Who is responsible for medical bills since I was injured during school clinical hours at the local hospital?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Who is responsible for medical bills since I was injured during school clinical hours at the local hospital?
I was delegated the task by an RN to help a geriatric patient to dress when her knee that she just had surgery on buckled, the patient fell and when she did, I fell under while trying to catch her. I injured my right knee, hip, back and neck. I went straight to my family physician who sent me to have an X-ray but results are still pending. Meanwhile I have no insurance and paid for the doctor’s visit and X-ray out of pocket.
Asked on April 11, 2014 under Personal Injury, Texas
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
Your school and the hospital are liable for your injuries. Notify the insurance carriers for both the school and the hospital of your personal injury claim.
When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary which means having reached a point in your medical treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and if applicable, documentation of any wage loss. Your personal injury claim filed with the insurance carriers for the school and hospital should include these items.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If the case is settled with the insurance carriers for both the school and hospital, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance carriers, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the school and hospital. If the case has settled with one party (school or hospital), but not both, only name the party with whom the case has not settled as a defendant in your lawsuit for negligence.
If the case is NOT settled, you must file your lawsuit for negligence prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.