Medical malpractice is commonly thought of as a doctor making a mistake by performing a procedure, but there are actually a number of different circumstances in which a medical professional’s negligence may cause patient injuries. See below for a further explanation:
Our firm cares about our clients who have suffered injuries as a result of medical negligence and our goal is to see them compensated for their injuries. We have achieved multimillion-dollar recoveries for our clients in many medical malpractice cases including birth injuries and emergency room negligence. If you believe you have been or may have been a victim of medical malpractice, contact our Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney at The Weitz Firm, LLC to schedule a consultation. Our medical malpractice team has successfully handled medical malpractice cases for 25 years.
The fact is, it can take a few months to years for a medical malpractice case to be resolved and it depends upon the facts of your case and parties involved in the lawsuit. If you believe you have or may have an injury caused by medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. The Weitz Firm, LLC has spent more than 25 years working on medical malpractice cases. We will review the facts of your case and discuss your recovery options.
You may request your own medical records, of course and typically you are entitled to obtain medical records for other people in the following circumstances:
The best place to start with requesting your medical records is to contact your medical provider’s office and ask what their procedure is for requesting records. Often they will have a form for you to fill out in order to request the records. They should provide your record within 30 days from the request, but they are afforded extra time in some cases. Ultimately it should not take longer than 90 days to receive your records. They may request a reasonable copy fee in exchange for giving you copies of your medical records.
There are some limited exceptions under which your medical provider may deny your medical records request such as denial of request if the information you are gathering could endanger you or another person. A medical provider may not deny your request due to unpaid medical bills. If your medical provider denies your request, you may request that another medical provider review the decision to deny your medical records request.
It often seems that medical providers are protective of releasing patients’ medical records to the patients themselves, but just as you have a right to those medical records, you also have additional rights. Once you have obtained and reviewed your medical records, you may also request that they are amended if you object to inaccurate information in your records or you wish to add information that you believe has been left out of your records. You also have a right to request information regarding whether or not your medical provider has shared your medical information with anyone else and with whom they have been shared.
If you have been denied medical records requests, you may file a complaint with several government offices including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Civil Rights. On the other hand, it is more paper work and waiting for you to obtain something that you are entitled to in the first place and filing a complaint does not mean that you are going to end up getting your medical records.
If you need help obtaining your medical records or if your medical records requests have been denied, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. Your medical records requests should only be denied in very limited circumstances. You have a right to your medical records and our medical malpractice team wants to see that you are not unfairly denied that right.
The following elements must satisfied to prove that medical malpractice took place:
If you or a loved one has been injured due to medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. We have over two decades of medical malpractice experience and we are dedicated to seeing that our clients are compensated for their injuries and damages. Our medical malpractice team will take the following steps in order to prove your case and maximize your compensation:
Often our clients come to us wondering if we can settle their case instead of going to trial. We understand that concern and we can take steps to help secure a settlement with the defendants. If your goal is to settle the case out of court, your case is strong, and the defendants are willing to negotiate, we will do what we can to avoid a trial. Depending on the facts of your case, we may be able to show solid evidence and arguments in your favor up front, which bolsters your case and may possibly move it into settlement discussions. If defendants have concerns about their legal exposure and the possibility of a large jury verdict, they may prefer to settle as soon as possible. On the other hand, if the defendants’ settlement offers are unfairly low, we will be looking out for your best interests and may advise you against settling for an amount that does not fairly compensate you. Whether your case ends in settlement or it goes to trial, our goal is to see that you are compensated for your injuries.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, with The Weitz Firm, LLC. Our medical malpractice team will review your case and discuss your options. Advocating for medical malpractice victims is what we do and we want to see that you receive maximum financial recovery for your medical malpractice injuries and damages.
In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim is two years after the cause of action has accrued. The cause of action accrues presumably at the time the alleged malpractice took place, but there are some exceptions to that. There are also exceptions to the two year limit, so if it has been over two years since your claim accrued seek legal advice from a medical malpractice attorney to determine whether or not you fall within any of the exceptions to the limitation.
Minors are at an unfair advantage when they are injured due to medical malpractice. They are not necessarily mature enough to understand that they are injured or that their injuries were caused by a medical professional’s negligence. For this reason, Pennsylvania provides an exception for minors so that the statute of limitations is tolled until the age of 18. This generally means that a minor’s statute of limitations begins to run when they turn 18 so that they may bring a claim until they turn 20 years old. There are exceptions to this that may give minors an even longer amount of time to bring a claim in some cases.
