Each year thousands of Americans, including many people in Chicago, suffer an injury or some sort of illness due to medical malpractice. Medical malpractice can occur in any number of healthcare situations, from a long-term hospital or nursing home stay to a simple doctor appointment that lasts mere minutes. When mistakes are made in a Chicago resident’s healthcare plan, though, the effects can be long-lasting.
Beyond the immediate need to address the injury or illness that resulted from the negligence, victims will also likely be looking ahead to what they will need to do to prove a medical malpractice claim. The first step is usually to figure out who should actually be the named in the lawsuit and from whom compensation will be sought.
Although it may seem obvious that the named defendant should be the medical professional who was responsible for the malpractice – be it a doctor, a nurse, or any other medical professional who rendered care – it is not always that simple. For instance, if the medical malpractice occurred in a hospital setting, the hospital as a corporate entity may be named as a defendant in the lawsuit, especially if the hospital did not take appropriate steps to look into the qualifications of its employees. This is important to know, as suing a business and succeeding could increase the likelihood of recovering the full extent of one’s damages.
In some cases, an injury or illness suffered by a Chicago resident is the result of medication that is prescribed to a patient. In those instances, the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the medication could be named as a defendant, especially if the medication did not come with a warning about potential side effects.
In other words, those who have been harmed by medical negligence want to be sure that they are pursuing every legal avenue available to them, which means identifying all individuals and entities that may be held liable. For assistance with this, victims may want to speak with a medical malpractice attorney.
Source: FindLaw, “Medical Malpractice: Who Can Be Sued?” accessed March 14, 2016
