Claimants often ask this question, ‘can you sue a hospital for medical malpractice?
The short answer is. Yes, you can.
If you believe you have suffered harm and your healthcare professional could be held responsible for a medical malpractice claim, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the hospital responsible for harming your body directly. It is worth consulting us for a lawyer referral service to help you know when and how to file a medical malpractice claim. You can also hire personal injury lawyers for medical malpractices that cause direct injury to your body.
Is There A Time Limit for Suing Hospitals for Medical Negligence Claims?
How long do you have to sue a hospital for medical negligence? Generally, you have one year ( with limited exceptions) to sue a hospital for medical negligence. Medical negligence cases can be quite complex; it is advisable to seek legal advice from a licensed medical malpractice lawyer right away. If you take too long to file your medical malpractice lawsuit and exceed the deadline for the statute of limitations for your state, the judge appointed to your medical malpractice case could dismiss it, leaving you with no way to recover the compensation for your injuries.
Can a Patient Sue a Hospital?
Patients and victims of medical practice often have a lot of questions such as:
Can I sue a hospital for negligence? is a common question for victims of medical negligence. If you are considering filing a medical malpractice claim, the first step is to consider hiring a specialist (A medical malpractice attorney), not just an experienced lawyer through a lawyer referral service. A medical malpractice attorney is well versed and trained in filing these types of medical malpractice lawsuits. They would help you interpret relevant laws, legal documents and guide you throughout the court case. This could also strengthen your attorney-client relationship, which increases your chances of success.
To proceed on how to sue a hospital for negligence, you would be required to show proof that you have suffered harm or damages due to the healthcare professional’s negligence. The criteria for filing a medical malpractice claim include:
- Harm: You have to prove that the medical error is the direct cause of your injuries. Presenting medical records can help you prove medical malpractice due to the healthcare professional’s actions or other hospital employees.
- Negligence: Your licensed attorney needs to prove that the doctor’s action amounted to medical negligence. You can sue the medical experts for providing substandard medical care to you. The medical records contain all the activities of the medical professional throughout your care. It can show if there is a hospital’s negligence case or deviation from the standard of care by the medical professional.
- Doctor-patient: You are required to show proof that a doctor-patient relationship was established between you and your doctor and that the doctor has breached it. The doctor is obliged to respect this confidential relationship according to the set medical guidelines. You can get legal advice from your medical malpractice attorney in case of a breach in this relationship.
Can you Sue a Hospital for lack of care Under Federal Law?
There is a lot of information about filing a lawsuit against a hospital under the state medical malpractice law. However, claimants often wonder if they can file a lawsuit against the hospital under the federal statute.
Yes, you can hire experienced lawyers to sue a hospital for federal medical malpractice. Your licensed medical malpractice attorney can help you sue a hospital for failure to evaluate or stabilize a medical condition that causes direct harm to you. The statute for filing this medical malpractice lawsuit is the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA).
What is EMTALA?
It stands for the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act and states that patients should be given emergency medical treatment when needed regardless of their insurance and payment qualification. This is important for victims of medical malpractice in the emergency room. A licensed medical malpractice attorney can guide you on how to receive compensation from the insurance company.
According to the EMTALA statute, only facilities that participate in Medicare are included, but this encompasses almost 98% of all US hospitals. The benefits of the EMTALA law includes:
- Comprehensive Coverage: The EMTALA law applies to hospitals participating in the Medicare Medicaid program. The next time you are thinking about the question ‘can I sue a hospital participating in medicare,’ the answer is yes, you have the right to sue the hospital under the EMTALA law.
- NO Restrictions: The EMTALA allows you to sue most departments held responsible for hospital malpractice. This means you can hire a licensed attorney for hospital malpractice to sue any hospital department responsible for your medical malpractice claim.
- Damage Cap: The damage cap for any medical malpractice lawsuit depends on the law governing the state.EMTALA has no damage cap for pain and suffering malpractice claims. This could be beneficial when deciding how to sue a hospital for malpractice for pain and suffering.
- Strict Liability: EMTALA works with the strict liability rule. The rule states that a hospital can only be held responsible for a medical malpractice claim if they provide substandard medical care, which is lower than the required standard of medical care stated in the EMTALA law. Suppose you wonder how to sue a hospital for poor care in the emergency room under federal law.EMTALA law is your answer.
- Federal Support: The EMTALA laws give your medical malpractice attorney more leverage to work with because they have the right to involve the federal government in the investigation. This gives you more options when wondering, ‘how do I file a lawsuit against a hospital.’
- Hospital Eligibility: Your medical malpractice lawyer has a higher chance of winning a claim for hospital negligence under the EMTALA law. Most hospitals are more flexible due to the increased risk of the hospital closing down if they are held liable for medical malpractice. The Hospital can lose their medical eligibility if they don’t respond promptly to the medical negligence lawsuit. Losing their medical eligibility have severe consequences, such as the inability to receive money from Medicare. This makes it easier for the licensed medical malpractice lawyer to sue the hospital for a medical malpractice lawsuit, especially if a solid attorney-client relationship is established. The next time you are a victim of medical malpractice in the emergency room, find licensed personal injury lawyers or law firms near you, especially if it resulted in a personal injury.
Is it Hard to Sue a Hospital?
It is not difficult to sue the hospital for medical malpractice, especially if incompetent doctors or healthcare providers caused the injury. It is easier to make the right medical malpractice step to help you recover the compensation you deserve. Practically, in most cases, only the primary health provider (your doctor) can be sued for medical malpractice. The health establishment or doctor’s employer cannot be held responsible for damages resulting from the doctor’s mistake. This is because 5-6% of American doctors work as independent contractors, not employees. Non-employee doctors are the only parties responsible for medical malpractice.
Reasons to Sue a Hospital for Medical Malpractice
There are many reasons why patients sue hospitals for medical malpractice. The most common causes include:
- Misdiagnosis or wrong treatment plan by a medical expert or healthcare professional.
- Prescribing a wrong medication
- Technical mistakes by the medical technicians
- surgical errors by surgeons
- Deviation from the standard of care by medical professionals
- Medical negligence and wrongful death of a patient
- Treatment Discrimination based on race, color, age, sexual orientation, e.t.c
- Breaching a patient’s confidentiality by sharing sensitive or confidential information with a third party.
- Drug prescription by other medical professionals without the doctor’s supervision.
- Emotional distress throughout the treatment period.
- Pain and suffering incurred during treatment
- A breach in the doctor-patient relationship leads to direct harm to the patient.
How Much Does it Cost to Sue a Hospital?
Since you already know the reasons for suing a hospital, you might be wondering how much you can sue a hospital for malpractice?. You can make more money by hiring an attorney because most medical malpractice attorneys work on contingency. That means they only get paid if you win a payout.
You can learn more about it at justpoint. We help you decide when and how to file a lawsuit against a doctor and link you to a licensed medical malpractice attorney that can give you full details on how much you can sue the hospital for medical malpractice.
We have a history of providing licensed representation to victims of medical malpractice. We will carefully listen to your story. Tell us what happened to you or your loved one. If you believe you may be the victim of medical malpractice and want to sue a hospital, Begin by filling the Free Case Evaluation form below to submit your case information. One of our case managers will reach out to you to discuss the medical malpractice case in more detail and determine how best to move forward.
