When you or your loved one visits a doctor, you expect that the care will be high quality. You expect the providers to tailor that care to your or your loved one’s own specific needs and history. What you do not expect is for doctors to provide treatments that do not relate to, or are unnecessary for, your or your loved one’s conditions, or to administer drug doses that far exceed safe limits.
If a patient receives improper care, whether inadequate, excessive or simply the wrong thing altogether, serious injury may occur. This can create long-term, or even lifelong, battles with health challenges the person would not have otherwise had. In some cases, the patient may even die as a result.
In many situations, the injury or death may have been preventable, such as if health care workers had paid closer attention to what they were doing or had implemented better communication practices. Depending on the circumstances, issues such as these may be medical malpractice.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice may apply to any practitioners involved in providing health care to patients. This may include doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care professionals. In some cases, a malpractice claim may also name the facility, such as the hospital, clinic or nursing home, and its other staff who may have had a part in the action or inaction that caused you or your loved one harm.
A number of actions may fall under medical malpractice. These can include prescribing or administering the wrong prescription or dose; misdiagnosis of conditions; neglect, abuse or injuries while staying in a facility; wrongful death; and more.
How long do you have for filing a claim?
Under Ohio law, claimants must file their medical malpractice suit within one year of the alleged occurrence, or within one year of discovering that it took place. In any event, Ohio law bars filing a claim past four years from the date of occurrence. Once one or all of these time periods have passed, the court may not permit your claim to move forward even if it was otherwise a legitimate one.