Hospital Negligence

Should you have been hurt in a hospital anyplace in the State of Florida, contact this Fort Lauderdale Hospital Negligence/Malpractice Lawyer today. Hospitals can be hectic places. Patients are admitted into and discharged from hospitals at a rapid pace, and emergencies abound. As such, things can slip through the cracks and mistakes are made. If this happens to you and you are injured as a result, you may have a hospital malpractice case.

Hospitals are liable for the negligence of their own employees. This is true under a theory of liability called “respondeat superior.” This theory indicates that an employer is generally responsible for the acts of its employees - as long as the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment. That is, a hospital will not be responsible for something an employee does at his or her own home. But, if the negligent act was committed as part of the employee’s job at the hospital, then the hospital will generally be responsible.

Some doctors are employees of hospitals, and some may be independent contractors. If the doctor that negligently caused your injuries was an employee of the hospital, then the hospital should be responsible for your harm. However, if the doctor was an independent contractor, then the hospital may not be responsible for your injuries because the doctor was not actually an employee of the hospital. In that case, your only recourse may be to pursue a case against the doctor him or herself – or his or her practice.

Likewise, hospital employees other than doctors may have caused your injuries. For example, in a hospital, nurses are responsible for much of the care. Most nurses are employees of the hospital in which they work. Therefore, if your injuries were caused by nursing negligence, then you typically will be able to pursue a case against the hospital that employed the nurse and where your injuries occurred.

If you’ve been hurt in a hospital anyplace in the State of Florida (including Miami, Miami-Dade County, West Palm Beach or Palm Beach County), contact this Fort Lauderdale Hospital Negligence/Malpractice Law Firm for a free, no obligation consultation. Mr. Quackenbush won’t charge you a dime to talk about your case.

If Mr. Quackenbush works on your case, he will do so on contingency. This means that his payment is contingent on the successful resolution of your case. If you don’t recover any compensation, then Mr. Quackenbush won’t get paid – so there is no risk to you.

Injuries in hospitals can be caused by many different things. For example, cleanliness is an issue that is vitally important in hospitals. Patients in hospitals may already have compromised immune systems and therefore be particularly susceptible to infections. Doctors and nurses who don’t properly wash their hands can transmit deadly bacteria and communicable diseases to their patients. Moreover, surgical tools and instruments that aren’t properly sterilized can lead to serious infections. Finally, hospital rooms that aren’t properly ventilated may foster the growth of deadly bacteria and allow vulnerable patients to become sick.

Nurses in hospitals are also responsible for consistently monitoring their patients’ vitals (heartrates, blood pressures, etc.). If a patient’s condition is declining, it is the patient’s nurse who is tasked with reporting the condition to the patient’s doctor immediately so that something can be done. If a nurse doesn’t do this, there is any kind of delay and the nurse’s patient deteriorates as a result, the hospital may be responsible for the deterioration if catastrophic results ensue.

Patients are frequently prescribed medications in hospitals. Because of the fast-paced/hectic nature of hospitals, incorrect medications (or the incorrect amounts of medicines) may be prescribed to patients. If this type of pharmacy mis-fill occurred to you and you have sustained injuries as a result, you may have a medical malpractice case against the hospital.

One thing that will be important to determine in your hospital negligence case is whether the hospital where you were injured was a private hospital or a government-owned hospital. Many hospitals are owned by private companies. On the other hand, many are owned and run by cities, counties or the State of Florida. If the hospital in which you were injured was owned by a governmental entity (a city, county or the State), then your case will be a case of “sovereign immunity.” A sovereign immunity case carries with it all sorts of restrictions and limitations. For example, in sovereign immunity cases, the most you could typically recover against the government hospital where you were injured is $200,000. The only exception to this would come in the form of a claims bill passed in the Florida State Legislature.

On the other hand, if the hospital where you were injured is owned by a private entity, then you will have no such restriction on the amount of compensation you can recover.

If you decide upon Mr. Quackenbush as your attorney, he will work on a contingency basis. This indicates that Mr. Quackenbush won’t get paid until you’ve made a recovery in your case – so there is no risk to you.

For a free, no obligation consultation, call Mr. Quackenbush at 954-448-7288 if you’ve been harmed in a hospital anywhere in the State of Florida. Mr. Quackenbush won’t charge you anything to talk about all aspects of your case.