Research has verified that errors made in medical facilities constitute one of the leading causes of death and serious injury in the United States. Someone who is dealing with the aftermath of this type of situation may contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Vernon CT for assistance. Many injury lawyers represent clients in medical malpractice cases. Significant effort may be required to prove negligence on the part of a doctor or other staff member.
Safety Events
Thousands of episodes known as “safety events” are voluntarily reported to medical center executives every year by physicians, nurses and other personnel. Fortunately, most of those do not result in any harm to patients. The attempt to hide errors does not appear to be a common occurrence, although staff members can face serious consequences if they were indeed responsible for an injury or fatality because of carelessness.
Actual Harm
What types of behavior can lead to a malpractice suit filed by a Personal Injury Attorney in Vernon CT? First, there must have been actual harm to a patient or misbehavior is not characterized as malpractice.
For example, a doctor may have trouble staying awake during surgery if he or she was out drinking heavily the night before, but that does not qualify as malpractice if the operation is completed without incident. This surgeon may very well be sanctioned by the employer or even fired, but a malpractice suit cannot be filed.
Malpractice Examples
On the other hand, if this hungover surgeon makes an error that injures the patient, malpractice has occurred. Even if the doctor was tempted to pretend this never happened, the error would likely be impossible to hide since a surgical team is aware of what happened.
Failing to diagnose a treatable illness in time to make a difference for the patient may qualify if evidence shows this was due to negligence. Prescribing an incorrect dosage for medication can be very harmful to patients. Errors made while administering general anesthesia can result in brain damage. Many other behaviors also qualify as malpractice, and patients can be represented by a firm such as Kahan, Kerensky and Capossela, LLP.
