Who is possibly liable in a medical malpractice case?

In any significant case of medical malpractice, you may wonder what exactly your next step should be. 

Multiple people could have had a hand in the error that led to your injury. 

Respondeat superior   

According to FindLaw, many malpractice instances arise from negligence, or the inability to properly follow the standard of conduct needed for a safe procedure. Any hospital with employees that act without proper training or instruction falls under this category. 

Due to these instances of negligence, it is often the hospital itself that ends up dealing with lawsuits for malpractice, rather than individual employees. This is because of respondeat superior, or the idea that those in charge are accountable for what independent contractors are doing while under their supervision. 

Drug companies 

In addition to hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers may play a role. However, this is only in circumstances where they failed to warn the doctors about the possible side effects or other issues with the drugs. 

Unreasonably dangerous drugs, such as untested medications, can cause serious health risks in patients. The pharmaceutical parent company could be liable for malpractice based on their inability to warn the hospital of possible complications beforehand. 

Hospital staff 

If the employee does not listen to your private physician or follow his or her medical plan, then the hospital is also responsible for any complications that arise from this situation. This may also be the case if they fail to alert the physician if his or her medical plan is inadvisable to do and would have a clear negative impact on your health. 

Ultimately, the hospital is responsible for a high level of care. This includes instances of negligence from both staff and anyone working through them.