For patients who did not know about their injuries, the discovery rule may help them get past the two-year statute of limitations hurdle. Pennsylvania’s discovery rule may extend the amount of time until two years after the injuries are discovered or until a patient reasonably is able to connect the injuries to the alleged medical malpractice. Essentially the statute of limitations does not begin to run until a plaintiff knows or reasonably should know that an injury occurred and that the injury is related to the alleged malpractice. There are also exceptions to the discovery rule, which makes seeking advice from a medical malpractice attorney necessary before you conclude that the statute of limitations has or has not run for your case.
Pennsylvania’s statute of repose places limits on the length of time a plaintiff has to bring case even if the discovery rule would apply. The rule provides that no cause of action may be brought after 7 years from the time the alleged malpractice occurred. This applies to the discovery rule in some, but not all cases, so if a plaintiff does not discover the injury until after seven years has passed, he or she may be barred from bringing the case. There are some exceptions such as when the injury involves a minor or someone who was a minor at the time of the alleged malpractice or when a foreign object has been left in a plaintiff’s body from a medical procedure.
These are some basic guidelines for a medical malpractice statute of limitations in Pennsylvania, but it is essential that you understand that there are many exceptions (and exceptions to exceptions) and technicalities to the statute of limitations. There are also other things that may affect the statute of limitations in a case such as a medical professional’s fraudulent concealment of the injury/medical malpractice. Our Philadelphia medical malpractice team at The Weitz Firm, LLC is available to review the facts of your case and help you determine what the applicable statute of limitations and exceptions are for your medical malpractice case.
If you have suffered an injury due to medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. Our medical malpractice team will review the facts of your case, evaluate the strength of your case, and discuss possible recovery options with you. If you have suffered due to medical malpractice, you deserve to be fully compensated for your injuries.
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional’s negligence causes injuries to a patient. In order to prove medical negligence and causation, your attorney will conduct a thorough investigation to gather evidence supporting a medical malpractice claim. The following elements must be satisfied to prove medical malpractice occurred:
Medical professionals, staff, and their employers all may be responsible. Medical professional does not just refer to doctors; it refers to other medical positions such as nurses, pharmacists, nursing aids, and emergency medical technicians. Medical organizations may also be defendants in medical malpractice claims including:
Common malpractice cases include misdiagnosis, improper prescription, failure to review patient’s medical history, surgical errors including operating on the wrong body part or leaving a foreign object inside the plaintiff’s body, and failure to recognize symptoms. Anesthesia injuries and child birth injuries are among the most common malpractice injuries.
Victims of medical malpractice deserve to be fully and fairly compensated for their injuries. Compensation may include but is not limited to lost wages, lost future earnings, medical costs (past, ongoing, and future), pain and suffering, disability, and emotional distress. A good medical malpractice attorney will work with you to determine the extent of your injuries and damages. He or she may arrange an independent medical examination for you in order to adequately value your claim. There is no one size fits all when it comes to valuing your case and a good attorney will take the time to fairly assess and value your claim.
If you have or may have been injured as a result of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, with The Weitz Firm, LLC. You deserve to be compensated for your injuries and our medical malpractice team has spent more than 25 years securing financial recoveries for our medical malpractice clients.
You may not think your medical malpractice case is that serious, but you also may not be aware of the extent of your injuries right now. Injuries that start out feeling small often end up being much greater than initially thought. Yes, you should hire an attorney to at least review the facts of your case and discuss potential recovery options.
An attorney will review the facts of your case and your medical records to get a bigger picture of your case. He or she can then begin to evaluate the strength of your case. If an attorney believes your case is strong he or she will continue to investigate and gather facts to support your case. He or she will probably recommend hiring one or more medical expert witnesses to evaluate your case and give their opinions at trial.
Medical malpractice attorneys understand how claims are valued. Valuing a medical malpractice claim goes beyond adding up medical bills and calculating lost wages. Compensatory damages include medical bills and lost wages, but they also include things like pain and suffering, loss of future earning capacity, loss of consortium, and disability.
