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Confidential Birth Injury settlement.
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Waterloo Attorneys

What to Do If You Received Inadequate Care in a Hospital

For many of us, visiting the hospital is something we do when we are in need of immediate emergency care. We trust that emergency room doctors and hospital staff will provide us with the professional treatment we need. In fact, they are legally bound to do so. Unfortunately, hospital malpractice is incredibly common in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of people being injured or dying as a result of substandard medical care every single year.

If you believe that you received improper care in an emergency room or hospital, the first thing you should do is make sure you receive the adequate care you need. Visit another facility as soon as possible for treatment. Next, know that you may be entitled to financial compensation for your damages, including the costs associated with additional treatment. It’s important that you reach out to an experienced attorney who knows how to properly handle these types of cases.

At Ball, Kirk & Holm, P.C., we have been representing victims of medical and hospital malpractice throughout the state of Iowa for more than 60 years. Our Waterloo hospital malpractice lawyers will meet with you to discuss your rights and inform you of your various options. We can even travel to where you are located if necessary.

Schedule a complimentary consultation with our team today call (319) 220-0416 or contact us online to get started. We proudly serve Iowa City, Waterloo and the surrounding areas.

Understanding Hospital & Emergency Room Malpractice

Like other types of medical malpractice, hospital malpractice involves hospital staff failing to provide an acceptable standard of care to patients. However, these cases can be particularly complex due to the fact that many hospital departments and personnel, such as emergency room staff, are granted more lenience as a result of the highly intensive nature and need for quick decision making in regards to emergency room operations.

That being said, in order to prove that a hospital was negligent, you must show that the hospital or hospital staff (including doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and others):

  • Owed you a duty of care, meaning you were a patient at the hospital
  • Failed to provide the same level of care one could reasonably expect from another qualified hospital, emergency room, medical professional, etc.

You will also need to prove that you were injured or otherwise harmed (e.g., your condition worsened, you fell ill, your loved one passed away, etc.) as a direct result of the hospital’s negligence, and you will need to show that this led to measurable damages. Damages can be either economic or non-economic in nature, but there are caps on non-economic (or “subjective”) damages in medical malpractice cases in the state of Iowa.

Common Examples of Hospital Malpractice

Because hospitals provide a wide range of medical services, hospital malpractice can take many forms.

Some common examples of hospital malpractice include:

  • Failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, and/or delayed diagnosis
  • Failure to diagnose/treat life-threatening conditions in the emergency room
  • Anesthesia errors, including administration of improper doses
  • Surgical mistakes and post-operative negligence
  • Failure to order diagnostic tests and other laboratory tests
  • Failure to properly analyze test results
  • Medication errors, including overdoses, wrong medication, etc.
  • Negligence during labor or delivery, leading to birth injuries
  • Failure to obtain a patient’s informed consent/failure to clearly explain a treatment

These are just some of the many examples of hospital and emergency room errors that constitute malpractice. If you believe that you received substandard care of any type while at a hospital, you could be entitled to financial compensation. Reach out to our Waterloo hospital malpractice lawyers right away for a free consultation.

Time Limits for Filing Hospital Malpractice Claims in Iowa

The state of Iowa sets a statute of limitations on all medical malpractice claims, including those involving hospital and emergency room negligence. The statute of limitations on hospital malpractice in Iowa is two years from the date of the injury or two years from the date on which you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury. If you do not file your claim within this two-year time limit, you will almost certainly be barred from recovering compensation.

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