Responsible Parties in Medical Malpractice Cases

When we think about filing a medical malpractice claim, our first thought is to name the physician in charge of treatment as the defendant in the action. However, medical malpractice is not limited to the conduct of medical doctors. Any providers of healthcare, such as nurses, anesthesiologists, healthcare facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, may have been negligent, leading to injury of a patient.

Hospitals

Negligence. A hospital or other healthcare facility may be held directly responsible for its own negligence. If a hospital fails to make reasonable inquiries into the education, training, and licensing of an applicant for a staff position, it may be held liable for injuries to a patient by a staff member under the corporate negligence doctrine of negligent supervision or retention.

Along with negligent supervision, a hospital could be found liable in a medical malpractice action if a patient's injuries resulted from inadequate staffing. Hospitals are required to make sure that there are sufficient numbers of qualified and trained nurses to provide adequate care to patients.

In various states, hospitals have been held liable for failing to protect its patients from harm, to adequately perform clinical tests, to keep accurate medical records, and to properly admit or discharge patients. A refusal to treat seriously ill patients in the emergency room because of their inability to pay could result in direct hospital liability, as could the refusal to treat or admit individuals based on their race, color, religion, or national origin.

Vicarious Liability. Under a legal doctrine called "respondeat superior," an employer may be held responsible for the negligent acts of an employee if the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time the negligence or omission occurred. Therefore, a hospital may be indirectly or "vicariously" liable for injuries to a patient caused by a hospital employee.

If a physician is an independent contractor instead of a hospital employee, the respondeat superior doctrine would not apply. However, the hospital may be liable in addition to the physician if it was negligent in granting attending privileges to that physician.

Pharmaceutical Companies

If a pharmaceutical company fails to warn physicians about the potential side effects of a drug, it may be liable if the drug caused the patient's injuries. However, if it adequately informed the physician of all risks associated with a drug, the pharmaceutical company is not considered to be negligent. Generally, the physician is a "learned intermediary," who is responsible for determining the propriety of a drug for a patient, assuming that he has been given adequate information from the pharmaceutical company.

Contact our firm for a free case evaluation