Alabama Hospital Malpractice Lawyer

Lawsuit Against Hospital Negligence

When you or a loved one are admitted to a hospital, you expect a good outcome and that the medical staff will care for you to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. Every year, thousands of treatment errors are made by doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners in hospitals throughout the United States. Shockingly, many of these errors are never reported.

Since 1958, Cunningham Bounds has fought to improve safety, compensate the injured, and obtain just results on behalf of our clients. In this time, we have helped thousands of clients with recoveries totaling billions of dollars. As a result, we are known as trial lawyers who get results and are considered one of the top personal injury firms in all of Alabama.

We have won millions in cases against negligent Alabama hospitals, including:

• $35 million verdict: A man died following thumb surgery at Springhill Medical Center
• $15 million verdict: A woman received a fatal dose of medication at Springhill Memorial Hospital
• $14.5 million verdict: A 17-year-old child died due to improper monitoring after surgery
• $5.5 million verdict: A woman died due to the negligence of hospital staff
• $5.5 million verdict: A young girl suffered brain damage during surgery at South Baldwin Hospital
• $4 million verdict: A woman died due to negligent care at St. Vincent's Hospital

Contact Cunningham Bounds to schedule your free consultation with our hospital negligence attorneys in Mobile, AL. Cunningham Bounds is the team you want on your side.

Can You Sue a Hospital for Negligence?

Yes, you can sue a hospital for negligence in Alabama under certain circumstances. Hospitals, like other healthcare facilities, have a duty to provide a standard of care to their patients. If a hospital or its staff breach this duty, resulting in harm or injury to a patient, the patient may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

In Alabama, as in other states, medical malpractice claims against hospitals typically require demonstrating the following elements:

• Duty of care: The hospital owed a duty of care to the patient, which is usually established through the existence of a patient-provider relationship.
• Breach of duty: The hospital or its staff breached the standard of care owed to the patient. This breach may involve negligent actions or omissions, such as surgical errors, medication mistakes, misdiagnosis, or failure to provide adequate treatment.
• Causation: The breach of duty directly caused or contributed to the patient's harm or injury. It must be established that the negligence was a substantial factor in causing the harm.
• Damages: The patient suffered actual damages as a result of the hospital's negligence. These damages may include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other related losses.

It's important to note that hospitals can be held liable for the actions of their employees, including physicians, nurses, technicians, and other staff members, under the legal principle of vicarious liability or respondeat superior. 

However, pursuing a medical malpractice claim against a hospital in Alabama requires adhering to specific procedural requirements and statutes of limitations. In Alabama, there are strict deadlines for filing malpractice lawsuits (typically two years from the date of the injury), so it's crucial to consult with a hospital negligence lawyer in Mobile, AL as soon as possible if you believe you have a claim against a hospital. 

When you contact Cunningham Bounds, we can evaluate the circumstances of your case, gather evidence, consult with medical experts, and guide you through the legal process to pursue compensation for your injuries or losses resulting from hospital negligence.

Types of Hospital Malpractice

Hospital malpractice can occur during any kind of hospital stay. It can affect anyone, from emergency room patients to those who have been admitted to the hospital for simple routine procedures. Patients can end up in a worse condition than when they arrived at the hospital.

Hospital malpractice can include any of the following, and more:

• Physician errors
• Emergency room (ER) errors
• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Anesthesia errors
• Medication errors
• Surgical mistakes
• Birth injury mistakes

Hospital malpractice is handled within the overarching legal category of medical malpractice.

Common Examples of Hospital Negligence

Here are a few common examples of hospital negligence:

• Surgical error: A patient undergoes surgery at a hospital, but during the procedure, the surgeon operates on the wrong body part, leading to serious complications.
• Medication error: A nurse at the hospital administers the wrong medication to a patient, resulting in an adverse reaction or worsening of the patient's condition.
• Misdiagnosis: A patient presents to the hospital with symptoms suggestive of a heart attack, but the emergency room physician fails to recognize the signs and sends the patient home. The patient suffers a heart attack shortly afterward, leading to severe complications.
• Birth injury: During labor and delivery at the hospital, the medical staff fails to properly monitor the fetal heart rate, resulting in oxygen deprivation to the baby and subsequent brain injury, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
• Hospital-acquired infection: A patient admitted to the hospital for treatment of a medical condition contracts a severe infection due to inadequate infection control measures, leading to prolonged hospitalization and additional health complications.
• Failure to obtain informed consent: A surgeon performs a procedure on a patient without obtaining proper informed consent, failing to adequately inform the patient of the risks and alternatives associated with the procedure.
• Delayed treatment: A patient arrives at the hospital's emergency department with symptoms of a stroke, but there is a delay in administering appropriate treatment, such as thrombolytic therapy, leading to permanent disability.
• Discharge planning error: A patient is discharged from the hospital prematurely without adequate follow-up care or instructions, leading to complications or readmission shortly after discharge.
• Failure to supervise staff: The hospital fails to adequately supervise or train its nursing staff, resulting in neglectful care of patients, such as failure to turn bedridden patients, leading to the development of pressure ulcers.
• Equipment failure: A patient undergoing surgery experiences complications due to the malfunction of medical equipment, such as a defective surgical instrument or anesthesia machine.

These scenarios represent just a few examples of situations where hospital negligence or errors can occur, potentially leading to harm to patients and giving rise to medical malpractice claims against the hospital and its staff. Each case requires careful evaluation to determine liability and pursue appropriate legal action on behalf of the injured patient.

Hold Negligent Parties Accountable with an Alabama Hospital Malpractice Attorney

Hospital malpractice can severely hurt you and your family members. If you have been the victim of hospital malpractice, it is important that you speak with a lawyer as soon as possible. You may be entitled to compensation. Our firm can meticulously investigate the circumstances surrounding your injuries and prepare a case that aggressively advocates on your behalf. We are passionate about obtaining results that enable our clients to move forward from their present circumstances with confidence.

Call (251) 299-0101 to speak with one of our hospital malpractice attorneys in Alabama.