Personal Injury Law

Physician Sues Hospital

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

A physician has filed a lawsuit against her own hospital after being pushed out for attempting to report major events of medical malpractice and gross negligence. Following state inspections of the facility, the federal government has halted Medicare and Medicaid funding to the hospital until it is able to meet minimum standards of safety. One inspection found ?immediate jeopardy? in the hospital?s administration of medication to its patients. The lawsuit further alleges numerous specific incidents of malpractice and negligence. The physician even observed one patient?s intravenous needle dripping onto the floor and another patient was not given her prescribed antibiotics for three days.

The physician filed the lawsuit only after attempting to file complaints with hospital administration. However, instead of resolving blatant violations of the standard of care, administrators harassed the physician and told her to stop writing formal complaints, suggesting she speak with the risk manager at the hospital prior before writing any formal complaint. The physician was even told to cater breakfast for the nurses who were upset that she was filing too many reports.

A chief inspector for the state concluded there were serious violations in the hospital?s ability to detect and correct medication errors. He stated that these violations demonstrate the poor quality of oversight at the hospital, a problem that originates with staff not following orders. The hospital was one of five facilities that have similarly been stripped of Medicare and Medicaid funding.

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Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).