Category: Medical Malpractice

Hospitals should ensure patients that they have professionals providing quality care in a clean facility. Unfortunately, not all hospitals are the same. You might not be in the best hospital possible and in some cases, this can be deadly.

Any time you or a loved one is in a hospital, you’re probably dealing with stress and strong emotions. Whether it’s for a surgical procedure, treatment, or test, these circumstances are never easy. You’re trusting your hospital to take care of you or your loved one. It might be discouraging to know that bad hospitals are out there. But once you know what to look out for in bad hospitals and what tools you have at your disposal, you’ll have all the information you need to choose the best hospital for you or your loved one.

If you’ve been in a bad hospital in Kentucky that gave you less than ideal medical care, whether it was a misdiagnosis or a doctor or surgeon made a mistake in treatment or surgery, you might have experienced medical malpractice. This is when a medical professional’s negligence caused you harm or damage. Thomas Law Offices can help. Located in Louisville, we put your needs first. We’re prepared to handle medical malpractice cases with the attention and care you deserve.

When we visit a doctor or spend time in an emergency room, clinic, or hospital, we trust that we’ll be properly taken care of and that the staff members know what they’re doing. Despite this expectation, doctors and medical professionals make mistakes every day. One may argue that all humans make mistakes occasionally—and this is certainly true—but when we place our lives in the hands of another human being, the risk of a mistake happening has to be lowered to an absolute minimum.

A news team in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported that local nursing home residents were being encouraged to sign tort reform documents limiting damages and attorney fees they could receive should they ever become involved in a medical malpractice suit against the facility.  More than 20 different nursing home facilities investigated had staff members that had been soliciting signatures from residents with severe mental incapacities.  Family members are outraged and appalled at the underhanded action of an establishment they are expected to trust.

According to the Attorney General’s office, as long as a nursing home resident is deemed “competent” a facility is legally allowed to obtain their signature on documents without first consulting with family members or a power-of-attorney.  Competency is commonly thought of as a medical determination but it is not, rather it is a legal determination based on medical evidence.  Therefore, a resident can be suffering from severe dementia and still be competent because a court has not determined that they are incompetent.

Just a few days ago, we reported about a dangerous situation that has been slowly unfolding at University of Louisville Hospital since 2013. Severe nursing layoffs and other employee cuts caused the hospital to become understaffed to high levels which forced overnight E.R. patients, for example, to not be seen until 9 AM the following day. Entire sections of the hospital were even forced to be closed off due to the lack of nurses.

In a recent Courier Journal article, it was revealed that the state of Kentucky is currently investigating whether patient care is being compromised at University of Louisville Hospital due to hospital understaffing caused by severe staff cuts issued by KentuckyOne Health, the healthcare corporation that currently owns the hospital.