“Medical malpractice: how I won the case against the hospital” is an article about one of the hardest cases in my practice as a lawyer this year. “I want to sue the hospital” – many conversations in my office start with this sentence. People who were harmed during treatment say it. Relatives say it too, when they believe they have lost someone because of negligence, a wrong diagnosis or the wrong treatment.
The case I am going to tell you about is exactly like that. Elderly parents won a case against a private hospital over the death of their daughter. They claimed that the doctors had not treated her adequately and had discharged her too early, and that this had led to her death. The court agreed with them.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a departure from medical standards that has caused harm to the patient. Medical care must be provided according to rules approved by medical science. It is by these rules that the court judges whether the doctors made a mistake. The outcome of the treatment is not decisive. What matters is whether the doctors did what the standard requires. If they did not, and this led to the harm, there is medical malpractice.
Can I sue the hospital for medical malpractice?
Yes. You sue the hospital, not the individual doctor. The hospital is liable for the doctors it has assigned to provide the treatment. You do not need to know which of them made the mistake. You need to prove that there was a mistake and that it led to the harm. This is done with the medical records, an expert report and witnesses.
Medical malpractice – what happened in this case?
The parents came to me after their daughter’s death. They wanted to know whether she could have been saved. The young woman had been admitted to hospital with acute abdominal pain and vomiting. The ultrasound on admission showed that, besides the gallbladder, the pancreas was also inflamed. Despite this, she was treated mainly for inflammation of the gallbladder. No CT scan was done to show what was happening with the pancreas. The pancreatic marker was tested only once and was not followed up after that.
The inflammatory marker in the blood (CRP) went down, but until the last day it remained more than 45 times above the normal level. According to her relatives, she was yellow and swollen, could barely get up and was hardly eating. Despite this, she was discharged, and the discharge summary stated that “there is no medical risk to her health”. She died the next morning. The autopsy found necrotising pancreatitis – the tissue of the pancreas had died and the inflammation had spread throughout the body.
Medical malpractice or an unavoidable outcome?
This was the main question in the case. As a lawyer, I cannot answer it with impressions – evidence is needed. So I went through the medical records day by day. I compared the lab results with what the doctors had written in the hospital chart. The difference was clear. The tests showed an illness that was not letting up. The entries in the chart showed a patient who was getting better.
Based on these documents, I prepared the questions for the court expert. In the courtroom, the expert confirmed that, under current medical standards, a CT scan should have been done for such a condition. Without monitoring the pancreatic marker, it was impossible to judge whether the treatment was working. The tests from the day before the discharge showed that the infection was continuing. On paper, the patient was discharged healthy, but in reality she was not.
Finally, the expert stated that they personally would not have discharged the patient. The outcome had not been unavoidable. It was the result of gaps in the treatment.
What did the court decide?
The court upheld the claims in full and ordered the hospital to pay the parents the compensation they had claimed. According to the court, the doctors made an inaccurate diagnosis and did not treat the acute pancreatitis as the standard requires. The treatment was not sufficient for the illness the patient had: the stronger antibiotic used for pancreatitis was not given. The illness progressed to necrosis of the pancreas and purulent inflammation, and this was the cause of death.
The court also found that, on the day of discharge, none of the medical conditions for discharge had been met. In other words, the discharge was premature and was in itself a breach of medical standards.
What is a medical standard?
A medical standard is a set of rules for treating each illness. It says what tests must be done, how the diagnosis is made, what treatment is given and when the patient can be discharged. The doctor does not decide by instinct or at the patient’s wish. The doctor is obliged to follow these rules. For discharge, they are clear: the diagnosis must be confirmed, the patient must be in good condition, their test results must have improved and a follow-up test must confirm this. It was by exactly these rules that the court reviewed the doctors’ work. Not by how the treatment ended, but by whether everything the standard requires had been done.
Failure to exercise due care – where did the doctors go wrong?
When a doctor does not follow the standard, we speak of a failure to exercise due care. This is rarely a wrong action. More often it is inaction: a test that was not ordered, a warning sign that was ignored, a patient who was not given attention.
That was exactly the picture in this case. None of the mistakes looks dramatic on its own – one missed CT scan, one marker that was not monitored, one signed discharge. But each one built on the one before. And every day the hospital chart said “improvement”, while her relatives saw a woman fading before their eyes.
Suspect medical malpractice? Find a lawyer in time
- ask for a copy of all the medical records as early as possible;
- write down what you saw and heard during the hospital stay – the testimony of relatives can turn out to be decisive;
- do not accept the discharge summary as the final truth – compare it with the test results;
- find a lawyer in time – the claim for compensation becomes time-barred after five years.
Medical malpractice – frequently asked questions
How long do I have to bring a case?
Within five years of the injury.
How is medical malpractice proved?
With the medical records, a forensic medical expert report and witness testimony.
Who can claim compensation for medical malpractice?
The injured patient. If the patient has died – their closest relatives: parents, children, spouse or the person they lived with as a couple. Brothers and sisters can also claim if they prove a particularly close relationship with the deceased.
Where can I file a complaint about medical malpractice?
You can file a complaint with the hospital management, with the Executive Agency for Medical Supervision and with the Regional Health Inspectorate. Their inspection can serve as evidence. A complaint, however, does not replace a court case – compensation is obtained only through the courts. A complaint is not a precondition for going to court, which means a case can be brought even if no complaints have been filed.
Is the doctor criminally liable for medical malpractice?
Yes, if it is proved that, through negligence resulting from careless practice of their profession, they caused death or bodily injury. The criminal case is separate from the civil case. Compensation can be claimed from the hospital even if there is no criminal case against the doctor.
When should I contact a lawyer about medical malpractice?
As early as possible – while you are still collecting the medical records. A lawyer will assess whether there are grounds for a case and what evidence is needed, before the time limit runs out.
No compensation can bring back health or a person. But the case I have described shows that when the gaps in treatment are proved, the hospital is liable for them. This applies both in the case of death and to any harm caused by medical malpractice. The parents got an answer to the question they came to me with. Everyone who has been harmed by medical treatment deserves the same answer, whatever the harm.
You can find more articles (in Bulgarian) on my blog or in the “News” section of my website www.advokatdimitrov.com.
Related articles (in Bulgarian)
- Can I sue the state?
- A case against the municipality
- A lawyer for cases against the Prosecutor’s Office
- Non-pecuniary damage
- Non-pecuniary damage on the death of a loved one
- Compensation for death on the road
- Liability for damage from a bad road – whom should I sue?
This article is not exhaustive and reflects the personal opinion of the author as a lawyer in Plovdiv and Sofia.
I am Rosen Dimitrov, Attorney-at-Law – member of the Plovdiv Bar Association and PhD candidate in civil and family law at the Institute for the State and Law of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Together with my team, I handle cases in Plovdiv, Sofia and throughout the country.
Call or write to me, tell me briefly about your case and we will assess how to proceed. We can meet at the office in Plovdiv or Sofia, or online if needed.
Plovdiv, 2 Nikola Voyvodov Str., floor 1 · Sofia, 66 Vitosha Blvd., floor 4