Birth Injuries - Who Can Be Sued?
Posted by
RLF StaffJune 16, 2006 10:30 AMDid you know that a birth injury could be caused by a wide variety of sources? Claims are not limited to just medical doctors - they can also apply to nurses, hospitals, anesthesiologists, drug (pharmaceutical) companies, and other providers of health care services.
While each person on the medical staff at a facility such as a hospital is responsible for his or her actions, the facility itself may be held liable under "corporate negligence" if they failed to adequately ensure quality patient care. This negligence can be caused by not making reasonable inquiries into an employee's education, training and licensing. Perhaps the hospital fails to check out the attending physician's credentials prior to grating him/her hospital privileges. The hospital could even have qualified staff, but have a shortage of people on duty at critical times. For example, an insufficient number of registered nurses on duty at all times. Or perhaps a hospital employee fails to follow the orders of a patient's private attending physician. Even if an employee sees a treatment plan that is clearly incorrect for the particular patient but fails to make a reasonable inquiry, the hospital may be found liable.
Health Care Facilities are full of qualified, trained, competent people, but even still, mistakes do happen. If a mistake happens in your life or in the life of someone you know, nothing can repair the damage. But, as you move on, understand that there could be a responsibility that needs to be addressed, and sometimes the court system is the only way to do this.