lawyer as soon as possible. He or she can help you gather the necessary evidence to prove your case and make sure that you file all the paperwork by deadline.
Hospital accidents can result in serious injury, illness, long-term conditions, and even loss of life. When someone experiences adverse effects of a medical mistake sustained during or after receiving care or treatment from a medical professional, malpractice or negligence has occurred.
If you experienced a medical mistake in Baltimore MD contact Cohen & Cohen We can help give you the peace of mind that you are not in this alone. When you have the experienced and successful team of legal professionals from Cohen & Cohen on your side, they can take the stress of the legal aspects of your case off of your shoulders so that you can focus on healing, or helping someone you care about.
When Doctors Make Mistakes
Unfortunately, doctors make mistakes. And unfortunately, it is often the patient who suffers as a result of a doctor misdiagnosing a medical condition. Common results of a doctor’s misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis include but are not limited to:
- A patient does not begin treatment at the earliest possible date to maximize the effectiveness of the treatment.
- A doctor prescribes a medication, procedure or treatment that is not necessary.
Examples:
- A patient starts chemotherapy when they do not have cancer.
- A patient starts physical therapy for a symptom of a disease but your disease does not get diagnosed or treated.
- A patient undergoes a surgery for a problem they do not have.
- A patient dies when there is a chance that they would have lived if they had received the proper diagnosis and treatment for their problem.
If you or someone you are close to suspect that hospital negligence may be the main contributing factor to a preventable injury, ailment, syndrome, condition, etc.. you have the right to take legal action. Understand that following an incident, you may be eligible to pursue compensation for damages sustained in the alleged hospital negligence event.
Monetary compensation helps victims of hospital negligence pay for medical expenses, substitute lost wages, and other related expenses in an effort to assist with the various hardships associated with the incident.
Compensation you may be able to obtain includes but is not limited to:
Economic damages:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Past and future lost wages
- Household services
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Property damages
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Lost earning capacity
Medical expenses may also be included under economic damages. These damages are bills that arise out of the injuries that are caused by the accident.
Other medical expenses that compensation can be collected for:
- Chronic physical health issues
- Chronic mental health issues
- Surgeries
- Future treatments
Noneconomic damages:
- Loss of life
- Pain
- Emotional anguish
- Humiliation
- Reputation damage
- Loss of enjoyment of activities
- Worsening of prior injuries
If you or someone you are close to experienced adverse effects of treatment or care administered by a healthcare professional, compensation may be pursued. To learn more about our firm and the legal services we offer, contact a medical mistake lawyer from Cohen & Cohen for a free case evaluation. We are here to listen to better understand your situation and will help you better understand potential ways we can take action.
Schedule a consultation with hospital accident lawyers in Montgomery County, MD from Cohen & Cohen Attorneys today.
Hospital Accident Lawsuit Litigation Process Overview
The process of a hospital accident case for many is a long and arduous one. The help of a dedicated and experienced team of lawyers that specialize in medical malpractice cases will prove to be invaluable in navigation of the legal intricacies that will inevitably be encountered along the way. Here is a general overview of the process of medical malpractice case litigation:
Consultation | During the preliminary consultation you will meet your lawyer to review your experience thoroughly as well as the reasons you think that a hospital accident is the reason for your diagnosis and succeeding medical condition and harm done to you. Throughout the process your lawyer will establish if you are within the statute of limitations for this sort of case, a time limit for declaring.
Documentation & Records | Following the initial consultation, if it is determined that you have a viable case, you then may discuss payment agreements. This is the point where you formally commit to pursuing your case by signing documents that authorize the legal team to initiate work on your case. After commitment, your legal team will start the process of obtaining medical records and other documentation that is pertinent to your case.
Investigation & Case Review | Your lawyer will then begin investigation, consisting of a thorough review of the circumstances and information that apparently indicate negligence on behalf of the medical care provider, or any individual who is legally obligated to provide care that meet medically accepted standards of care. Further investigation will allow your legal team to establish a strategy for attaining the desired outcome.
Witnesses | Expert witnesses may be recruited that have a high-level professional background in medical malpractice relevant claims or the circumstances that led to the alleged accident. Your legal team may provide the witness with relevant information pertaining to your case from which they will devise a statement for use in case presentations.
