It is important to define medical malpractice. In the most simple terms, medical malpractice occurs when errors made by physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals cause severe and often life-altering injuries or conditions that require additional expensive medical treatment. If you are a victim of malpractice, your life could be forever changed.
At the Reiff Law Firm, our attorneys and staff are fully aware of the toll medical malpractice can take on an individual or family. While we rely on our medical professionals to provide care, they should be held liable when their unjustifiable mistakes result in severe injuries or death.
Our Reading, PA medical malpractice lawyers are committed to providing professional, compassionate, and aggressive legal representation to those harmed by the very people who are supposed to care for our health and wellbeing. The symptoms of medical malpractice are often considered one of the inevitable outcomes of a medical condition or illness. However, if you believe a medical professional’s decisions or conduct harmed you, call (215) 709-6940.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases in Reading, PA
Medical malpractice encompasses a wide range of conduct. Your doctor could have misdiagnosed your condition, a nurse might have administrated the wrong medication, or a radiologist misinterpreted the results of a diagnostic test. However, not every error, misdiagnosis, or incorrect interpretation constitutes medical malpractice. Furthermore, a negative outcome is not evidence that malpractice occurred. To prove that a medical professional’s negligence caused a medical complication, injury, or death, our Reading medical malpractice lawyers will have to demonstrate that your doctor, or another healthcare provider, deviated from what a prudent and reasonable medical professional would have done under the same or similar circumstances.
Medical malpractice cases are complicated and complex. Proving that a surgical error caused an infection is significantly more difficult than demonstrating a neck injury was caused by a rear-end collision. Fortunately, our Reading medical malpractice attorneys have the experience and resources to handle the most challenging cases.
Birth Injuries
With all the advantages in modern science and medicine, pregnancy and birth still present many risks and dangers. When a medical problem arises, such as preeclampsia, breech birth, excessively long labor, or other abnormalities, an attending obstetrician must act quickly and decisively to prevent injury to the mother and child. When a medical professional fails to take the appropriate steps or fails to diagnose a problematic birth, it could constitute medical malpractice.
Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnosis
A person’s life could depend on a proper diagnosis. If your doctor misdiagnoses your symptoms and treats you for the wrong issue, the consequences could be catastrophic. In other situations, the failure to diagnose a medical condition could result in a patient not receiving the treatment they require. Sometimes a misdiagnosis is the result of a reasonable interpretation of the present symptoms. In others, it occurs because the doctor failed to order the appropriate tests, ignored symptoms, or jumped to a conclusion without ruling out other possibilities. Depending on the underlying reasons, a misdiagnosis could be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
Surgical Errors
For the surgeon, there is no such thing as routine surgery. Every surgical procedure presents risks. These risks increase exponentially if a surgeon, anesthesiologist, or another surgical team member makes a costly mistake before or during the procedure. For example, a common error occurs when a surgical instrument, often a sponge, is left inside a patient. While this might go unnoticed or cause no medical complications, a foreign object left in the body could result in a deadly infection.
Medication, Treatment, and Monitoring Errors
Mistakes occur in every profession. However, when a mistake occurs in the medical field, it could lead to a legal claim. Giving a patient the incorrect medication or failing to monitor a patient after a surgical procedure could result in adverse or deadly complications.
Medical Product Liability
Not every bad outcome is the result of negligence or errors on the part of a medical professional. Some patients will experience adverse complications or other injuries because a medical device was defective or was poorly designed.
When a medical device fails to work as designed, a patient is liable to suffer. If a manufacturer was aware of a defect, or should have known about it, they could be held liable for any harm that occurred.
The above is only a sample of the types of cases our Reading, PA medical malpractice attorneys handle. If you were the victim of any of the above or something similar, contact the Reiff Law Firm.
What is the Deadline to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Reading?
As with every other type of personal injury lawsuit, a medical malpractice claim is governed by Pennsylvania’s statute of limitation. However, because of the nature of medical malpractice injuries, determining the exact deadline is complicated.
Usually, a victim of medical malpractice has two years from the date of the malpractice to file a notice that they intend to file a lawsuit against their doctor, hospital, or another medical professional.
One reason medical malpractice cases are challenging is because it is often difficult to know if malpractice occurred. In some cases, there might be no reasonable way to know you were a victim of malpractice in two years. Therefore, you could be permitted to file notice within six months of the date you should have reasonably known you were a victim of malpractice as long as the time does not exceed six years of the date of the actual incident.
Reading, PA Medical Malpractice Lawyers Fighting For the Rights of Their Clients
You need an experienced Reading, PA medical malpractice lawyer if you or a family member was harmed because of a medical professional’s negligence. The Reiff Law Firm has the knowledgeable attorneys, staff, and resources to handle the most challenging medical malpractice claim. To see if you have the grounds for a lawsuit, call (215) 709-6940.
