Sometimes it is not fair to blame a doctor for a medical mistake because the real problem is hospital negligence. Often, it is the hospital-employed staff who made the mistake. As an Oregon Trial Attorney, I receive a lot of calls from people who have been hurt by hospital mistakes. Fortunately, most of those mistakes are small and do not merit a lawsuit. Better to just report the incident to the hospital and the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners. Unfortunately, sometimes the mistakes result in death, brain injury or other life-changing consequences.

As with other negligence-type cases in Oregon, a person must show that the hospital (1) violated some standard of care and (2) the bad care caused a bad result. A bad result, alone is not enough to win a case. So, the first step in proving the case is to acquire the hospital's own standards of care and compare them to what hospital employees actually did. In Oregon, we can get those hospital policies during the discovery phase of the lawsuit.

Medical and hospital malpractice cases are rarely easy. Even when we are convinced that negligence is clear, often, doctors and their insurance companies will fight all the way to trial. For example, I represented a young woman in Bend, Oregon whose doctor ordered a chest x-ray, but never looked at it! In fact, the x-ray showed a significant problem that needed to be addressed right away. The delay in diagnosis hurt the patient's chances for a better life. Yet, the first time defendant wanted to discuss settlement was after the close of evidence at trial, on the night before closing arguments.

All claims in Oregon have strict time limits. If claims are not filed on time, they are lost forever. If the hospital is considered a public body, such as Oregon Health Sciences University, then you need to send them a "Tort Claims Notice" . For some claims, you must send notice within 180 days. Consequently, if you think you have suffered from hospital malpractice, call me right away at 503-665-4234.