We are frequently at our most vulnerable state when we visit an emergency room. This is a medical visit when we utterly depend on the professionalism, skill, and care of the health care providers. Most people reach the emergency room experiencing agonizing pain. You walk into an emergency room, and you generally don’t know the doctor and staff members and put your trust in that you will receive the care necessary for the treatment of precarious conditions. Instead, you will need lifetime medical care due to their mistake. It can end up even worse. You may have lost a loved one who should be at your side today had it not been for this dreary day when you walked into the Baltimore, MD emergency room. When this happens, you want the very best team of lawyers behind you. If you are contemplating filing a civil lawsuit for your losses, you need a team of lawyers experienced in medical malpractice cases.
If you or someone you love is suffering the losses as a result of medical malpractice in an emergency room, you should call the offices of Bennett and Heyman, PA, a team of lawyers who have dedicated representing individuals who like you, are enduring the losses of a thoughtless medical error. With their experience and dedication, they have been able to recover hundreds of millions in losses for their clients. Call (410) 727-2168 to schedule a free and confidential consultation.
Maryland Emergency Room Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Anyone who is considering filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Maryland has to follow a unique process of certification. A qualified professional must be able to state that there are indications that physicians who treated you or the person you love failed to meet the standard of care for treating the condition at issue. With the help of an experienced lawyer, you will have a proper and timely filing of the certificate. This certification is a technical aspect an attorney can explain during your first consultation.
Suing a Baltimore Hospital, Doctor, or Other Medical Professional
When hospital emergency rooms make avoidable errors, it is frequently due to negligence. Negligence is the legal theory that serves as a basis for filing a civil lawsuit against doctors and hospitals who make preventable mistakes. We often find ourselves perplexed at the number of clients who encounter injuries due to errors that they don’t know could have been avoidable. If you are concerned about an injury you suffered in an emergency room, you should talk to an attorney experienced in typical emergency room and hospital mistakes.
Standard Safety Measures in Hospitals
Doctors and hospitals in Maryland must direct emergency room staff to institute and follow safety measures. Ordinarily, protocols serve to assist in accurate evaluation and treatment of persons appearing in the emergency room. However, these are not always observed. Our legal experience informs us that while disregard of medical protocols happens for multiple reasons, there is no valid excuse not to have safety measures in place.
Hospitals may claim they don’t always have systems or skilled personnel needed to enforce protocols. Other times, the claims can be that protocols are not applied if there is no consensus about the effectiveness of the safety measures suggested. However, as attorneys, we focus on safety measures and work with professionals who understand the intricacies of protocols. Since protocols are not written into laws, we work with professionals who inform us as to the “standard of care” or accepted practice among other professionals in the same field.
With this understanding, clients see how the legal process is different from the medical procedures in that legal determinations are based on a myriad of factors that are not necessarily the same as practices of doctors in other hospital or other states. For this reason, we always recommend a consultation with an attorney who can help you navigate through the legal concepts. The skilled professionals we work with understand the medical standard of care from a legal perspective.
Hospital Negligence
In Maryland, there are standards for determining the negligence of hospitals. Maryland courts ordinarily instruct juries with a model of patterns for jury instructions that is helpful in understanding negligence. For example, according to Maryland Pattern Jury Instructions for hospitals: “A hospital is negligent if it does not use that degree of care and skill that a reasonably competent hospital, acting in similar circumstances, would use.” Such liability occurs in various ways. In Maryland, the decided cases have included, for example:
- Failures to supervise and care of patients.
- Leaving tools and operating equipment in a patient.
- The condition of medical equipment creates risks for the patient’s health.
Doctor Negligence
Maryland courts ordinarily rely on “expert testimony” to expose the problems with the doctors’ conduct. There are professionals specialized in explaining the standard of care protocols for hospital emergency rooms and in the protocols for the conditions at issue. A breach of that standard of care usually leads to known injuries that are demonstrative of negligence. While an expert cannot establish the existence of a legal duty, an expert testifies as to the typical health care provider-patient relationship depending on the circumstances.
Baltimore, MD Emergency Room and Hospital Mistakes Lawyers You Can Trust
Since 1870, the lawyers of Bennett and Heyman, PA have been representing clients in Maryland. They have an established practice dedicated to emergency rooms and hospital mistakes. They have a reputation for their client-oriented practice and their unwavering commitment to fight for the rights of clients. Our accomplished track record speaks volumes about the high-quality services we provide. Our legal representation shouldn’t add to your burdens because we get paid if you receive compensation for your losses. To schedule a free and confidential consultation call (410) 727-2168.
