To pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against a hospital, you must establish that the medical care provided involved malpractice or some type of negligence. For example, medical malpractice may include oversights or a lack of follow-through, such as surgical errors, medication mistakes, inadequate patient monitoring, or misdiagnosis.
The best way to know whether you have a case against a hospital after losing a loved one is to speak with an Ohio medical malpractice lawyer immediately.
You should consult a medical malpractice attorney if the hospital did not stabilize the patient before discharging them. This might happen if a patient suffered a heart attack and they were released from the hospital before they were ready to leave the facility.
If the hospital fails to do this and the patient dies, they can open themselves up to a claim for liability.
Treatment delays may lead to a wrongful death claim as well. For example, if a hospital delays treatment during an emergency and the patient dies, the family may be able to sue for wrongful death. A hospital has an obligation to provide care in a timely manner, so holding up a treatment or therapy may be included in wrongful death lawsuits.
Unsafe conditions in a hospital may also compel a family to seek financial relief by filing a wrongful death claim. Wet floors, defective medical devices, and improper infection control practices can lead to mistakes that can lead to a patient’s demise.
Poor infection control measures may cause hospital-acquired infections. Infections of this type can lead to complications or conditions that may lead to a patient’s death.
These infections can result from catheter-related urinary tract infections (UTIs), a central line-associated bloodstream infection, an infection at a surgical site, pneumonia resulting from the use of a ventilator, or hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Symptoms associated with a hospital-acquired infection include a productive cough, abdominal pain, an altered mental state, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and polyuria (excessive urination).
If a hospital has not established an infection tracking and surveillance system or fails to follow aggressive prevention strategies, it may end up getting sued for wrongful death.
The key element you must show when filing a wrongful death claim against a hospital is how the facility negligently ignored best practices or failed to meet its duty to ensure the patient’s care and safety. These oversights led to the patient’s demise and were the direct cause of their death.
Malpractice in wrongful death claims can involve one of several instances of negligence. For example, delaying the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness can prevent the administration of life-saving treatments, which can lead to an untimely death.
Some malpractice claims involving wrongful death center on surgical mistakes. For example, a doctor might operate on the wrong body part, leave a surgical instrument inside the patient’s body, or make mistakes when administering anesthesia.
A hospital may also get sued if a doctor on the staff fails to inform a patient and their family about the risk associated with a medical procedure before getting their consent. Failing to properly monitor a patient’s condition or vital signs after treatment or surgery may also lead to the patient’s death.
A wrongful death attorney or a medical malpractice attorney in Dayton can help you with submitting a claim by gathering medical records and expert testimonies while showing the hospital failed to adhere to a duty of care. Because of this breach, your loved one died as a result, and you’re entitled to damages.
Have you lost a loved one because of a hospital’s negligence? If you want to sue a hospital for medical negligence, then contact Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz about your claim right away.
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Before establishing Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz L.P.A., Doug Mann, a top Ohio Injury Attorney served as a bodily injury claims adjuster at a major insurance firm. With over 40+ years of experience, Doug’s background has proven invaluable in securing maximum cash settlements for his clients swiftly. Since leaving the insurance industry, Doug has devoted his entire legal career to assisting injured clients during their times of greatest need.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Doug Mann who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury attorney.
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