Pre-Trial & Depositions | Next, depositions may be presented and recorded on behalf of the plaintiff and the defendant. It must be noted that at this point, additional legal issues that may arise between both parties will be addressed accordingly by your team.
Settlement Propositions | Prior to proceeding to a trial phase, either side will have the opportunity to propose a settlement, normally in the form of economic payment based on pre-trial depositions. At this point the plaintiff may decide to either agree to, decline, or for your lawyer to bargain the settlement.
Trial | If the settlement is declined, the case has the option to proceed to trial. Medical malpractice trials may take place before a jury who will receive the presentations from both sides and deliberate to potentially arrive at a final verdict.
Deliberations & Verdict | Following the initial trial phase, the judge or jury will assess the evidence as it existed, and may arrive at a final judgment. If no decision can be reached by a jury, it might be ruled as a mistrial, calling for a retrial.
Post-Trial Motions & Appeals | If a decision was chosen, the losing side has the possibility to appeal, or otherwise argue against it. If the amount awarded was perceived to be unreasonable, either side might argue their reasoning why they feel the amount was not sufficient with the court. In which case may be grounds for a second trial.
Resolution | Pending on the resolution of the instance, documents will be presented that release liability for pursuit of additional payment from the plaintiff if the condition becomes worse or from needing to pay back any of the awarded amount to the defendant if the condition boosts.
Hospital Accident Lawyers Montgomery County, MD
If you or a loved one have experienced neglect, harm, or injury in a hospital, it would be in your best interest to contact Montgomery County hospital accident lawyers who are willing and able to help serve clients with their legal needs.
Why do hospital accidents occur?
Hospital accidents may occur for several different reasons. Oftentimes, mistakes happen due to neglect, or distraction. Neglect occurs when the patient’s needs are forgotten, and their care suffers. If a surgeon neglects to review their patient’s history, and allergies, for example, they may accidentally injure or harm their patient due to their oversight. Neglecting a patient’s needs, and basic care is a huge contributing factor in a patient’s misdiagnosis, harm, and sometimes death. Distraction can also prove dangerous in a hospital setting. If nurses, doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals are distracted from their duties, their patients can suffer the consequences.
What are some reasons why medical professionals are distracted from their patient’s care?
Exhaustion, lack of sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet may be reasons why medical professionals lose sight of what they are supposed to be doing or are unable to perform to the best of their abilities. Medical professionals should be held accountable if they harm or neglect their patients due to their distractions. Once distracted, a medical professional could accidentally start their patient on an unnecessary, and potentially harmful drug, or perform surgery on the wrong part of the body. A medical professional’s distraction can lead to mild to severe and catastrophic consequences for patients.
What are some examples of hospital accidents?
A hospital accident can occur with any patient, in any hospital setting where they are seeking treatment. Common examples of accidents occurring in hospitals include the misdiagnosis and treatment of a patient. Unnecessary surgery may greatly impact a patient, and their ability to recover. The wrong amount of anesthesia has potentially life-threatening consequences for innocent victims. Patients prescribed unnecessary prescription medication by a medical professional could lead to health complications and potential addiction. A rushed patient examination, neglect of a patient’s allergies, their basic needs, and oversight of their medical history may all lead to a hospital accident that could have been avoided.
What should victims of hospital accidents do?
Before confronting the hospital, or medical professional responsible, the injured or neglected patient should first contact an attorney at Cohen & Cohen who specializes in hospital accident lawsuits. They can provide helpful insight on what to say, and not say regarding the hospital, and the parties involved. By hiring a hospital accident lawyer, patients who have been unjustly treated protect themselves and others from further harm. The medical professional and the hospital should be held responsible, and justly apprehended. Compensation should be given to the injured patient for their physical, emotional, and mental pain, medical bills, as well as time off work, and loss of income.
When should victims of hospital accidents seek legal assistance?
Injured, harmed, and neglected patients should contact Montgomery County hospital accident lawyers as soon as possible after the incident. If a loved one is suspecting of foul play at work in a hospital accident they should share their concerns with an experienced lawyer. Although it can be difficult to prove at times, victims and their loved ones should pursue justice, accountability, and compensation for the mistakes and neglect that led to a hospital accident. If a patient decides to pursue legal action, hospital accident lawyers will work hard to ensure that their case receives the attention it deserves. Contact Montgomery County hospital accident lawyers today and start your journey toward justice.
