You may assume that a hospital facility is the safest place you can be, as you are surrounded by capable medical professionals who are able and willing to meet any of your healthcare needs. But after you place your wholehearted trust in a hospital’s staff, they may betray you with their negligence, and you may get physically, mentally, and/or emotionally hurt in the process. If this hypothetical scenario closely resonates with you, please follow along to find out who should be held liable if you are left injured at a hospital and how a proficient New York City hospital negligence attorney at Mark L. Bodner, P.C., can help you hold the appropriate party accountable.
Who is liable if I’m injured as a hospital patient?
The precise individual at fault for your injury at a hospital may depend on the unique circumstances surrounding your incident. The one thing you may know for certain, though, is that you have a medical malpractice claim on your hands.
For one, your treating physician may be held liable if they misdiagnosed your medical condition, and being improperly treated caused you further physical pain and a lesser chance at recovery or survival. Or, the nurse on call may be to blame if your physician prescribed the proper treatment plan, but they misread it or failed to abide by it (i.e., they gave you the wrong medication, too high a medication dosage, etc). Lastly, the surgeon who operated on you may have been careless in leaving surgical instruments or sponges in your body, which led to your infection with serious side effects.
No matter the exact person deemed negligent, the hospital may be pinned with corporate negligence. The argument can be raised that the hospital had the responsibility to oversee its staff and ensure that it implemented and enforced policies that would have prevented such a medical malpractice accident from happening in the first place. This may apply unless the hospital independently contracted the negligent medical professional in question.
Who is liable if I’m injured as a hospital visitor?
The irony of the situation, unfortunately, may be that you arrived at a hospital facility to visit a loved one who was ill or injured. But during your time of the premises, you may have gotten hurt and turned into a patient yourself. While your head may be spinning from this rapid turn of events, you must not forget that there is likely a reckless party to reprimand for all this. Namely, the owner of the hospital building, supervisor of the hospital premises, and/or head of the hospital operations.
This is because such an owner or manager has a duty of care in ensuring that the premises are clear of any potentially hazardous conditions before welcoming visitors. So, in your case, this may constitute a slip and fall accident claim. Before you find yourself in an even worse position, you must retain legal representation from Mark L. Bodner, P.C. A talented New York City slip and fall attorney from our law firm will guide you on what to do.