Atlanta Hospital Error Attorney
Hospitals call them “never events” because they should never happen, but the fact that hospitals have a name for them lets you know that “never events” happen a lot more often than they should. Hospitals are busy places with lots of different departments and different healthcare professionals working together to provide patient care. Regardless of how big or complex the hospital, patient safety should always be a chief concern, and hospitals can meet this goal with training, supervision, standards and protocols in place to ensure best practices are followed.
When hospitals fail to take reasonable steps toward patient safety, they can and should be held accountable to the patients that get hurt because of hospital negligence. Atlanta medical malpractice attorney Stacey Carroll takes on hospitals throughout the greater metro area. At the Carroll Law Firm, our Atlanta hospital error attorney fights to hold hospitals accountable for their mistakes to improve patient care for everyone and help malpractice victims get the care and compensation they deserve.
What are some examples of hospital malpractice?
Never events and other hospital errors can come about due to inadequate staffing numbers or insufficient training or supervision of doctors, nurses and other staff. Failing to implement proper procedures and protocols also contribute to a great many mistakes. Some of the most serious forms of hospital errors include:
- A patient’s chart is misread or mixed up with another patient’s
- New parents are sent home with another couple’s baby
- Radiology tests are misread, resulting in a missed diagnosis of cancer or other diagnosis errors
- Medication errors by doctors, nurses or hospital pharmacies
- Operating room errors, including performing surgery on the wrong patient or body part
- Patients, including newborn infants, are discharged before they are medically stable
Hospital-acquired infections, also called nosocomial diseases, arise from failure to follow proper infection control protocols. Hospitals, unfortunately, are popular hangouts for “superbugs” like MRSA and C. diff., which resist most antibiotics and are very difficult to get rid of once they get in. Proper infection control should be exercised not just around open wounds and surgical sites, but also regarding catheters, central lines, epidural injections, ventilators and other breeding grounds for germs.
Among the wrong-patient errors which have occurred in hospitals, one baby was given the breast milk expressed by a different mother, which exposed the baby to hepatitis. In another case, a patient died after being cleared for surgery based off of another patient’s test results. Wrong-patient errors can be solved as easily as including patient photos on their charts or asking patients to state their name before starting a procedure. These methods cost nothing to implement and save lives, yet they aren’t always practiced.
Who causes hospital errors?
It is not only doctors and nurses who can make serious mistakes, but also orderlies, administrators, radiologists and technicians. Ultimately, the hospital itself is responsible for the injuries caused by the negligence of their employees. With years of experience going after hospitals for their mistakes, Atlanta medical malpractice attorney Stacey Carroll understands the challenges presented in holding hospitals accountable. For instance, are the workers in a hospital department employees or independent contractors? Even doctors who operate at the hospital and treat patients there may not be employees but may instead be employed by a medical group and have “privileges” to provide care at the hospital. Understanding and untangling these complicated arrangements can be crucial to holding the right entities liable for a doctor’s medical malpractice.
Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorney Standing Up to Hospital Errors
If you believe you’ve been the victim of a medical mistake in an Atlanta hospital, whether committed by a doctor, nurse or another worker, contact the Carroll Law Firm at 404-816-4555 for a free consultation. We’ll fight to hold all responsible parties accountable to improve patient care and get you maximum compensation for your injuries.
