Medical Malpractice

Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Helping Victims and Family Members Recover Compensation for Their Medical Malpractice Claims

We trust doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other medical professionals with our own lives and the lives of our family members. When that trust is violated and we or a loved one suffer serious injuries or worse due to medical errors committed by hospital staff, it can be heartbreaking. If a healthcare provider has injured you, you need to speak with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer about your case. Only top medical malpractice lawyers can advise you on how to proceed with legal action against healthcare professionals who have caused severe injuries or wrongful death.

The personal injury law firm of Lassiter & Associates has years of experience representing clients with complex medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors, nurses, dentists, and medical device manufacturers. When a healthcare professional acts negligently and causes serious injuries due to a medical error, they should be held liable for those injuries and other losses.

If you have a medical malpractice case involving a medical professional’s negligence, please contact our Philadelphia law office to discuss your case with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer today. Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer Duane Lassiter has extensive experience representing clients with complicated personal injury claims and would be proud to represent your interests in pursuing justice and financial recovery. To learn more about the attorney and his legal services, please contact our Pennsylvania law firm to schedule your free initial consultation today.

How Common Are Medical Malpractice Cases?

Medical mistakes occur more frequently than we want to imagine. Healthcare mistakes and surgical errors may occur due to communication problems, human error, technical difficulties with medical devices, patient-related problems, or improper information flow.

Some studies suggest that more than 400,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical mistakes. The Institute for Medicine found that most Americans will suffer from a wrong or late diagnosis from a healthcare provider at least once in their life, sometimes with severe or serious results.

Often, medical malpractice results in significant personal injury and sometimes death. If a medical mistake has either injured you or cost the life of your close family member, you may have the makings of a medical malpractice claim. You must work with Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers when pursuing a lawsuit against at-fault parties. Please contact our Philadelphia law firm to schedule your free case evaluation today.

What is the Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Law?

Under state law, medical providers, which include doctors, specialists, surgeons, nurses, dentists, hospitals, and more, must provide adequate standards of care given their specialty or area of practice. Essentially, if a reasonable and similarly qualified physician would have been able to provide medical treatment without endangering the patient’s safety, then it is possible that the medical provider who did injure the patient could be held liable for damages.

Medical malpractice occurs when doctors and other healthcare professionals fail to provide proper medical care, and an injury occurs as a result. When a healthcare professional is negligent in providing proper medical treatment and significant injuries result from that negligence, Pennsylvania law allows injured patients or representatives of deceased patients to seek financial compensation for injuries and damages caused by medical negligence.

Please contact our law firm today to discuss your medical malpractice lawsuit in more detail.

What Are the Different Types of Medical Malpractice?

There are several instances wherein medical mistakes happen, endangering patient safety and well-being. Every medical malpractice case is unique, but most claims fall under the following categories.

Failure to diagnose: this medical mistake occurs when a physician or doctor could or should have discovered the patient’s illness sooner.

Improper medical treatment: this medical error involves either a doctor treating an illness or injury incorrectly or administering the correct treatment in an improper way.

Lack of informed consent: this medical mistake occurs when doctors fail to inform patients of the risks of medical procedures, surgeries, or treatments.

What Are Examples of Medical Malpractice?

Examples of medical malpractice include the following:

  • Anesthesia errors
  • Birth injuries
  • Breach of hospital procedures
  • Carelessness in providing nursing care
  • Delayed treatments
  • Emergency room errors
  • Errors in administering medication
  • Failing to take a full medical history of the patient
  • Failure to properly monitor the patient
  • Failure to recognize symptoms
  • Hospital malpractice and hospital negligence
  • Improper sanitation or infection prevention
  • Inadequate aftercare process
  • Medical errors in diagnosing obvious medical conditions like strokes and heart attacks
  • Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
  • Misinterpretation of lab results
  • Prescription drug errors
  • Surgical errors
  • Unnecessary surgical procedures
  • Wrongful death
  • And more

Who Can Be Sued in a Medical Malpractice Case?

Doctors are not the only medical professionals who can be held accountable for medical negligence with a medical malpractice lawsuit. Other healthcare professionals and hospitals can be held liable for negligent actions or inactions that cause patient harm.

Hospitals can be held accountable for hospital malpractice if they have improper training and education programs, fail to ensure that non-employees have proper credentials, do not maintain proper patient records, or provide incompetent medical care.

Medical malpractice and medical negligence victims have the right to sue doctors, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, midwives, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and more.

What Are the Consequences of Medical Negligence?

Mistakes in medical care and surgical procedures can often result in serious bodily injuries. For many patients, such injuries will require ongoing long-term care. Additionally, medical errors that cause physical injuries can also cause emotional distress and mental anguish.

Injured patients may suffer permanent or temporary disabilities because of their doctor’s malpractice. In some instances, medical negligence can lead to an avoidable death.

Birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy or traumatic brain injury, are common in medical malpractice cases. If you or a loved one has suffered severe brain damage due to medical negligence, you need to work with Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys to represent your case. Please contact our law firm to discuss your legal rights today.

Do You Have a Valid Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

For your medical malpractice lawsuit to succeed, it must have a few basic characteristics.

There must have been a legal doctor-patient relationship, and the healthcare provider must have violated the standards of care.

As a result of this breach of duty of care, the patient suffered injuries and serious damages. Damages may include lost wages, post-traumatic stress disorder, medical bills, and pain and suffering.

The patient and their medical malpractice attorney must prove that the medical professional was negligent when the injury occurred. If the injury was caused by a medical device, it must be shown that the manufacturers failed in some fashion in either the design or the manufacture of that device.

What Sort of Damages Can You Recover in Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Cases?

With a successful medical malpractice lawsuit, it is possible to recover compensation for your injuries and other losses. This settlement may come in the form of both economic and non-economic damages.

Recoverable damages include the following:

  • Past medical bills and future medical expenses
  • Lost wages and lost future income
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Home modifications to accommodate a new disability
  • Physical therapy expenses
  • Lost companionship or consortium
  • Funeral, memorial, and burial costs
  • Wrongful death benefits

Some states cap or limit the damages injured patients can recover in medical malpractice cases. Pennsylvania law does not cap medical malpractice settlements. However, it does limit the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in cases of serious wrongdoing.

What is Pennsylvania’s Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice Claims?

You usually have two years from the injury’s date or the medical error’s discovery to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, there are certain exceptions.

If you could not have reasonably been expected to discover the injury or an illness until a later date, you have more time from the date of the injury to file a medical malpractice claim. Other exceptions exist, which our personal injury attorneys can tell you about.

When medical negligence results in wrongful death, surviving family members or personal representatives of the decedent’s estate have two years to file a wrongful death claim.

Schedule a Free Consultation with an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney in Philadelphia, PA, Today

If you or a family member have been injured due to medical negligence, you must work with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to represent your case. Attorney Duane Lassiter and his qualified legal team have extensive experience representing medical malpractice lawsuits. As your attorney, Mr. Lassiter would provide you with dedicated and compassionate legal guidance throughout the process as you seek justice and financial recovery.

To schedule your risk-free case review, please contact us at 267-682-8918.