Hospital staffs in Pennsylvania are charged with ensuring the safety of the patients in their care. When this does not happen, the results may be dire, leading to serious injuries or death. One patient in another state recently decided to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital group for allegedly not monitoring him and thus causing him to suffer injuries.
According to his complaint, the man was using oxygen-supported devices. This caused the patient to be agitated, and staff reportedly found him face down near his bed on the floor. At that time, he did not have any devices attached to him.
The man said no alarms went off, and he was not found for half an hour. While the man survived, it is claimed that he is permanently disabled due to the incident. He thus filed a suit against the hospital group, alleging negligence and medical malpractice. He is seeking over $50,000 as well as punitive damages and attorney fees.
If health care professionals do not exercise a reasonable degree of care with patients and patients suffer injuries as a result, these patients retain the right to file medical malpractice claims for compensatory damages. Financial restitution from a successfully litigated case may help to cover health care costs and other expenses associated with a documented malpractice incident. Punitive damages may also be awarded in cases of egregious fault. Before a court will adjudicate claims for monetary damages, liability must be established by competent proof submitted to the civil court in Pennsylvania.
Source: setexasrecord.com, "Patient blames Baptist Hospitals for permanent injuries", Angelino Menconi, Dec. 2, 2015