If you are not sure if your medical malpractice case is serious, insurance companies and lawyers for the other side are not going to be too willing to settle, and if they are, it will likely not be for an amount that is fair to you. Everyone you will be dealing with from insurance companies and defendant attorneys are experienced in medical malpractice cases. Unless you are a medical professional and a lawyer, you will be at a disadvantage in trying to settle the case on your own. The people you would be negotiating with are not on your side and they are not working with you, in fact, they are working against your interests. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will be able to negotiate with insurance companies and lawyers on a level playing field in order to get you the settlement that you deserve.
If you have been injured in a medical malpractice case, even if you do not think your case is that serious, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. We have been negotiating and trying medical malpractice cases for more than 25 years at The Weitz Firm, LLC. We are dedicated and committed to seeing that our clients are fully compensated for their injuries caused by medical malpractice.
Two of the most important elements in a medical malpractice claim are negligence and injury causation.
If you can show that a medical professional’s misdiagnosis was negligent and you were injured as a result of that misdiagnosis, you may have a medical malpractice case. If you believe you may have a medical malpractice case due to a misdiagnosis, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. Our medical malpractice team has spent more than 25 years working to see that medical malpractice victims and their families are fully compensated for their injuries and damages.
Common medical malpractice defenses raised by defendants include the following:
In order to be fully compensated for your medical malpractice claim you need to examine all of your injuries and resulting damages such as lost wages, lost future earning potential, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, medical expenses, and disability. Our medical malpractice team will help determine the value of your injuries and damages and we will work to see that you receive maximum compensation.
There are four elements that need to be satisfied in order to prove medical malpractice.
In a case where you are injured by something that may have happened during the medical procedure, proving that negligence occurred is going to be the difficult part. For example, if you developed an infection after the procedure, proving that the infection was caused by negligent conduct during the procedure may be difficult or even impossible. However, a good medical malpractice attorney will look to other avenues that may make proving medical malpractice easier.
A medical professional’s duty of care does not begin when the procedure begins and it does not end when the procedure ends. Negligent conduct may occur before or after a procedure as well as during the procedure. Patients need to be informed of procedural risks and alternatives before deciding to have the procedure. They also need to follow up care after the procedure to ensure that they are adequately recovering and healing, and to make sure that they do not suffer any post-procedure complications. See below for examples of negligent conduct that can occur before or after a procedure:
If you believe your injury is a result of something related to a medical procedure, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. We will explore the facts of your case and discuss any recovery options that may be available. If you were injured as a result of medical malpractice, you deserve to be fully compensated for your injuries and damages.
In order to be fully compensated for your injuries, you may seek recovery for damages including medical bills (past, ongoing, and future), lost wages, lost future earnings and benefits, loss of consortium, pain, and suffering, and emotional distress.
If you have been injured due to medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. The Weitz Firm, LLC’s medical malpractice team will work with you to see that you are fully compensated for your injuries. See below for a sample of jury awards we have secured for our clients in medical malpractice cases.
$15.1M verdict in birth defects case caused by undisclosed side effects of Topamax when taken during pregnancy
$8.6M verdict for the family of a child who suffered severe brain damage because her delivery was inexplicably delayed
$6.6M verdict for a patient who suffered paralysis after an emergency room failed to diagnose and treat an emerging spinal infection
A medical malpractice attorney will review your consent form to see if there are any issues with its content. Things to look for are whether or not the consent was thorough enough with regards to the risks associated with your procedure. Whether or not the information is accurate is also important. There could be misstatements or incorrect information, which would limit a patient’s ability to fully comprehend the procedure’s risks. It is also important to review the consent to see if your injury was associated with the risks that were addressed in the consent.
The conditions under which you signed the consent should also be examined. There may be a problem with the legitimacy of the signed consent if any of the following occurred:
The patient was pressured by medical professionals to sign the consent.
The patient was not capable of understanding what he or she was signing for reasons including dementia, being under influence of medical drugs, street drugs, or alcohol.
The consent was not given to the patient for review in a reasonable manner. For example if the patient was prepped and ready for surgery when a medical professional stops in and says, “Sign this so we can get you going” without having any prior discussions about risks associated with the procedure, the patient was put in an unfair position with little time to review or consider the risks. The point of the consent to ensure that the patient understands the risks so that he or she can make an informed decision as to whether or not he or she should have the procedure. In this example the patient has already made the decision without first understanding the risks.
