When someone falls inside a health care facility, this may qualify as a case that could be handled by a medical malpractice lawyer. Not every incident constitutes a malpractice case. If the situation involves negligence or careless treatment of a patient on the part of facility personnel, this may be characterized as malpractice. Ordinary negligence, such as not placing a caution sign by a wet floor, does not constitute medical malpractice. When a patient is receiving care and falls after being left unattended or being treated negligently, the law views this as malpractice.
Strangely enough, injuries due to falls in medical centers, nursing homes and other health care facilities are relatively common. Patients sometimes fall when being helped from a bed to a chair, for example. They may fall while being helped onto an MRI platform. It would seem that with so many well-trained staff members on the scene that these accidents would be rare. A combination of factors contributes to the problem, including patients who are not completely honest about their physical functioning, overworked employees and, in some cases, inattention by those employees.
Falling must have resulted in an injury or the person does not have a legal case. Falling may be embarrassing and unpleasant, but if the episode did not result in any actual physical harm, the patient will probably not be able to successfully make a claim or file a lawsuit. In some instances, however, emotional trauma may be believable by the facility’s insurer. For instance, a patient who fell from a wheelchair while being moved by a staff member may justifiably develop anxiety or fear of returning to that facility.
The medical center’s insurer may be more likely to accept responsibility for ordinary negligence than for malpractice. This is a primary reason that patients who have been harmed in these facilities need a medical malpractice lawyer for legal representation. A law firm that assists clients in personal injury and medical malpractice cases typically offers free initial consultations. Attorneys with a firm such as Olson and Reeves are ready to answer questions during a complimentary appointment and to make an evaluation of the case.
