Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?

Hospitals are responsible for their employees' negligence and medical malpractice.

Read the article from Nolo.com for more information.

What if the physician orders you to do something that is not a standard of care?

A majority of nurses are employees of the hospital and frequently become defendants in nursing malpractice cases. Often times there is a dispute to determine if the physician could have controlled the nurses actions at the time negligence occurred. Even if the physician supervises the nurse it is possible that the hospital is liable when improper orders were given and the nurse followed them anyway.

Let's give an example to illustrate my point.

Example: 

A patient experiences an adverse reaction while receiving a blood transfusion from a nurse.
The nurse notifies the physician by telephone of the adverse reaction but the physician gives a verbal order to continue the transfusion.

The nurse continues the transfusion and the patient is injured.
Is the hospital liable?
Is the nurse liable?
What about the physician?

Regardless of the physicians' orders the hospital, nurse and physician may be liable for medical malpractice.

Source: Nolo.com

Have you ever been in a situation when you disagreed with a physician's orders because they were improper or not the standard of care? 

Did you follow the physician's order?