Who Can Be Sued for Their Role in a Birth Injury Case?

For birth injuries or medical misconduct, nurses, anesthesiologists, health care facilities, and pharmaceutical makers can all be held liable.

Hospitals

Hospitals can be public or private. Hospitals can be found directly accountable for their own wrongdoing as well as “vicariously” liable for the negligence of its personnel in medical malpractice cases. The word “vicarious liability” refers to the concept of one party being held accountable for the actions of another, even if the other party was not at fault.

Negligence in the Hospital

Regular members of a hospital’s medical staff are physicians, nurses, and other licensed health care workers, including nurse practitioners. Before employing medical staff, a hospital must enquire about the applicant’s educational, training, and licensure credentials. If hospitals fail to conduct appropriate background checks on its medical staff members, resulting in a patient’s injury, they may be held accountable under the notion of “corporate negligence.” An institution that fails to do an adequate background check on an attending physician prior to granting him/her hospital privileges, or that permits a physician to treat patients despite knowing or should have known that the physician was incompetent, may be held accountable for its own negligence.

To provide high-quality patient care, hospitals must have certified nurses on duty at all times. If this is not done, the hospital may be held accountable for any injury caused to patients as a result of the staff shortage. Hospital staff who disobey a patient’s private physician’s orders may face legal consequences. For their part, hospitals may be held accountable if a member of their staff determines that a private physician‘s treatment plan is obviously inadvisable but fails to contact the physician to obtain additional information.

Acceptance of Risk

Respondeat superior is a legal notion that holds a hospital accountable for its employees’ actions if they cause injury to a patient. When an employee is deemed liable for a negligent act or omission while carrying out job-related responsibilities, the employer may be held liable for the employee’s acts. This strategy is extremely beneficial for plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases since it helps ensure that the responsible party compensates the injured party.

In some instances, where health care practitioners, such as physicians, are deemed independent contractors rather than hospital employees, the principle of “respondeat superior” will not apply. In other words, the hospital cannot be held accountable for the carelessness of an independent contractor doctor or other health care practitioner while providing care to a patient. A hospital may be held accountable if it offers attending privileges to an unlicensed or incompetent physician.

Finally, a hospital may be held vicariously or directly accountable for the acts or omissions of contractors contracted to manage emergency departments and outpatient services.

Manufacturers of Pharmaceuticals

A pharmaceutical manufacturer may be held accountable for a patient’s injuries if the maker fails to adequately notify physicians about the drug’s possible side effects or dangers.

A medical malpractice case can be complicated, and you may be wondering whether your situation fits under one of these categories. If your child is wounded during birth, for example, you can file a malpractice case against the hospital or doctor. Contact a top rated personal injury lawyer immediately if you have issues about medical negligence.

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