Hospital Liability

Hospitals provide individuals with a means of receiving urgent medical treatment at any hour of the day. With the continued advances in medicine, hospitals now have very sophisticated resources for diagnosing and treating patients. We need hospitals to help people recover from their injuries or illnesses, and we need hospitals to save lives. While many people receive outstanding care at our Maine hospitals, some patients do not receive such outstanding care, and end up suffering injuries as a result.

Hospitals must follow a standard of care like any other medical professional or medical facility. The standard of care is a measurement to determine if a particular healthcare provider has acted in a way that is not in accordance with the standard of care. As such, when the standard of care is not met, the person or party responsible may be liable to a patient for injuries that are suffered. Hospitals are very organized facilities where certain rules, protocols and procedures must be followed at all times. Any mistake could prove disastrous for you or your loved one.

Hospitals are often found liable for a patient’s injuries when one or more of the following occurs, however, there are certainly additional ways in which a hospital may be found liable for its negligent acts.

• Emergency room staff members do not properly assess a patient’s condition, and the patient does not receive the medical treatment he or she needs right away, causing a worsening condition, or even death;
• Failure to diagnose a medical condition when a patient goes to the emergency room;
• Allowing interns to provide care to patients in violation of rules and procedures;
• Failure to maintain complete and accurate medical records;
• Lack of supervision of resident physicians and other hospital staff members;
• Failure to keep hospital conditions clean and sterile; and
• Failure to listen to a patient’s concerns, or recognize a patient’s symptoms.

Oftentimes, poor training may be the ultimate source for why hospitals are found liable for negligent conduct that occurs within their walls. With proper training, each and every hospital staff member should be following the same rules and procedures that are in place precisely to protect patients from being negligently harmed.

When hospital staff members act negligently, hospitals may be found liable, and are therefore responsible for compensating injured patients. Injuries that many patients suffer as a result of hospital liability include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Worsening of the condition that brought a patient to the hospital;
• Contraction of diseases due to an unsanitary environment, such as staph infections, the flu virus, and other illnesses that may require a patient to be hospitalized for longer than anticipated;
• Adverse or allergic reactions suffered because of the negligent administration of drugs; and
• Death.

Hospital liability can cause injuries that range from very minor to very severe, with the most severe consequences being the death of an innocent patient. You and your loved ones do not deserve to suffer injuries as a result of negligent conduct that occurs when receiving treatment in a hospital. A Maine hospital liability attorney can help to determine if you may be entitled to compensation for the injuries you have suffered.

At Peter Thompson & Associates, we strive to provide outstanding legal services to injured Maine residents. With three convenient office locations in Portland, which is our main office, Falmouth, and Bangor, our attorneys are able to help people from all over the state receive the compensation they deserve at the expense of another’s negligent conduct. If you would like to discuss your potential hospital liability case with one of our seasoned attorneys, contact Peter Thompson & Associates today by calling toll-free at 800.804.2004, or you may contact us online and we will respond to you as soon as possible.