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Vicarious Liability And Medical Malpractice

Posted in Medical Malpractice on Thursday, January 28, 2016.

Michigan residents often trust that health care facilities will provide them with the care they need to get better. Sadly, this does not always happen, and, sometimes, patients leave in a worse condition than when they arrived as the result of a doctor’s negligence. When this happens, it may be possible to pursue legal action against a responsible party in the form of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

There are many legal nuances involved in medical malpractice lawsuits. One is a legal concept known as vicarious liability. For victims who discover evidence of medical negligence long after the event occurred, this concept can prove very important. Sometimes, it can take years before a victim discovers that the actions of a doctor resulted in a worsened condition. It may be so long, in fact, that the victim no longer recalls the specifics of the incident or even the doctor’s name. Thankfully, vicarious liability allows for legal action to be taken long after the incident occurs.

An employer may be found liable for the mistakes of its employees because of vicarious liability. If a doctor’s negligence results in a patient being harmed or if a patient’s condition is somehow worsened, the employer may also be found guilty as a result of vicarious liability laws. The employer may be liable if the employee was on the clock when the accident occurred. Also, if the employer benefited from the action taken at the time of the injury, then vicarious liability may come into play.

As with many medical malpractice concepts, there are many intricacies involved in this principal. Often, an expert is needed to make sense of all the legal nuances involved. Thankfully, medical malpractice attorneys are available to help guide victims through these legal complexities.