A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) caught the eye of our Virginia Beach medical malpractice attorneys since it revealed a shocking reality – simply being admitted to a U.S. hospital raises the risk that you could suffer personal injury or wrongful death. Specifically, the NEJM study found that nearly 1 in 4 patients admitted to hospitals in the United States wind up experiencing some form of harm. The troubling findings highlight the unfortunate reality that, after years of effort to address in-patient injuries and hospital-acquired infections, there is still much U.S. hospitals need to do to improve patient safety to reduce the risk of avoidable bodily injury and wrongful death, according to NBC News.
Details of the Study
The research conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine examined medical records of more than 2,800 patients who were hospitalized in 11 Boston-area hospitals in 2018. Hospital data indicated that 663 of the patients, which is roughly 24 percent, experienced at least one adverse event during their stay that negatively impacted their health.
The study also discovered that a total of 222 adverse events were considered preventable, meaning the errors resulted in harm to a patient. That number translates to roughly 7 percent of the total admissions that were analyzed by researchers.
Hospital Harm and Your Legal Rights
When a hospital or a member of the medical staff makes a preventable mistake while you are in their care that results in bodily harm, you may have grounds to pursue financial restitution for your harms and losses. Being the victim of medical malpractice can leave you damaged physically, emotionally and financially. Hospitals should be held financially responsible for the injuries inflicted on patients by careless or reckless medical professionals.
Financial Restitution That Can Be Pursued If You Were Harmed While Hospitalized
An experienced hospital negligence lawyer in Virginia Beach can assist you in determining the strength and viability of your case. If it makes sense to take legal action, an experienced attorney can help you in seeking the financial restitution you are owed. A successful claim for financial restitution in a medical malpractice case can result in reimbursement for the following harms and losses:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
Please note that medical malpractice cases in Virginia highly complex legal matters and may be difficult to pursue without the help of experienced and knowledgeable legal counsel with our firm. Make sure you consult a Virginia Beach hospital negligence attorney as soon as possible, as state law sets a strict time limit on when you can file your case (in Virginia, the statute of limitations is generally two years commencing from the date of the harm).
Our team of Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers possess significant experience handling complex hospital negligence cases. For example, we represented a client who suffered a debilitating seizure and traumatic brain injury AFTER visiting a hospital for treatment. The doctor who treated our client failed to identify noticeable symptoms related to low-moderate hyponatremia, which is a medical condition caused by abnormally low sodium in the body. This missed diagnosis led to our client’s condition getting appreciably worse culminating in the aforementioned seizure and brain injury. Our firm went to work on behalf of our injured client and took the case all the way to trial. A jury agreed the failure to properly diagnose the hyponatremia was medical malpractice and awarded our client $1.6 million in damages.
Have Questions? Contact an Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Virginia Beach
Negligence by a hospital or staff members can leave patients seriously injured and potentially debilitated for an extended period of time. These hardships should not be placed on the shoulders of the patient, particularly when the injury was not the fault of the patient. An experienced Virginia Beach hospital negligence lawyer with our firm is ready and able to assist you in pursuing your claim. Contact us today to learn more about your legal options. We offer free, confidential consultations to all prospective clients.
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