Many Houston residents will need to go to the hospital for some reason at least once in their lifetime. Hospitals provide valuable medical care and help people recover from illness and injuries. But sometimes serious medical mistakes occur, including surgical errors.
Hospitals have long had a culture of secrecy surrounding medical errors. Time and time again an error would occur and the victim and their family would not have a clue. Surgical errors including surgical equipment left inside a patient would occur and hospitals would not inform the patient. Patients were often left with a serious injury and didn’t know what had caused it.
There are government agencies which collect information about hospitals and medical errors but much of this information is not shared with the public. There are records of how many physicians have had disciplinary actions against them but their names and employers are not revealed. This culture of secrecy harms many patients and when the information isn’t released regarding the errors unsuspecting patients can be harmed.
When hospitals and their doctors make a mistake they need to be held accountable for their negligence. Mistakes can be deadly and patients and their families deserve to know what happened.
When a physician makes a mistake that results in injury to the patient, a worsened condition or death, the patient or surviving family members have the right to seek damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Compensation may be available for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, future medical expenses and other damages.
Source: abcactionnews.com, “Culture of secrecy: How hospitals hide medical malpractice”, Sarah Buduson, Nov. 12, 2015
