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Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Top Medical Malpractice Lawyers Based in Philadelphia

When you go to the doctor, you expect a high level of medical care that ensures you can identify what is wrong and how to fix it. You don’t expect to face life-changing consequences. Unfortunately, medical malpractice has caused patients across the country pain, suffering, and even death—and a feeling that there’s no recourse. That’s where we come in. At Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway, our medical malpractice attorneys hold healthcare providers, including doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals—along with their clinic and hospital’s administration—responsible for the damaging decisions they’ve made.

Seek legal advice from an experienced medical malpractice attorney at our personal injury law firm. We can help you understand your legal options for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Schedule a free consultation with our legal team of Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers today.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice, or medical negligence, is when a healthcare professional, hospital, or clinic provides substandard treatment, creating an injury or, worse, death.

Medical malpractice can come in many different forms, including:

• Prenatal or postnatal birth injuries, including cerebral palsy.

• Medication errors or mistakes.

• Incorrect diagnosis.

• Delayed diagnosis.

• Nursing home neglect and elder abuse.

• Surgical errors.

• Botched plastic surgery.

• Anesthesia errors.

• Radiology errors.

• Failure to respond.

• Unsanitary conditions.

• Spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury.

• Failure to order the proper test or medical procedure.

• Dangerous drugs.

• Uterine rupture.

• Failure to follow up.

• Dental malpractice.

• Understaffing and inadequate staff training.

• Sub-standard triage and patient tracking.

• Mistakes made during a routine fertility procedure.

• Failure to diagnose or properly treat cancer.

• Medical errors that result in the need for an amputation.

• Slips and falls in a facility.

• Patient dumping.

• Tubing errors.

• Wrong-site or wrong-patient injuries.

• Defective medical devices.

• Emergency room negligence from healthcare professionals.

• Failure to treat deadly infections in a timely manner.

• Wrongful death caused by a medical mistake.

Not seeing an example that matches what you believe you’ve experienced with medical malpractice? That’s why our first consultations are always free. Joe Stampone and his team of medical malpractice lawyers want to get to the bottom of your experience and help you get the justice that you and your family deserve.

Who Can Be Held Liable in Personal Injury Claims for a Medical Error?

You may be eligible to recover compensation if you have suffered a serious injury due to a medical professional’s negligence. Doctors are not the only medical professionals who can be held accountable for medical malpractice.

Hospitals may be liable for damages if they cannot ensure their staff acquires the proper education, training, and licenses.

Incompetent care provided by a medical practitioner — be they a doctor, surgeon, physician, dentist, paramedic, medical technician, or nurse — could result in severe injuries to the patient. Any of these medical personnel could be held liable for damages.

Hospitals and clinics can also be held liable for not ensuring that non-employees, such as independent contractors, have the proper credentials to work there and treat patients. Attending physicians are just one example of independent contractors working at hospitals.

If you or a loved one have suffered catastrophic injuries due to a medical procedure or surgical procedure gone wrong, you may be entitled to compensation under Pennsylvania medical malpractice law. To pursue justice and financial recovery, it is highly recommended that you work with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer. Please contact our experienced medical malpractice lawyers to discuss your case in more detail in a free, no-obligation case evaluation today.

How to Prove Your Medical Malpractice Case?

In order to prevail in a medical malpractice case involving negligence or recklessness on the part of a medical professional or hospital, the plaintiff must establish three basic elements.

First, it must be shown that the medical practitioner owed a professional duty to their patient and that a legally binding doctor-patient relationship existed. Doctors do not owe a professional duty of care to non-patients in Pennsylvania.

The plaintiff and their Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer must establish that there was a breach of the duty of care. To do so, the plaintiff must define the applicable standard of medical care and demonstrate that the medical professional’s treatment reached that medical care standard. And PA, the standard of medical care is legally defined objectively as the knowledge, skill, and medical procedures normally used and accepted within the medical community. The plaintiff and their attorney must show that the doctor’s actions were unreasonable and inconsistent with acceptable medical standards.

Finally, the plaintiff and their medical malpractice lawyers must show a direct line between the breach of duty of care and the resulting injuries or death.

To discuss your medical malpractice case, we encourage prospective new clients to contact our med mal lawyers to schedule your free confidential consultations.

