Bridgeport, Connecticut Hospital Negligence Attorneys

Bridgeport Lawyers for Injuries to Patients Due to Negligent Treatment at Hospitals in Connecticut

When someone goes to the hospital, they usually trust that the facility and its staff will provide competent, safe medical care. Patients place their health and lives in the hands of doctors, nurses, technicians, and other healthcare professionals who work at these institutions. However, hospitals do not always live up to the standards of care that patients deserve. When negligent practices, understaffing, poor training, inadequate supervision, or systemic failures put patients at risk, serious injuries can occur.

Hospital negligence involves preventable harm caused by the failure to meet accepted medical standards. The consequences can be devastating, ranging from extended hospital stays and additional medical procedures to permanent disabilities or wrongful death. Medical malpractice cases involving hospitals may involve complex legal and medical issues that will require thorough investigation and experienced representation. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our lawyers can work with patients and their families to seek accountability for hospital injuries and recover compensation for the injuries and damages suffered by victims.

Common Forms of Hospital Negligence

Hospitals can fail patients in numerous ways, including:

• Medication Errors: These mistakes may occur when patients receive the wrong medication, incorrect dosages, medications they are allergic to, or drugs that interact dangerously with other medications. Errors can happen during prescribing when doctors order inappropriate medications, when orders are misread or entered incorrectly into computer systems, during dispensing when pharmacists provide the wrong drugs, and during administration. The results can include adverse drug reactions, worsening of medical conditions, organ damage, or death.
• Surgical Errors: Wrong-site surgeries may occur when procedures are performed on the wrong body part. Wrong-patient surgery may happen when patients are misidentified and undergo procedures intended for someone else. Foreign objects left inside patients after surgery can cause infections, and additional operations may be required. Anesthesia errors can result in awareness during surgery, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, or death. Damage to organs, nerves, or blood vessels during procedures can cause permanent complications.
• Infections: Healthcare-associated infections may occur when hospitals fail to follow proper hygiene protocols. Staff members who do not wash their hands between patients, contaminated equipment that is not properly sterilized, and failure to follow infection control procedures can contribute to preventable infections. Some infections may lead to sepsis, organ failure, or death.
• Failure to Diagnose or Delayed Diagnosis: Heart attacks, strokes, cancer, pulmonary embolisms, and infections that go undiagnosed or are diagnosed late can progress to advanced stages where treatment may be less effective. Misreading test results, failing to order appropriate diagnostic tests, not following up on abnormal findings, and poor communication between healthcare providers can contribute to diagnostic failures.
• Patient Monitoring Failures: When hospital staff members do not adequately observe patients' conditions and respond to changes, patients may suffer harm. Failure to recognize deteriorating vital signs, not responding to monitor alarms, inadequate checks on post-surgical patients, and insufficient observation of patients at risk for falls or self-harm can result in serious complications that could have been prevented with proper monitoring.
• Staffing Shortages: When facilities do not employ enough nurses, technicians, and support staff, the workers who are present can become overwhelmed. Overworked staff members may make more mistakes or miss important signs of patient deterioration. Hospitals that prioritize cost savings over adequate staffing put profits ahead of patient safety.
• Inadequate Training and Supervision: When employees do not have the knowledge or skills needed to perform their duties safely, patients may be injured. Nurses who are not properly trained on new equipment, technicians who are not properly supervised when performing complex procedures, and medical students or residents who work without appropriate oversight can cause serious harm to patients.
• Equipment Failures: Hospitals may not maintain medical devices properly, or they may continue to use outdated or defective equipment. Malfunctioning ventilators, defective surgical instruments, improperly calibrated monitors, and broken equipment that is not promptly repaired or replaced can contribute to patient injuries.
• Communication Breakdowns: When doctors do not communicate important information to nurses, when shift changes occur without proper handoffs, and when test results are not shared with treating physicians, patients may receive inappropriate treatment, or necessary care may be delayed.
• Premature Discharge: Hospitals may send patients home before they are medically stable, often to free up beds or reduce costs. Patients who are discharged too early may experience complications at home without adequate support, or they may need to be readmitted shortly after leaving the hospital.

