FAQ

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is harmed because a doctor (or other medical professionals) failed to perform competently under accepted standards of medical care. In order to prove medical malpractice, it must be shown that the doctor was negligent in some way -- that is, not reasonably skillful and careful in treating the patient.

A doctor's negligence might be established by proof that the doctor:

• failed to diagnose (or misdiagnosed) an illness or condition
• did not follow the proper medical procedure in treating a patient, or
• forgot to warn a patient of known risks of a procedure or prescription drug.

There are other elements that must be established in a medical malpractice claim -- including the existence of a doctor-patient relationship and damages linked to a resulting injury.

Nursing malpractice happens when a nurse does not fulfill duties in a way that a normally competent nurse in the same situation would -- and that negligence injures the patient. As in medical malpractice, however, not every mistake or mishap rises to the level of negligence.

If a nurse commits malpractice while caring for a patient, hospitals are often (but not always) on the hook. A hospital may be legally and financially responsible for a nurse's negligence if:

• the nurse was an employee of the hospital
• the nurse was fulfilling a job duty when the patient was injured, and
• a non-employee doctor did not maintain proper control over the nurse.

An attending doctor may also be responsible for the nurse's actions if:

• the doctor was present, and
• the doctor had control to prevent the nurse's negligence.

To learn more about what types of actions constitute nursing negligence, and when the hospital or attending doctor is responsible, call Piper & Piper: Trial Lawyers today.

It depends on what those risks were. Doctors must fully inform their patients about serious risks involved in any proposed medical procedure or treatment so that the patient can decide whether to go forward, in light of the danger. In both medical and legal terminology, this is called "informed consent." However, doctors don't have to inform patients about every single risk involved in a procedure, only the important ones.

In determining what a doctor must disclose in terms of the risk linked to a certain treatment, states generally use one of two standards:

• Would another competent doctor have disclosed the risk?
• Would a normal patient have made a different decision if the risk was disclosed?

In some situations (like emergencies), a doctor is not required to get informed consent before treating a patient. 

Workers’ compensation insurance can help protect your business and employees in the event of a covered loss, but some situations take place on the job that is not covered by workman's comp insurance. These vary from state to state and are typically determined by different state laws.

Here are a few examples of what most workers’ compensation plans do not cover:

• Injuries received by a fight that an employee started
• Injuries an employee sustains due to being intoxicated in the workplace
• Injuries an employee gets intentionally
• Emotional injuries that are not accompanied by a physical workplace trauma

Traditionally, the common law denied grandparents visitation with a child over a parent's objections. But since 1965, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation enabling grandparents to petition the courts for visitation rights with grandchildren. The laws do not make granting of visitation rights automatic—they merely give grandparents the right to ask for a visitation order. Many states permit only grandparents to petition for visitation, but some have extended the right to other relatives, such as great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings, stepparents, and even non-relatives with whom the child has a close relationship. In these and other areas, state law governs.

Most commonly, a grandparent (or other permitted third party) may petition for visitation after the death of a parent or upon divorce of the parents. Some statutes allow petitions when a parent is incarcerated when a child is born out of wedlock, and when the child has previously lived with the grandparent.