There are times when a doctor or facility discharges a patient before they are medically safe to return to their house. While mistakes happen, if you have to return to the same hospital on the day you were discharged, or you went to another facility and were admitted, you may have a case of medical negligence on your hands.

Your Early Discharge May Be Considered Standard Care

To have a medical malpractice lawsuit because of an early hospital discharge, your health care provider's decision must be looked at thoroughly. Given the set of circumstances at the time you were discharged, if most health care providers would have discharged you, then your case isn't valid. The "standard of care" rule looks at your specific incident and determines if the decision made was a routine, typical medical decision, or if your provider acted out of the ordinary. If it is determined that your health care provider provided service below the standard of care, this is your first step at a successful lawsuit.

You Must Have Had Damages

While sending you home early from the hospital may have been negligent, if you made it home and recovered without damages, there is no medical negligence. If you went to another facility and were admitted, but you were still medically stable, you may not have a lawsuit. If there was no injury from the negligence, then there is nothing to sue for. Medical negligence cases need both a negligent act, and damage done to the patient who is suing.

There are many reasons hospitals try to discharge patients quickly. One big reason is patients don't like being in the hospital and will complain to go home. With overcrowding, and pressure to have available beds for new patients, doctors are sometimes fast to discharge patients from the hospital.

If You Were Harmed from Your Early Discharge

There are many ways you can be harmed from being discharged early. Maybe the health care provider failed to do adequate testing and missed a serious diagnosis, or the doctor didn't ensure that you were medically stable. Damages can include time away from work because of a return to the hospital, additional medical bills, and pain and suffering. Proving that you suffered may be difficult, but if you missed extra time from work, or you are no longer able to work because you suffered bigger problems from an early discharge, you may have a viable lawsuit to file.

If you believe you are the victim of medical negligence, it's time to meet with a qualified attorney that can go over your case with you.