Complex Liability Issues in Hospital Negligence Cases

Determining who is legally responsible for hospital negligence will require an analysis of the relationships between hospitals, healthcare providers, and the circumstances of the injury. Corporate negligence claims may arise when a hospital failed to properly credential and privilege physicians, did not adequately supervise staff, maintained insufficient staffing levels, used defective or poorly maintained equipment, or failed to implement adequate policies and procedures for patient safety.

Vicarious liability may hold a hospital responsible for the negligence of employees acting within the scope of their employment. Injuries caused by nurses, technicians, pharmacists, and other staff members who are hospital employees may be the responsibility of their employer.

Independent contractor status for certain hospital workers may affect liability. Many doctors who work in hospitals are not hospital employees, and they may be independent contractors who have privileges to treat patients at the facility. In some cases, a hospital may argue that it should not be held liable for the negligence of independent contractor physicians. However, it may be possible to hold a hospital liable for the actions of independent contractors when patients reasonably believe that a doctor is a hospital employee.

Multiple parties may share responsibility when several healthcare providers have contributed to a patient's injuries. A surgical error might involve the surgeon, anesthesiologist, surgical nurses, and other hospital systems. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our lawyers can provide representation in medical malpractice cases and pursue claims against all negligent parties to help ensure that our clients will receive full compensation.

Proving medical malpractice will require a person to establish specific legal elements. Victims must show that a doctor-patient or hospital-patient relationship existed, that the hospital or provider breached the applicable standard of care, that this breach directly caused the patient's injuries, and that damages occurred as a result. Our attorneys can gather evidence to satisfy these elements, including medical records, expert testimony, and documentation of a person's injuries.

Legal Help for Hospital Negligence Victims

Our lawyers have the knowledge and resources needed to build compelling cases against large healthcare institutions. We will thoroughly review medical records related to the treatment a person received, including admission records, physician notes, nursing documentation, medication administration records, laboratory and imaging results, surgical reports, and discharge summaries. These records can reveal what care was provided, when providers became aware of problems, and how they responded.

Our team will consult with medical professionals who can review a case and provide opinions about whether the care that was provided at a hospital met accepted standards. These experts can explain what a competent healthcare provider should have done differently. Their testimony can be essential for proving that negligence occurred and that it caused a person's injuries.

We will investigate hospital policies, staffing levels, and training programs to identify systemic problems that contributed to a patient's injury. This may involve examining nurse-to-patient ratios, reviewing credentialing records for physicians, analyzing equipment maintenance logs, and researching a hospital's history of similar incidents. Evidence of widespread problems can strengthen claims against a hospital.

We also work with economic professionals and life care planners to document the full extent of a person's damages. We can calculate past and future medical expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, the costs of ongoing care and assistance, and non-economic damages that may include pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life.

Throughout the process, our team will provide compassionate representation focused on achieving results for clients. We understand the physical pain, emotional trauma, and financial stress that a person may experience due to hospital negligence. While our clients focus on their recovery, we will handle the legal complexities involved in holding negligent hospitals accountable.

Contact Our Bridgeport, CT Hospital Negligence Lawyers

Hospital negligence can cause harm to patients who trusted healthcare facilities to provide safe, competent care. When these institutions fail to meet their responsibilities, patients may suffer serious injuries that should have been avoided. At Tremont Sheldon P.C., our lawyers work to hold hospitals accountable for the negligence of their staff and their failure to maintain safe conditions.

We understand the medical and legal complexities involved in these cases, and we know how to investigate thoroughly and build strong claims. We will not rest until our clients are made whole. Contact our Bridgeport hospital injury attorneys today at 203-335-5145 to arrange a free consultation.