Just because medical malpractice happened at a hospital, it does not necessarily mean that the hospital itself is open to a lawsuit. For example, many doctors are considered independent contractors, not employees of the hospital where they work. Even if a nurse, who will be a hospital's employee, commits malpractice, in some cases, it is still the doctor who is liable and not the hospital. In order to understand who is responsible for a case of medical malpractice, it is vital then to understand how this liability works.

As a general rule, a hospital will be held responsible for what its employees do. And this even includes cases of malpractice that do not occur on hospital grounds. For example, a paramedic will usually be an employee of a hospital, and if he or she commits gross negligence inside of the ambulance, then the hospital would be on the hook for this malpractice. Other employees of a hospital can include nurses and medical technicians. If an employee is not reasonably competent and this cause or worsens injuries or illness, then this is malpractice for which the hospital is liable.

A doctor, on the other hand, is probably not a hospital employee. That means that negligence committed by a doctor equals a lawsuit against the doctor, and not the hospital. This can be true even if the doctor did not directly commit the malpractice. For example, a nurse might not have counted the surgical sponges correctly. This could cause the surgeon to finish the operation, sewing up a sponge inside the patient. In such an instance of malpractice, a plaintiff could sue the doctor and not the hospital, even though it was a hospital employee who failed to count the sponges. This could be how liability worked if two conditions were met: first, the doctor had to be there, and secondly, the doctor must have had the power to stop this malpractice. If those two conditions are fulfilled, then the doctor and not the hospital is liable.

There are still instances, however, when a hospital may be liable for a doctor's malpractice, even if the doctor is not an employee. This can include when it only seems like the doctor is an employee of the hospital. In order to prevent this understanding, hospitals include statements on admission forms that the doctor does not work for them. The hospital can still be in trouble in an emergency room, however, since there is usually no time to tell patients that doctors are not in fact employed by the hospital. In some states, you can still sue a hospital for medical malpractice in an emergency room, whether or not the patient knew the doctor was a non-employee.

In plenty of states, a hospital can still be liable for a doctor's actions if the hospital failed to deal with a dangerous physician. For example, if a hospital was aware that a doctor had become a drug addict, and did not take any action to keep this doctor away from patients, the hospital would be liable for medical malpractice. A hospital can be faulted if they did not know this problem, but should have found out about the issue because it was that blatant. The hospital would still be liable if the doctor is an independent contractor.

Remember though that not every error merits a lawsuit. It has to be a costly mistake that a reasonably competent medical professional would never make. Laws about medical malpractice lawsuits also will depend on the state where you live. To find out if your case qualifies for legal action, talk to a medical malpractice attorney today!