What is Comparative Negligence?

Pennsylvania follows comparative negligence rules in personal injury cases, including medical malpractice cases. Under comparative negligence laws, several parties, including the injured victims, can be held liable for the causation of an accident. If the injured party was partially to blame for their accident, they may see their compensation reduced appropriately. For example, if the injured plaintiff was 20% responsible for causing their injuries, they may see their full settlement reduced by 20%.

Because of Pennsylvania’s comparative negligence laws, it is all the more important that you work with experienced medical malpractice attorneys to represent your claims. Failure to retain professional legal representation when filing a medical malpractice claim could diminish your compensation.

What Medical Fields See the Most Medical Malpractice Claims?

In 2018, the American Medical Association did a deep dive into medical malpractice lawsuits, determined to understand how often they occur and where they most often occur in a clinical setting. In their research, they cited a 2016 report on the medical fields facing the most lawsuits.

In order from the most lawsuits to the least, they are:

1. Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB/GYN)

2. General surgery

3. Emergency medicine

4. Surgical subspecialties

5. Radiology

6. Anesthesiology

7. Family practice

8. Internal medicine

9. Internal medicine subspecialties

10. Other specialties

11. Pediatrics

12. Psychiatry

If you have been injured as a patient by a healthcare professional, clinic, or hospital, we want to evaluate your case and get you the settlement you deserve. Give us a call today to talk to one of our medical malpractice attorneys.

Why Do Medical Mistakes Happen?

Medical mistakes occur for various reasons, from negligence and recklessness in medical procedures to defective medical devices and dangerous drugs and beyond. Recent studies estimate that as many as 400,000 people or more die in America each year from preventable medical procedure errors, which makes medical malpractice and hospital negligence among the leading causes of death in the nation.

Common causes of medical malpractice injuries include the following:

• Understaffed hospitals.
• Medical physician fatigue.
• Failure to obtain informed consent.
• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis due to improper or inadequate training.
• Emergency room delays.
• Medication errors.
• Failure to read a patient’s medical records.
• Misinterpretation of lab results.
• Unnecessary surgical procedures.
• Failure to recognize symptoms.
• Operating on the wrong patient.
• Errors involving patient allergies due to failure to read patient history.
• And more.

Can a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorney Help You Recover Compensation?

If you or a loved one has been negatively impacted due to substandard medical care, you may be eligible to recover compensation from at-fault parties. This compensation may come in the form of both economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages may include the following:

• Past medical bills and future medical expenses.
• Physical therapy expenses.
• Property damage.
• Lost wages and lost income earning capacity.
• Funeral, burial, and memorial expenses in fatal accidents.

Non-economic damages may include the following:

• Disability, dismemberment, or disfigurement.
• Emotional distress and mental anguish.
• Loss of enjoyment of life.
• Physical pain and suffering.
• Lost companionship or consortium.
• Wrongful death.

Is There a Cap on Financial Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases?

Unlike other states, Pennsylvania does not cap the amount of financial recovery possible in medical malpractice cases.

However, there may be some restrictions on punitive damages. Punitive damages may be awarded by the courts in cases of extreme negligence. In Pennsylvania, punitive damages for medical malpractice cannot exceed 200% of the compensatory damage awards.

How Long Do You Have to File Your Medical Malpractice Claim in PA?

There is a strict statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in the state of Pennsylvania. Failure to file your medical malpractice lawsuits before the statute of limitations deadline could result in your claims being dismissed entirely.

In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is two years from the date of the discovery of the malpractice. In other words, the injured victim must file their claim within two years after they first discover (or reasonably should have discovered) their injuries resulting from medical malpractice.

Additionally, regardless of the discovery of the injury, the malpractice case must be filed within seven years of the medical procedure.

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

The time to act is now if you feel you or a loved one have been the victim of a healthcare professional or healthcare facility’s malpractice. You need a team of attorneys who understand the ins and outs of medical malpractice lawsuits, including taking on the big names that will fight to silence you. Our first conversation is always free, and we’re ready to fight for you.

To learn more about our legal services, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Philadelphia law firm to schedule your free confidential case review today. You may reach us at 267-214-9695.