The Dayton hospital errors and mistakes attorneys at the Brannon Law Firm handle medical malpractice cases, including those involving hospital errors and mistakes. Errors and mistakes that occur during a hospital stay account for a large number of injuries and deaths. If you have experienced an error or mistake during your stay at a hospital and have been harmed as a result, it is in your benefit to seek out more information. Information on what hospital errors and mistakes are and what it might mean for you can be found below. Additionally, the medical malpractice attorneys at the Brannon Law Firm invite you to contact us, either at 937-228-2306 or 1-800-VERDICT or by contacting us online.
What are Hospital Errors and Mistakes?
A large number of patients visit hospitals every year in order to seek medical attention and be made well again. Unfortunately, doctors and medical providers in hospitals make errors and mistakes while treating patients. Hospital errors and mistakes are any avoidable error or mistake made in a hospital by a doctor, nurse or employee of the hospital. While some errors and mistakes are harmless, other may result in severe injury and even death to a patient. What is universal about all the errors and mistakes in hospitals is that they are all avoidable if the safety rules for patient care are followed.
Consequences of hospital errors and mistakes can vary widely. In some instances the result of a mistake or error may be more severe, causing damage, harm, or illness. For example inattention, failure to keep tools or work spaces properly clean, or not being careful enough in handling a patient may cause infections such as sepsis, which may take a large amount of medication and medical attention to treat to correct. Errors in surgery can lead to extensive damage to tissue and may even result in death. Mistakes in treatment plans such as prescribing the wrong drug, misreading test results, putting data in computer records incorrectly or not providing proper follow up care can lead to many different issues, such as misdiagnosis, further illness, or damaging, unnecessary treatment. In the worst instances hospital errors and mistakes can result in death.
Medical and Legal Significance of Hospital Errors and Mistakes
Errors and mistakes made during a patients stay in a hospital can be the basis for making a claim medical malpractice or medical negligence. These instances often occur when a doctor or medical professional has done something incorrect or failed to act during the normal hospital or medical procedures. Hospital errors or mistakes can occur at any point during a hospital visit. Some examples of categories of potential Hospital Errors and Mistakes are listed below.
- Improper care leading to a hospital infection
- Failure to properly treat an infection or an illness
- Improper use of a medical device
- Surgical errors, especially wrong-site surgery or leaving a foreign object behind in surgery
- Failure to provide refer patient to a specialist
- Failure to order correct tests for a patient
- Failure to provide proper aftercare to a patient
- Failure to properly input data or orders into a patients chart or medical records
- Failure to properly respond to an emergency situation
- Administration of incorrect drug or improper dose of a drug
- Errors in administration, such as mixing up patient files or mislabeling test results
Hospital errors and mistakes are different from the inherent risks that all patients generally face in an important way: if it were not for the error or mistake by the medical professional, the harm would not have occurred at all. In other words, the injury was avoidable. It is the responsibility of doctors and other medical professionals to follow the rules for patient safety. Failure to do so may be medical malpractice or medical negligence.
Seeking Legal Counsel and Guidance
If you have suffered an injury or illness due to a hospital error or mistake you may have a claim for medical malpractice and/or medical negligence. The hospital error attorneys at the Brannon Law Firm have the skill and experience to discover whether your health issues are a result of a hospital error or mistake and whether those health issues could have been avoided if the rules for patient safety were followed.
Hospital erros and medical negligence is preventable. It is caused by the error, improper action, or lack of action by medical professionals. It is important to hold those medical professionals to the proper standards of medical care and to hold them accountable for the harms and losses they cause. The Brannon Law Firm can help hold those at fault accountable.
Additionally, your treatment may be difficult, both financially and emotionally. Hospital errors and mistakes can be particularly difficult because they may lead to more severe medical conditions and more extensive treatment. Issues stemming from a hospital error and mistake can compound quickly. In addition to the illness or condition that required you to be in the hospital in the first place, you may now have to deal with the injuries or negative effects of the hospital error or mistake. Efforts to fix or reverse the effects of a hospital error or mistake can be severe and long lasting, requiring additional medical treatment, loss of quality of life, loss of income and costly medical bills. It is important to ensure you have the assistance and care that you deserve to live the best life possible. The Brannon Law Firm can help with that process.
Contact The Brannon Law Firm
At the Brannon Law Firm, we have represented many individuals who were unfortunate victims of a hospital error or mistake. We have obtained favorable jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients in hospital error and mistake cases. We invite you to contact us, either at 937-228-2306 or 1-800-VERDICT for a free consultation. Dayton personal injury attorneys at The Brannon Law Firm are proud to serve clients in Dayton and throughout the State of Ohio.