Hospital Negligence Lawyers
Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Patients go to a hospital with the expectation of receiving medical care that will help them get better. But too often, patients suffer preventable injuries or acquire infections and diseases as a result of negligent care by doctors and hospital staff. A 2009 study by Healthgrades, a healthcare quality company, estimated that preventable hospital medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Hospital errors include physician errors, emergency room errors, diagnostic errors, lab errors, medication mistakes, birth injuries, lack of monitoring and defective medical equipment. Often these errors constitute hospital negligence.
If you have been injured or acquired a serious infection or disease from a hospital visit, you owe it to yourself and your family to understand your legal rights. Talk to a knowledgeable hospital negligence lawyer who is committed to helping clients who have been harmed by a hospital stay.
Contact the Potts Law Firm Today
Founded in 2002 by attorney Derek Potts, the Potts Law Firm has a winning combination of proven legal experience and energy.
- Aggressive legal advocacy. Our aggressive advocacy on behalf of our clients has earned the respect of our peers.
- Knowledge & experience. Potts’ extensive legal knowledge and experience has earned him leadership positions in several national litigations.
- Results for our injury clients. Our medical malpractice lawyers have obtained significant verdicts and settlements on our clients’ behalf and successfully resolved hundreds of catastrophic injury cases.
Let our medical malpractice lawyers put our legal experience and energy to work for you. For a free evaluation of your medical injury claim, contact us toll free at (866) 311-2230 or use our online contact form.
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the Potts Law Firm provides a free initial consultation to medical injury victims in Kansas City, Missouri; Independence, Missouri; Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas; and Olathe, Kansas.
Types of Hospital Negligence
Hospitals are hectic places where spilt-second decisions made by doctors and hospital staff can save lives or cause lasting injuries. There are more than 17,000 staffed hospital beds in Missouri and about 6,600 hospital beds in Kansas. Many patients who go to the hospital suffer injuries or acquire infections. In treating patients, hospitals are required to provide reasonable care and provide qualified personnel for the treatment of patients. It’s no coincidence that hospitals that are thinly staffed or cut corners on nurses have higher rates of patient complications such as pneumonia, shock, cardiac arrest and urinary tract problems, according to research by the federal Agency for Heathcare Research and Quality.
Hospital errors that may represent negligence fall into broad categories. They include:
- Diagnostic errors—Wrong diagnosis, failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis represent a significant portion of hospital errors. The use of outmoded tests may cause delays in making a diagnosis.
- Treatment Errors—A doctor may accidentally puncture or slice a patient’s organ while performing a procedure or surgery. A hospital may not have in place systematic safety procedures to safeguard against operating room errors.
- Medication Mistakes—A large percentage of hospital errors are associated with medications. A doctor can prescribe the wrong drug or wrong dosage. A study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine identified nearly a quarter of a million patients’ deaths caused by medication errors in U.S. hospitals from 1979 to 2006. A hurried nurse may misread a doctor’s medication orders. A short-staffed hospital may not dispense the drug in time for it to be administered at the proper time. Hospital staff may not monitor a patient properly and may miss early warning signs of an adverse drug reaction.
- Lab Errors—A hospital lab can make a mistake on a lab result, prompting a doctor to make a wrong diagnosis and a patient to undergo unnecessary procedures because of the error.
- Medical Equipment Errors—Injuries caused by hospital medical equipment such as diagnostic equipment are typically caused by lack of staff training or lack of equipment maintenance.
Trust An Experienced Kansas City Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you have been harmed by hospital negligence, the hospital and their malpractice insurance provider should pay for your injuries, ongoing medical bills and other damages. The knowledgeable hospital injury lawyers at the Potts Law Firm will analyze your legal options after a medical injury and determine if you have grounds to file a legal action.
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the Potts Law Firm provide a free initial consultation to victims of physician error and hospital negligence in Kansas City (MO); Independence, (MO); Lee’s Summit (MO); Overland Park (KS); and Olathe (KS).
For a free evaluation of your malpractice injury and legal options, contact us toll free at (866) 311-2230 or use our online contact form.
