How To Find Complaints Against A Doctor Or Hospital?

When you need to select a doctor or hospital, you want to be sure that you entrust your health to medical services that have your best interest in mind. 

But how can you be sure that you are choosing the best doctor or hospital? The most suitable approach is to first check the background of the medical provider you have in mind.

Unfortunately, some medical professionals make mistakes, which can lead to complaints from former patients. If the mistake was bad enough to warrant a medical malpractice claim, you need to know this kind of information before being seen.

As a potential patient, you have the right and resources to research past reports on physicians and hospitals. In doing so, you can see whether complaints were ever filed against them.

To learn how to go about finding such information, keeping reading our guide for your available options. And as always, if you think you have a medical malpractice claim, you should speak with a qualified legal firm. 

We’ll tell you how to secure legal counsel at the end of this article. But first, let’s discuss how to find complaints against a doctor or hospital.

Looking for Medical Malpractice?

You want to know that your health is in good hands. The best way you can ensure that is to check up on the doctor or hospital that you have in mind. There are a few ways of going about this, as seen below.

Medical Board

Every physician must be licensed to work in their respective state. As such, their state’s medical board keeps a record of disciplinary action against them, such as the fallout from medical malpractice.

You can check your state’s medical board online to review such information concerning the doctor or hospital in question.

In the event that your state’s medical board doesn’t have a website with this kind of information, you can always contact the board directly and request it.

Department of Health Services

When you need to find a hospital with a good track record, the Department of Health Services in your state is a good place to start. Like medical boards, this department handles complaints lodged against medical facilities.

If a past patient complained of poor care or unsanitary conditions, the state Department of Health Services would typically hear about it. As such, you can request the information you need directly from your state’s health services department.

DocInfo

Thanks to the efforts of the Federation of State Medical Boards, you can access a handy database called DocInfo. With this convenient system, it’s easier than ever to view complaints against medical providers.

There are currently close to a million licensed physicians on DocInfo that you can research. If you can’t find the medical provider you’re looking for, you can always refer back to the above methods.

Court Records

When a doctor of hospital is at the center of a medical malpractice claim in your state, the lawsuit becomes public record. As such, you can often find court records pertaining to any claims. 

If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice, it is important that you have experienced legal counsel on your side. If you need assistance or representation in Florida, read on to learn how to secure the services of the state’s trusted legal and medical experts. 

Why Choose the Doctor Lawyer Firm?

Matthew Sowell is one of the few Florida lawyers certified by the Florida Bar and the American Board of Professional Liability. Matt excels as a national leader in stroke litigation and is the founding chairman of the Stroke Litigation Group, the largest litigation lawyer organization in the United States. 

Matt also wrote and shared with peers how to successfully prosecute stroke cases. Over the years, Matt has won millions of dollars in verdicts, ensuring that his clients are awarded the compensation they deserve in extremely difficult medical malpractice cases.

Fadi Chakour is a former medical doctor who left the field to practice law, specifically, medical malpractice litigation.  As a doctor, Fadi treated many patients who were injured due to the negligence of others and observed the pain and suffering of loved ones that came from these instances. 

The combination of his medical knowledge and experience and his legal skills make Fadi a powerful advocate for injured people who have fallen victim to medical negligence.

How To File A Complaint Against A Doctor Or Hospital?

When you go to see a doctor or have to visit a hospital for any reason, you have a degree of reasonable expectation that you will receive competent, compassionate medical care. 

Unfortunately, doctors often overwork themselves and have little time to focus on the personalized care of their many patients. Thus, mistakes can easily be made that equate to medical malpractice.

Common Complaints Filed Against Doctors and Hospitals

It’s important to note that just having frustration with a doctor or hospital is not necessarily grounds for lodging a complaint or filing a medical malpractice claim.

And it’s also worth instilling the point that medical care is highly complex. There are times when even the best medical providers are not able to successfully treat a patient’s illness or disease. 

That said, nothing can justify poor care from the medical industry. And there are certain behaviors and actions that absolutely require a complaint, such as:

Misdiagnosis : Although doctors can make mistakes, failing to correctly diagnose serious diseases due to misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may have tragic consequences for the affected patients and may therefore be unacceptable.

Medication Errors : This can include receiving a prescription for the wrong medicine or improper dosage, failure to instruct the patient as to how they should use the medicine, discussing potential side effects, and administration errors. Such errors warrant a medical complaint.

Premature Release : It is important to discharge patients at the right time and under appropriate guidance with instructions. If the patient gets discharged before they are ready or discharged without proper instructions, harm may occur, which would call for a complaint.

Improper Treatment : When a patient has a certain disease or condition, the patient may need medication, treatment, surgery, or other medical care. Failure to prescribe the correct treatment or surgery — or performing unnecessary treatment or surgery — are all worthy of complaints.

Whenever a doctor violates his duty to care for a patient, filing a complaint will help protect other patients and hold the doctor responsible for his negligence.

Filing a Complaint

We previously discussed how to find complaints against doctors and hospitals. When you do a background search on doctors or hospitals, it’s important to take a step back to try to gain a better look at the big picture. 

Consider for a moment that one of the doctors’ scores may indicate that they have a high success rate among their patients. However, that physician may also refuse to treat patients that are high-risk. This can distort the doctor’s rating.

Similarly, you might find physicians who have lower success rates who are in fact excellent doctors who truly care about every person who walks through their doors, including patients that present challenging cases.

These are all very important factors to consider. But if you notice any red flags in the background of a doctor, you may just need to discuss your concerns with them. If the doctor refuses to discuss them with you, this should trigger additional concerns and red flags, and you should probably seek medical care elsewhere.

Some of the same rules apply if you are injured due to medical negligence. If you are unable to discuss your injury with the doctor or hospital and reach a reasonable agreement, you have no choice but to take legal action. That’s where the trusted names at the Doctor Lawyer Firm come in.

Our experience allows us to provide the legal representation you deserve. With both medical and legal backgrounds, the team of Sowell and Chakour know what it takes to communicate medical malpractice claims to the medical establishment and negotiate settlements.

If an agreeable solution cannot be reached, the Doctor Lawyer Firm will fight for your rights in court so that you receive the maximum compensation for your pain and suffering. If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice or negligence of any kind, we encourage you to contact us right away.

Legal and Medical Experience You Can Trust

Matthew Sowell is one of the few Florida lawyers certified by the Florida Bar and the American Board of Professional Liability. He is also the founding chairman of the Stroke Litigation Group. Over the years, Matt has won millions of dollars in verdicts, ensuring that his clients are awarded the compensation they deserve in challenging medical malpractice cases. 

Fadi Chakour is a former medical doctor who left the field to practice law in medical malpractice litigation. As a doctor, he treated many patients and loved ones who were injured due to the negligence of other physicians. Fadi’s combined medical and legal knowledge makes him a powerful advocate for injured people who are victims of medical negligence.

Call Sowell Chakour Today to Discuss Your Claim

If you need assistance finding complaints against a doctor or hospital, or you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice, contact the Doctor Lawyer Firm today. 

The medical malpractice attorney team of Sowell & Chakour has decades of combined experience to assist with your medical-related legal matters. Call today at 1-833-MedMals or fill out their online contact form to get started.

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not decide whether to contact a lawyer based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.