If you recently had a fall at a hospital in Pennsylvania, you may be wondering if you have a case for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is a generic term often used to indicate professional negligence in the medical field. Not all hospital fall cases fit under medical malpractice. Under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act, healthcare providers may be liable if they deviate from the acceptable professional standard of care.
If the circumstances of the fall demonstrate that the providers failed to meet those standards, then falling in the hospital may be considered medical malpractice. For instance, falling in the hospital may be considered medical malpractice if a high-risk patient is left unsupervised in an examination room post-surgery, loses their balance, falls off the examination table and hits their head. Another example could be if the medical providers failed to properly restrain a patient in transit to their hospital bed, which caused the patient to fall and injure themselves. Medical malpractice claims can be complex, and their likelihood of success varies widely with the specific facts of the case. For this reason, it is recommended to consult a medical malpractice attorney to help you assess which legal theories best fit your case.
Hospital fall cases are extremely vulnerable to legal challenges, and the courts often throw them out before the cases even get to a jury. This is because these cases are often brought to court as simple slip and fall cases caused by ordinary negligence, when they are in fact professional negligence cases. Professional negligence depends heavily on the medical judgment of the healthcare provider and carries different requirements than ordinary negligence. When a hospital fall is brought to court as an ordinary negligence case, medical providers may attempt to have your case thrown out by arguing that you should have claimed professional negligence instead. This distinction matters because the laws applicable to these two types of negligence cases, the level of care owed to patients, and required filings differ greatly between the two.
For instance, for professional negligence cases, the MCARE Act governs, expert testimony is required, a seven-year limitation and certain mandatory filings apply. Filing the wrong type of negligence claim is one of the weaknesses that providers often look for to dismiss a case. Medical providers also often tend to shift blame by arguing that the patient was noncompliant, or that the fall was spontaneous or unpredictable. As a result, the type of negligence claim can greatly influence whether a court will find that a hospital fall constitutes medical malpractice.
If you successfully bring a hospital medical malpractice claim related to a fall, you may be able to recover economic damages that compensate for out-of-pocket medical expenses, such as hospital bills, rehabilitation, prescription, and follow-up care costs. You may also recover for lost income or loss of future earning capacity that is due to any injury you suffered during the fall. Finally, you may also recover for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of consortium. Unlike in other states, Pennsylvania does not impose a cap on the maximum amount of damages that you can recover.
Hospital falls do not always indicate that there was medical malpractice. Several legal theories may be applicable to a hospital fall. Deciding which one fits your circumstances is a complex task that is best suited to an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Our attorney can determine the best path to win your case while allowing you to focus on your recovery. Because of the time limitations involved in certain medical malpractice filings, do not wait to get help.
Hospital falls can understandably be a frightening and stressful experience. If you are left wondering if falling in the hospital is considered medical malpractice, contact our attorneys at Soloff & Zervanos today to discuss your case.