Indianapolis Hospital Negligence Attorneys
Hospital Negligence & Malpractice in Indiana
Hospitals are required to provide patients with a certain standard of care. When they fail to uphold this standard of care, leading to bodily injury or death, they can be held accountable.
If you or someone you love visited the hospital but did not receive proper care, you could be entitled to financial compensation. At Hovde Dassow + Deets, our Indianapolis hospital negligence attorneys bring over a century of combined experience and a long-standing reputation for excellent results to each and every case. We understand how devastating it can be to realize that a trusted medical provider’s error was the cause of your injuries or your loved one’s death—and we want to help you fight for the justice you deserve.
Learn how our firm can help you with your hospital negligence case; call (317) 576-3241 or contact us online today for a free consultation.
What Is Considered Hospital Negligence?
Under medical malpractice law, “hospital negligence” refers to any error, malpractice, or substandard care carried out in a hospital setting. You may have a hospital negligence or malpractice case if you were improperly treated by a doctor, surgeon, registered nurse, administrative staff, or any other hospital employee.
Some examples of hospital negligence include:
- Ignoring or failing to recognize patients’ symptoms
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of various illnesses or medical conditions
- Failure to diagnose and/or treat patients
- Failure to diagnose cancer
- Failure to order/conduct necessary diagnostic tests
- Misanalysis of laboratory and/or test results
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Emergency room errors
- Surgical errors, including left-behind objects and wrong-site surgery
- Unnecessary surgery and other procedures
- Medication errors, including improper drug administration and overdose
- Anesthesia errors
- Failure to obtain patients’ medical history
- Failure to refer patients to specialists
- Failure to admit patients
- Early discharge
- Poor follow-up care
- Errors during and after childbirth
These and other forms of hospital negligence can have devastating consequences, ranging from life-altering birth injuries to significantly worsened medical conditions to deadly hospital-acquired infections and more.
How Does Hospital Negligence Happen?
Hospital negligence and errors should never occur, but they are an unfortunate—and common—reality.
There are many reasons for this; some of the most common include:
- Poor communication between hospital staff/departments
- Understaffed hospitals/departments
- Overworked/fatigued hospital doctors, nurses, etc.
- Filing mistakes and other errors with patients’ medical records
- Illegible handwriting/improper use of abbreviations, leading to medication errors
- Poor or insufficient staff training
- Failure to conduct background checks on hospital employees
- Insufficient medical equipment and/or defective equipment
At Hovde Dassow + Deets, we know how to investigate hospital negligence claims to determine the cause of a serious error or act of neglect. This allows our attorneys to prove the hospital’s liability and bring a powerful, evidence-based case against it.
How Long Do You Have to Sue a Hospital for Negligence in Indiana?
Just like other medical malpractice claims, hospital negligence cases are subject to a statute of limitations. This means you have a deadline by which to file your lawsuit. In Indiana, the statute of limitations for most standard hospital negligence claims is two years from the date of alleged malpractice and/or injury. However, if you were not able to discover your injury right away, you could be allowed to file your lawsuit within a “reasonable time” of discovering you were injured.
If you have a hospital negligence case involving injury to a child under the age of six, you have until the child’s eighth birthday to file your lawsuit. This includes cases involving birth injuries, emergency room errors, and other hospital negligence claims.
Is There a Cap on Damages in Hospital Negligence Cases?
Indiana has a cap, meaning a limit on how much you can recover, in all medical malpractice cases, including those involving hospital negligence. For cases occurring between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019, all economic and non-economic damages are capped at $1.65 million (total). For cases occurring on or after July 1, 2019, there is a total economic and non-economic damages cap of $1.8 million.
Additionally, the state has capped attorneys’ fees in medical malpractice cases. For cases occurring after June 30, 2017, attorney fees are capped at 32 percent of the total amount in compensation you receive. In other words, your attorney cannot receive more than 32 percent of your total recovery in legal fees.
How Hovde Dassow + Deets Can Help with Your Hospital Negligence Claim
Navigating the legal process can be extremely difficult and overwhelming, especially when you are already dealing with significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges due to your injuries or losses. As your legal team, we will handle every detail of your case so that you can simply focus on healing and moving forward with your life.