A patient should have the opportunity to discuss the risks addressed in the consent with his or her medical professional prior to making any decisions. Additionally, it is important that prior to the patient making a decision about the treatment, he or she was informed of any alternative procedures or treatments that may have different or less risks.
If you have been injured during a medical procedure and you signed a consent prior to the procedure, call Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. We can review your consent and look into your injuries to determine if the consent waives your right to file a claim for your injuries. Signing a consent does not waive your right to sue for a medical professional’s negligence or risks that were not addressed (and should have been) prior to the procedure.
When you are injured due to medical malpractice, there is a good chance you need ongoing medical care while recovering from your injuries. We can help you get that care, especially when insurance companies are denying claims and pointing fingers at everyone else. Your ongoing medical bills are likely very expensive and for most people, paying out of pocket is not an option.
Your attorney will obtain necessary medical records, hire expert medical professionals, serve discovery on defendants, and take their depositions to understand their arguments and defense. All of this is necessary for attorneys to be able to move your case along and present evidence proving that negligence caused your injuries.
Medical malpractice attorneys are able to help value your claim for injuries and damages that you have sustained. Valuing your claim is not simply a matter of adding up your medical bills and missed work. Your attorney will examine your injuries and how they affect your life and your family in the long term and short term. Medical malpractice recovery may include medical bills, pain, and suffering, lost wages, lost future earning capacity, and loss of consortium. Each case is different and yours may include some of these, all of these, and/or additional damages.
Sometimes medical malpractice is obvious enough that you’re already receiving settlement offers. You may think: Why do I even need an attorney if I am already receiving settlement offers? You need an attorney because you are likely not being presented with their best offer and their goal is to pay you as little as possible in exchange for a release of liability. You need an advocate that understands the medical profession and insurance industry as they operate in medical malpractice claims. And if your case goes to trial, you need an attorney with the experience, knowledge, and skill to convey the facts of your case and explanation of medical malpractice law to a jury so that they understand that you were injured through no fault of your own and that you deserve to be compensated as such.
Most importantly, you need a strong advocate. If you are or think you may be a victim of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, with The Weitz Firm, LLC to schedule a consultation. He understands the pain and disruption that these injuries can cause you and your family and he is ready to help you get your recovery process started.
In medical malpractice claims, expert physician witnesses help in many ways including the following:
Determining whether or not a case has merit – An expert witness will review the facts of the case and make an assessment of the merits of the case. He or she may do a chart and file review as well as an interview with the plaintiff. Medical malpractice cases are not easy and an expert witness will help the plaintiff and attorney understand the case from a medical professional’s perspective.
Pennsylvania Certificate of Merit requirement – Pennsylvania has a certificate of merit requirement so that an attorney must file a certificate of merit when the case is filed or shortly thereafter for a medical malpractice claim. With some exceptions, the attorney’s certificate of merit will provide that a medical expert has reviewed the case and is of the opinion that there is a reasonable probability that the defendants’ conduct fell outside of acceptable professional standards and caused injury to the plaintiff.
The expert witness’s knowledge and opinions will be helpful to your attorney in preparing your case and developing legal strategies. His or her knowledge and opinions will also help in guiding discovery and deposition questions.
The medical expert witness is a very important component in a medical malpractice attorney’s trial strategy as it is his or her testimony that will leave an impression on the jury. The expert testimony will be intended to show both medical negligence (breach of defendants’ duty of care) and the causal connection between the negligence and the injuries.
Help in settlement negotiations – Medical expert witnesses can also be helpful in settlement negotiations. Medical experts can help secure a fair settlement by showing that there is enough evidence to bring a case. Medical experts can also help in valuing a case in terms of injuries and damages. Additionally, if the defendants are aware of the plaintiff expert’s opinions and his or her expected testimony, they may be persuaded to settle as a way of protecting their reputations from being questioned in a trial.
Every case is different and the answer to that depends on the facts of your case. Sometimes one medical expert will be sufficient and sometimes more than one will be needed. Not all medical expert witnesses are doctors. Doctors are often called to be expert witnesses, but so are other professionals including nurses, medical school professors, hospital administrators, and physician assistants. Medical professionals may be called because of their particular experience in different types of medical practice such as medical devices, emergency services, surgery, and independent medical examinations.
