Winning Your Medical Malpractice Case Against a Nursing Home

Putting your loved one in the care of a nursing home places an immense amount of trust in the professionals working there. The majority of time, the care is top-notch. In rare instances, however, those living in these facilities are mistreated.

If a family member or loved one has been injured as a result of this mistreatment, you may have a personal injury claim or lawsuit on your hands. Nursing home cases can sometimes be complex, with the added element of possible medical malpractice. In many instances, it’s wise to call on the help of an experienced and trusted attorney to help you in your case.

Proving Medical Negligence

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional or caretaker exhibits negligence toward an individual. Negligence, as defined by Florida law, is present when an individual or entity is responsible for your safety and well-being and that individual or entity fails that duty to you. If that failure leads to an injury, that individual or entity is liable for the costs of your injuries and other related bills and expenses.

In a nursing home context, medical negligence is defined as failure on the part of the health care provider to exhibit the quality of care expected of a reasonable health care provider.

To win a medical malpractice case against a nursing home, the plaintiff has to prove that the health care provider was negligent in their care toward the individual.

Improper or Faulty Administration of Drugs to Patients

Errors in providing or administering prescription drugs to nursing home patients can be deadly. These errors can arise from a number of situations, including:

• The nursing home improperly labels the medication;
• The nursing home gives the wrong medication to the wrong patient;
• The nurse administers the medication improperly;
• The medication causes a negative reaction because of poor interaction with other drugs already being taken by the patient;
• The nurse provides too much or too little medication;
• The prescribing health provider does not take the patient’s allergies into account before prescribing a specific medication; and
• A doctor prescribes the wrong amount of medication.

Negligence in Medication Errors

These mistakes can happen for a number of reasons, and they oftentimes are considered negligence when the cases come forward. This can happen when a nurse misreads a medical chart. It can occur if a patient is not well enough to indicate if he or she has allergies and responds incorrectly. It can also happen if a medical professional mistakenly administers the drug incorrectly. For example, some medications have to be injected directly into the bloodstream, while others are injected into the muscle.

The consequence of these mistakes can vary in degree of severity. But if your loved one has been injured as a result of a medical mistake in a nursing home, you should contact a lawyer to see how you can proceed in holding the nursing home liable.

Contact a Lawyer

The lawyer will gather all information in the case, including medical documents, prescription information and any eyewitness accounts. A medical expert will likely come in to review all the information and provide a determination of whether negligence occurred based on the facts of the case. From there, you and your lawyer can file a personal injury or malpractice claim and ideally receive compensation.

If you’re in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area and a loved one in a nursing home has been hurt as a result of negligence, contact the lawyers at Boone & Davis today. We have years of experience and legal knowledge and can help you recover what you and your family deserve.