Abrazo Scottsdale Campus Malpractice Lawyer

Trial-Ready Hospital Negligence Attorneys for Abrazo Scottsdale Campus Patients and Families

The Types of Abrazo Scottsdale Campus Lawsuits Our Hospital Malpractice Attorneys Handle

Hastings Law Firm handles Abrazo Scottsdale Campus lawsuits in Phoenix, Arizona, over surgical complications, emergency department discharges, and missed stroke signs. Our attorneys build each lawsuit from the operative, emergency and nursing records of the patient’s care. We use that record to show where the care fell short and what the harm has cost each patient and family.

The cases our hospital malpractice lawyers see most often at a surgical community hospital like Abrazo Scottsdale include:

• Unrecognized complications after bariatric, spine and robotic joint operations. A problem can begin during the operation or in the days after it, and signs such as fever, climbing pain or falling blood pressure can go unanswered. The patient can then need another operation, a longer admission and additional recovery time before daily life returns to normal. Our surgical error lawyers in Phoenix set the operative note beside the recovery vital signs and nursing assessments to show when the problem should have been caught.
• Emergency department discharges before a serious condition was found. A patient with an infection, a blood clot or internal bleeding can be treated for something minor and sent home, or left waiting while the illness advances. That delay can turn a condition that was treatable into a permanent injury or a fatal one. Our Arizona emergency room malpractice attorneys rebuild the visit from the triage entry, the tests ordered, their results and the discharge instructions.
• Missed stroke signs and late clot-dissolving treatment. Sudden numbness, slurred speech or a drooping face can be taken for another problem, or the brain imaging and medication that could limit a stroke can come too late. A patient can be left with paralysis, lost speech or a need for help with everyday tasks. Our Arizona stroke misdiagnosis lawyers measure the gap between the first symptom in the chart and the moment imaging and treatment began.

While these are common claim types, our hospital malpractice attorneys handle any valid medical negligence case that arises at this hospital.

About Abrazo Scottsdale Campus on Bell Road in Phoenix

Abrazo Scottsdale Campus is a 120-bed community hospital at 3929 East Bell Road in Phoenix, Arizona, in Maricopa County, despite the Scottsdale in its name. Abrazo lists surgical and emergency care among its services, and its emergency department is open 24 hours a day.

The hospital belongs to Abrazo Health, which is part of Tenet Healthcare, a for-profit hospital company that reports Abrazo Scottsdale Campus among the hospitals it owns. Abrazo’s network also includes Abrazo Central Campus, another Abrazo hospital in Phoenix, and Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear, along with Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital and Abrazo Arrowhead Campus.

Through its Surgical Institute, Abrazo Scottsdale offers minimally invasive orthopedic, spine, bariatric and general surgery, as well as robotic surgery. The campus has announced robotic-arm systems for total knee, partial knee, total hip and revision hip replacement. It has also introduced a robotic navigation platform for spine surgery, used in lumbar and cervical fusions, decompressions and laminectomies.

Heart and vascular care and gynecologic care are also on the campus’s list of services. For patients with stroke symptoms, Abrazo lists the hospital as a Primary Stroke Center certified by DNV.

Can You File a Lawsuit Against Abrazo Scottsdale Campus, the Doctor, or Both?

A patient may be able to sue Abrazo Scottsdale Campus, a treating doctor, or both, depending on who handled each part of the care. Under Kopp v. Physician Group of Arizona, the hospital answers for the negligence of nurses and other staff it actually employs, acting within their jobs. That rule reaches only true employees, not every physician who treats patients on the campus.

A claim can name the hospital, a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, an emergency physician, a nurse, or the physician group a doctor practices with. Which of them the hospital answers for depends on how each provider was tied to Abrazo Scottsdale.

Before a case against a health care provider can move far, Arizona asks for a medical expert’s opinion in sworn form. A.R.S. 12-2603 requires the patient to certify whether expert testimony is needed and, when it is, to serve a preliminary expert opinion affidavit early in the case. The affidavit states the expert’s qualifications, the facts behind the claim, how the care fell below the standard, and how that caused the injury. A claim that needs the affidavit and goes without it can be dismissed.

