As you may know, medical negligence contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in the U.S. From surgical mistakes to diagnoses that missed the mark, there are countless factors that could contribute to a wrongful death or preventable patient injury. That being said, however, most people ignore the fact that a substantial portion of medical malpractice claims stem from errors in judgment that are made by hospital and emergency room personnel. While it is true that much of the healthcare industry is understaffed and overworked, there is no excuse that can justify the number of hospital-related injuries and deaths that are suffered throughout the country each year.
According to a report that was published by Health Affairs, as many as one-third of all patients who seek emergency medical assistance suffer hospital-related injuries—meaning injuries that have been inflicted, or could have been prevented by, the attending medical staff. A particularly tragic case made headlines back in 2011 when a young girl was accidentally given a lethal dose of methadone. While recovering from second degree burns at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the 18-month-old suffered the consequences of a deadly miscommunication. Despite having verbal orders to the contrary, the nurse assured the girl's mother that she had been ordered to administer a methadone injection.
Shortly thereafter, the girl went into cardiac arrest and never recovered. With the money that she later received in a settlement, the victim's mother created the Josie King Foundation with one goal in mind: to prevent patients from being harmed or killed by medical errors. As stated by Dr. Peter Pronovost, a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, "Mistakes happen at every hospital. Our current response is to tell the doctors and nurses to be careful instead of making it impossible for mistakes to happen." It is for this reason that there have been no successful efforts to curb hospital and emergency room errors in recent years.
Fortunately, the legal system allows for all victims of medical malpractice to seek justice for the harm that they have suffered. If you or someone you love has been forced to suffer the consequences of a hospital's negligent or careless actions, you should not hesitate to find out how the Columbia personal injury attorney at the Sumner Law Group, LLC can assist you in securing damages. Our firm truly understands how difficult it can be to manage the aftermath of a wrongful injury, so we ask you to let us do the heavy lifting. We will stop at nothing to ensure that you are fairly compensated for the harm that you have endured. Call our office today at (573) 287-3178 to get started.