If you have been injured as a result of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. We have more than 25 years of medical malpractice case experience and will hire the medical experts necessary to best serve your case.
See below for questions to answer relating to whether or not you may have a medical malpractice case:
Did you have a doctor-patient relationship? A doctor patient relationship is fairly easy to establish in most cases. When you have an appointment at a doctor’s office to discuss or receive medical care, your relationship has been established. Casually conversing with a medical professional outside of his or her employment will generally not create a doctor patient relationship. For example, if you are having tea with your neighbor who happens to be a doctor and you mention your headache to which she offers you a pain reliever, a doctor patient relationship has likely not been established.
Did the medical professional breach the standard of care owed to you? If yes, the medical professional was negligent. Standard of care can generally be described as the care, skill, and competence that would be exercised by medical professional peers. Was the practice acceptable based on the practices of other doctors with similar training in a similar practice?
Did you suffer injuries or some type of harm as a direct result of the negligence? The injury element of medical malpractice is two-fold in that you must be able to establish that you were injured and then you must be able to prove that the injury was caused by the medical professional’s negligence.
Do you have damages? In medical malpractice cases, you may be awarded economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages may include medical care, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. Noneconomic damages may include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of consortium. In order to have a medical malpractice case, you must have quantifiable damages.
Typical medical malpractice cases include surgical errors, misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose, improper prescription, performing unnecessary surgery, failing to review or inquire about a patient’s medical history, and failure to recognize symptoms.
If you have been or may have been a victim of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, at The Weitz Firm, LLC to schedule a consultation. Finding an experienced and dedicated medical malpractice attorney to be your strongest advocate, who will conduct a thorough investigation and gather evidence that supports your case is critical to being awarded compensation for your medical malpractice injuries. Medical malpractice claims are complicated and labor intensive and because of that, not every attorney is ready to take on cases like these. Our medical malpractice team will work with you every step of the way to see that you receive the compensation that you deserve.
See below for a list of the most common medical malpractice claims:
Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose – In these cases, a medical professional diagnosis a patient with something that the patient does not actually have or the professional finds that there is no illness when, in fact, the patient does have an illness. This does not mean that every time a misdiagnosis or a failure to diagnose happens there is a case of medical malpractice. It is only medical malpractice if the medical professional was negligent in the misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose and a patient is injured as a result.
Delayed diagnosis – Delayed diagnosis is when a medical professional diagnoses a patient with a condition that was not initially diagnosed when the professional was first aware of the patient’s symptoms. In the case of medical malpractice, a medical professional negligently fails to diagnose a condition early on and as a result, the patient is injured. Typically, the failure to initially diagnose the condition causes the condition to worsen between that initial time and when the correct diagnosis is made.
Failure to treat – In these cases, the medical professional’s diagnosis is proper and accurate, but the treatment of the diagnosed condition is not proper.
Anesthesia errors – Anesthesia errors can lead to a number of complications including anesthesia awareness (patient is not kept in the intended fully unconscious state during surgery), coma, brain injury, and death.
Surgical errors – Many different surgical errors may occur including operating on the wrong body part, unnecessary operation, medical equipment left in body post surgery, and using the non-sterile equipment.
Medication errors – Can occur when a patient is prescribed incorrect medicine, incorrect dosage, or the medical professional prescribes medicine without understanding the patient’s medical history that would affect whether or not a medication is safe and effective for the patient.
Negligence causing childbirth injuries – Childbirth injuries (injuries sustained by either the mother or child) are a common basis for medical malpractice claims. Those injuries can be severe including permanent injuries or even death. Birth injuries can occur for a number of reasons in medical malpractice cases including a medical professionals’ failure to monitor and treat fetal distress, failure to monitor and control oxygen levels, negligent delivery causing spinal cord injuries, and failure to detect and control maternal hemorrhaging.
Injuries happen in medical care and they are not all a result of medical malpractice, but sometimes they are. If you believe or suspect you have been injured as a result of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, to schedule a consultation. The Weitz Firm, LLC’s medical malpractice team has spent 25 years securing financial recoveries for medical malpractice victims including multimillion-dollar recoveries for some clients and we are ready to help you with your claim.
We are highly selective in the cases we undertake to ensure that can give each client his full attention. You can schedule an appointment for a personal injury consultation at our Philadelphia office by calling us, or by filling out our online intake form.