The expert must also match the provider in question. Under A.R.S. 12-2604, a standard of care witness generally has to practice in the defendant’s specialty, and hold the same board certification when the defendant is board certified. A claim against an orthopedic surgeon and an anesthesiologist can therefore need two different experts.

Finding a qualified expert for every provider is part of the early work of a lawyer to sue a hospital. Our hospital malpractice lawyers in Phoenix explain how these requirements apply to a claim against a hospital in the city.

Is Abrazo Scottsdale Responsible in Arizona for a Doctor It Calls an Independent Contractor?

Abrazo Scottsdale can sometimes be responsible in Arizona for a doctor it calls an independent contractor, because the label alone does not decide the question. Under Beeck v. Tucson General Hospital, a hospital that held real control over a doctor’s work can answer for that doctor as its employee.

Abrazo’s legal disclaimers describe the physicians on its medical staff as “neither employees nor agents of Abrazo Health.” That is the hospital’s own description of the arrangement. A notice on a website does not settle whether a particular physician was an employee, or what a particular patient was told before treatment.

Arizona courts look past the contract label to the control a hospital actually held. In the Beeck case, the patient had no say in which radiologist would take her x-rays. The hospital made that choice and could set the standards for the work, so the court treated the radiologist as the hospital’s employee.

A hospital can also answer for a doctor through apparent agency, also called ostensible agency. It applies when the hospital’s own conduct leads a patient to reasonably believe a doctor is acting for the hospital, and the patient relies on that belief. Arizona courts have applied it to emergency physicians when the hospital arranged who staffed the department and the patient had no real choice of doctor. A clear, signed disclosure of a physician’s independent status can lead a court to a different result.

The physician also stays responsible for their own care, whatever the answer about the hospital. At a surgical community hospital, the deciding facts include who scheduled the operation or assigned the emergency doctor, and who billed for the care. What the patient was told, and what the consent and admission forms said, matter just as much. Our Phoenix doctor malpractice lawyers gather those records early, so a patient’s claim can include both the doctor and the hospital when the facts support it.

How We Work With Injured Abrazo Scottsdale Patients and Their Families

Hastings Law Firm handles hospital malpractice claims for Abrazo Scottsdale Campus patients and families in Phoenix, Arizona, from the first call until the case is resolved. Our attorneys and medical professionals take on the investigation, the experts and the negotiations, one stage at a time.

Your first conversation with us about care at Abrazo Scottsdale Campus is with a member of our intake team. If the patient is still recovering or cannot make the call, a relative can reach out for them. Tell us about the procedure or visit, the dates you recall, and the explanations you were given afterward. Our team works to make sure you are heard, and your account guides the first steps of our review.

Next, our team requests the full medical records from the hospital and from each physician involved. Our attorneys and medical professionals study the consent forms, the operative and anesthesia reports, the emergency department chart and the nursing notes to put each decision in sequence. If our hospital negligence lawyers accept your case, it rests on that record and on medical experts in the matching specialties.

From that point on, the hospital, its insurers and its lawyers deal with our firm and not with you. Our board-certified patient advocates stay in contact with you and explain each development in plain language when it happens. Our hospital malpractice attorneys work toward a settlement that accounts for everything the injury has cost your family. If the offer falls short, we are prepared to take your case to a jury.

If You or a Loved One Were Injured at Abrazo Scottsdale, Speak With Our Medical Attorneys Today

Hastings Law Firm takes on hospital malpractice claims in Phoenix, Arizona, for patients and families harmed by care at Abrazo Scottsdale Campus. We perform a free case review to find out whether you have a valid claim and who may be responsible for the harm. If the records show an outcome that careful treatment could not have prevented, our hospital negligence lawyers will tell you that directly.

Our team is here for you. The review is confidential, and there is no fee unless we win. Let us help you find the answers you deserve.