Hospital Failure to Treat or Observe: Red Flags in Care
We turn to hospitals when we’re at our most vulnerable, and we trust these healthcare facilities to provide us with the care we need. Unfortunately, hospital negligence is not uncommon and often manifests as inadequate treatment or monitoring. If you or someone you care about has suffered losses as a direct result of such a failure, our experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Ginsberg & O’Connor in Cherry Hill, NJ, welcome the opportunity to help.
Safety Standards Set for Cherry Hill Hospitals
Cherry Hill hospitals and hospitals throughout the State of New Jersey must abide by the strict safety standards established at the state and federal levels. Any deviation from these important safety guidelines, including when treating or observing patients, can support a medical malpractice claim.
Primary Warning Signs of Inadequate Treatment
Every medical malpractice claim is unique to the specific circumstances involved. This said, there are several red flags you should be aware of when identifying hospital negligence involving failure to treat. Each of the following can qualify:
- Delayed diagnosis, which can take the form of a dismissal of symptoms without paying adequate attention
- Misdiagnosis because of paying inadequate attention to the patient’s unique symptoms or of veering off course in the diagnosis process
- Dangerous errors in medication, which can include failing to take drug interactions or drug allergies into account
- Surgical errors, including never events like operating on the wrong patient or body part, performing the wrong surgery on the patient, or leaving surgical instruments in them
- Infections that are the result of inadequate sterilization protocols
When a hospital fails to implement the necessary safety protocols for the medical professionals who provide care at their facility, the risk of treatment errors is all too real.
Primary Warning Signs of Inadequate Observation
Even when a patient’s illness or injury is properly diagnosed, and the correct treatment is ordered, the patient remains vulnerable to inadequate observation. This can take any of the following forms:
- Failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs during treatment effectively or to recognize any signs of distress they exhibit
- Failing to attend to wound care consistently can lead to serious infections
- Failing to take the patient’s complaints of pain or of new or worsening symptoms seriously enough
- Failing to inform the patient regarding necessary follow-up care or necessary instructions moving forward
Failure to provide adequate observation can result from inadequate hiring practices and lead to serious health consequences.
Our Experienced Firm Cares About You and Your Claim
Our compassionate Cherry Hill medical malpractice attorneys at Ginsberg & O’Connor have an impressive reputation for guiding challenging claims toward optimal outcomes, and we’re here for you, too. For more information about everything we can do to help, please don’t delay contacting us online or call 856-727-1991 today.