We offer a personalized, hands-on approach and are committed to fighting for the maximum settlement you deserve. If necessary, we are prepared to use our extensive trial experience to fight for you and your rights in court. There are absolutely no upfront or out-of-pocket expenses when you hire our firm; instead, we only get paid if you do.
Call (317) 576-3241 or submit a free consultation form today.
Hear From Our Happy Clients
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"Highly recommend Mr. Deets & would suggest that you consult with him first!"
I have had 2 fairly significant legal issues in the past few years and Nick Deets has represented me and a family member very professionally and thoroughly. Sometimes as a client we have preconceived feelings about our legal issues but Mr. Deets helped us sort through the emotions versus the legal issues and in the first case, he helped my family member out tremendously from a legal perspective and we had great results from his efforts. Not only did Mr. Deets give us great legal counsel and we had great outcomes, he personally assisted our family members receiving additional assistance in dealing with a very sensitive matter. Mr. Deets is a wonderful communicator but as a good lawyer must, he has to and must be frank with you about your legal case. If you want a great lawyer that is going to help you legally and not waste your time by telling you what you want to hear, then this law firm is the one you should select.
The second case that Mr. Deets assisted me within a personal injury case for me. Because of his reputation and our great relationship, I asked him for assistance with a personal injury case for myself. Mr. Deets is co-counsel on an out-of-state issue and because of his reputation, he referred me to a highly respected and successful attorney out of state. The case has yet to settle but once again Mr. Deets provided a great recommendation to me and he has helped me come to grips with the reality of my case and has been very helpful to me by answering questions I didn’t feel confident about asking my current attorney. Fortunately for me, they both concurred on my potential outcome and I feel my case is going to have a positive outcome for me.
The other thing I like about this firm is that if they cannot help you or feel someone else can represent you in a more favorable manner then they will refer you to another firm. I like and highly recommend Mr. Deets and would suggest that you consult with him before making a final decision on the attorney you want to represent you.- Charles P. -
"Conscientious, professional, & accommodating."
Conscientious, professional, and accommodating. The case was handled in a very conscientious manner always be considerate of our delicate situation. Our attorney was always very professional and accommodating. He met us according to our needs. The firm was fair and honored their fee schedule provided to us ahead of time. Our case was handled in a very timely fashion, giving much consideration to our family's needs. I would highly recommend their agency.- Stacy J. -
"Working with this firm was amazing,"
Working with this company was amazing, they went above and beyond for me, as well as kept me in the loop about everything, talked me through everything, and really made the best decisions for my case and for my future and ultimately they helped me get the chance to change my life for the rest of my life and take back my life after all the time lost. They are very professional and understanding. I highly recommend them they are a great team with great judgment and you will be in great hands, I owe a huge thank you to Tyler and Nick for helping me through everything and achieving the outcome we’d hoped for in the beginning.- Jade W. -
"This is an exceptional law firm!"
I was severely injured by a metal-on-metal hip implant. I needed a lawyer willing and capable to go up against the corporate Goliath, Smith & Nephew. After writing and calling various attorneys across the country who claimed in their TV advertisements to be powerful law firms willing to take on Smith & Nephew, but apparently were too busy to personally talk to me by phone and were unimpressive in their return letters, I became very discouraged. Time is a huge issue with injury cases like mine. My main concern was finding a lawyer that would not “rip me off”, waste my time and incompetently ruin my limited opportunity. After hours of research, I found an article about an outstanding victory a law firm had obtained in dealing with the very same medical company that had injured me. I was amazed to learn that the winning law firm, Hovde Dassow & Deets, was located in my own home city of Indianapolis. This proved a God-send. My first meeting with Nicholas Deets restored my hope. I appreciated Nick’s candor as he assessed my case. His confidence seemed quite genuine and I left feeling very encouraged… and counting on him. As he had advised me, I would need to be patient; these things take time. He was right. But in the end, facing a powerful multinational medical-technology company, Nick Deets prevailed as a most EFFECTIVE victor on my behalf. By his skill, resources, and experience Nick made particular winning moves… and I was amazed at what he delivered! My settlement exceeded my most hopeful expectation!
I am truly grateful to Nick Deets, who proved himself to be a highly capable, trustworthy, outstanding attorney. This is an exceptional law firm.- John K.
