When something goes wrong with your medical care, your first instinct is to hold someone responsible. For many, that means taking steps to start a medical malpractice claim.

While many people immediately think of doctors when they hear the term “medical malpractice,” there are other professionals who can make mistakes that lead to serious harm.

Which healthcare workers can be responsible for malpractice? Whether you were given the wrong medication, misdiagnosed, or injured during a procedure, that responsibility does not stop with your physician. Let’s find out who can be held liable in these instances.

When you go to a doctor, you trust them to look out for your best interests. You trust they will prescribe the proper medication, explain what to expect, and keep you safe.

But what should you do when that does not happen? What if you were given medication and not told about serious risks? In turn, those risks ultimately harmed you or someone you love.

If this happened to you, you might feel angry, confused, and maybe betrayed. You may also be wondering if you have legal options.

What if a doctor doesn’t warn about the risks of a medication? If this failure leads to injury, it can be considered medical malpractice. And yes, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit.

Going in for any type of surgery is going to be nerve-wracking. Whether it is an outpatient procedure or one that requires a hospital stay, you are right to be anxious. You’re thinking ahead to the outcome of the surgery and if there will be pain. There is also the issue of whether the procedure will effectively take care of the ailment. Before you can deal with the aftermath, you have to first get through the surgery and that has its own levels of anxiety.

Before any surgical procedure, you will be required to sign a consent form. This is meant to provide you with information pertaining to the scope of the operation and the potential complications. We all assume a certain amount of risk by agreeing to surgery, but that consent does not excuse negligence. When something goes wrong during surgery and causes harm, you might be dealing with a case of surgical medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice cases can be quite complex and often require substantial evidence to prove that a healthcare provider’s negligence caused a patient harm.

If you believe you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice, gathering the right documents is crucial for building a strong case. These records will help demonstrate the standard of care you received, how it deviated from what is expected, and the impact it has had on your health and life.

Here are the key documents you’ll need for a medical malpractice case.

We put our trust in a medical professional to diagnose and treat any ailment or injury. However, just because we trust a doctor and their staff doesn’t make them infallible. A study from Johns Hopkins University found that 250,000 patients die annually from medical errors. That number surpasses the deaths attributed to respiratory illnesses. Those statistics are the reasons for the establishment of the seven national patient safety goals.

Every hospital must undergo a stringent accreditation process. The Joint Commission is the organization charged with making those assessments, and it has vetted over 22,000 health care organizations nationwide. State governments recognize that accreditation is a condition for practitioners to receive Medicaid and Medicare payments.

As part of their overview process, the Joint Commission established the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) to improve patient health care. Along with a panel of safety experts, the Patient Safety Advisory Group (PSAG), the Joint Commission established seven goals that doctors and patients should put into practice. All of the safety recommendations are designed to reduce the risk of injury due to instances of medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice is a serious concern for many patients. When you visit a health care provider, you expect to be properly treated for illnesses or injuries. If these professionals fail to live up to their duty, they may be accountable for their actions.

While doctors and surgeons may seem like the most negligent providers, nurses also bear responsibility for caring for their patients. If they neglect their duty of care, they could also face legal repression.

Let’s look into whether nurses can be sued for medical malpractice.

No one wants to get the news that they have cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, around 2 million Americans will receive a cancer diagnosis.

But what happens if your cancer is not detected right away?

All surgery has its risks, as any doctor will tell you, even surgeries that are considered non-essential.

Elective surgeries are those that you can schedule in advance. While most people consider “elective” and “optional” interchangeable, that isn’t always the case. Elective surgeries or procedures are often not optional but are usually not immediately necessary.

Put more simply, it’s a surgery you choose to have for a better quality of life versus a surgery you need for a life-threatening condition.

A doctor, nurse, or health care facility hurt you, and now you’re dealing with the aftermath on your own. There is help available, though. The Charleston medical negligence attorneys at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC have compiled information about some of the most important and relevant West Virginia medical malpractice laws.

If you have any questions about the content of this post or would like help understanding your own legal situation, we are always available to meet for no-cost, no-obligation case evaluations.

In this post, we’ll cover topics like:

• How long you have to file a medical malpractice claim, and what exceptions, if any, may apply.
• The types of health care providers and medical facilities that can be held responsible for negligent or reckless actions.
• The four elements of negligence that every medical malpractice claim must meet.

Although the terms “negligence” and “malpractice” are often used interchangeably, they both carry different meanings with different legal implications. An act of negligence may not result in any real or lasting harm, whereas malpractice denotes the idea that harm has been inflicted.

So what is the difference between negligence and malpractice? In this blog, we’ll strive to clarify the meanings of both these legal concepts and their role in medical malpractice cases. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this topic or how it applies to your current legal matter, we encourage you to contact our Charleston, WV law office for a free consultation.