Have you or a loved one been injured due to a hospital error? We’ll get you the compensation you deserve.
Going into the hospital is never an experience that anyone enjoys. However, most people do expect the hospital to be a safe environment where they will be well looked after during their stay. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. If the hospital does not provide the appropriate level of care and you or your loved one suffers further injury as a result of inadequate care, the hospital should be held liable.
It has been stated that more than 98,000 patients die annually in the United States from hospital errors. And thousands more suffer serious injury as a result of substandard care while hospitalized.
If you or a loved one has suffered additional injury as the result of poor hospital care and you would like to speak with an attorney, please contact our medical malpractice attorneys at the Bennett Law Group in Atlanta, Georgia to schedule a free consultation.
Our attorneys have been very successful in obtaining significant results for past clients in handling doctor and hospital error cases. Here are some testimonials from prior satisfied clients that we have represented.
Some of the more common types of hospital errors are:
- Treating the wrong patient – Patients with similar names may be confused. The wrong medication may be given to the wrong patient, or perhaps the staff fails to verify the patient’s identity before surgery and the wrong patient is operated on.
- Infection – This can happen if medical personnel fail to wash their hands or fail to wear gloves when touching the patient. Many people have gotten staph infection when in the hospital.
- Pharmaceutical errors – The patient’s chart is read incorrectly and patient is administered wrong dosage of medication, or even given the wrong medication entirely. This may happen because of poor handwriting or because there are so many medications that are spelled and pronounced very similarly.
- Failure to follow proper procedure – This can happen when medical personnel attempt to perform a procedure on a patient that they have not been trained to perform.
- Failure to communicate a change in condition to the treating doctor – An overworked and rushed nurse may fail to notify the treating doctor if a patient’s condition changes or worsens
- Anesthesia errors – Anesthesia can be very dangerous if not handled properly. A patient may die during anesthesia if they are given too high a dosage, if their vital signs are not closely monitored, or if the anesthesiologist fails to intubate them with a breathing tube when required.
- Bedsores – Patients who are hospitalized for extended periods of time and are not physically able to reposition themselves when needed must be closely monitored and turned by medical personnel to prevent bedsores, which result from a decay and breakdown in the skin. Bedsores in their most severe stage become gaping wounds which expose muscle and bone.
- Emergency Room Errors – Triage errors are common in emergency room visits. Triage is the prioritization of patients so that the most severely injured are treated first. If ER personnel improperly assesses the severity of a patient’s injury and treats less critical patients first, the patient who was improperly assessed may suffer further injury or even death in some cases.
- Misdiagnosis – This is also common in emergency rooms. Failure to recognize signs and symptoms of heart attack or stroke. Failure to recognize and treat spinal cord injuries properly may lead to paralysis. Failure to recognize and treat cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
Common contributing factors to hospital errors may be an overworked staff, poor nursing supervision, an understaffed hospital, or lack of communication between departments or shifts. If the hospital fails to do proper background verification, they may unknowingly hire an employee who has a history of substandard care.
If you or a family member has suffered additional injury or even death as a result of your hospital stay and you believe that it was due to the hospital’s failure to provide a reasonable standard of care, please contact us at the Bennett Law Group. Our attorneys have over 50 years experience in representing medical malpractice victims in Atlanta, metro Atlanta, and throughout the state of Georgia. We promise to do everything within our power to ensure that you are compensated for your injuries, past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Contact us online or call our Atlanta offices at 404.541.9330. We look forward to hearing from you.