We trust medical professionals to provide us with exceptional care when we are feeling unwell. While most providers go above and beyond, others fall short. Although injuries range in severity, they almost always lead to a sense of distrust toward the healthcare system.
At Shollenberger Januzzi & Wolfe, our legal team is passionate about seeking remedies for medical malpractice victims, no matter how big or small your potential award may be. Our team of injury attorneys will assess your case to determine if you have a valid claim. If you believe that a healthcare provider failed to meet their professional standard of care, do not hesitate to reach out to our team.
Establishing Fault in a Medical Malpractice Claim
Medical malpractice claims are based on establishing a provider’s negligence, or failure to adhere to their professional and ethical obligations. This is often summarized as the 4 D’s:
Duty of Care
Every provider has a duty to adhere to the standards that a medical professional in the same specialty would follow. This standard of duty is determined by what actions a specialist would take under the same or similar circumstances.
Deviation
A medical professional who does not follow established protocol and procedures has deviated from the established standard of care. This deviation may be done through an act or omission.
Direct Cause
Professional misconduct must be both the legal and actual cause of your injuries. Legal cause, or proximate cause, implies that your injuries must have been foreseeable given the provider’s misconduct. In contrast, actual cause means that there is a causal link between your provider’s actions and the injuries you suffered. Said another way, “but for your provider’s actions, you would not have suffered harm.”
Damages
To file a medical malpractice claim, the patient must sustain compensable harm. This may be seen in tangible damages (economic damages), such as lost wages and medical bills resulting from the malpractice, as well as intangible damages (non-economic damages), such as pain and suffering and emotional distress.
In some instances, when a provider exhibits egregious behavior, you may be able to recover punitive damages. While there is no cap on economic and non-economic damages (collectively known as compensatory damages), Pennsylvania does impose a limit on punitive damages. According to 40 P.S. §1303.505 (d), punitive damages in a medical malpractice suit cannot be greater than 200% of the total compensatory damages.
Examples of Medical Malpractice in Lancaster, PA
Our firm is committed to identifying which party or parties caused you harm. This process requires our team to review various types of medical information and to confer with highly respected physicians.
Common examples of medical malpractice that our firm has handled include:
Birth Injuries
Obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, and any member of the delivery team are responsible for the health of both the mother and child. Our legal team will look to see if we can identify any negligence on the part of the delivery staff before, during, or after delivery.
Hospital Errors
Switching patient charts, mixing up blood samples, or administering the wrong drug or dosage to a patient are just a few examples of hospital errors. Given the lack of nurses and increased patient loads, hospital errors have been steadily growing in recent years.
Misdiagnoses or Delayed Diagnoses
Errors or delays in reaching the correct diagnosis can result in disability or death. If a condition has had time to progress, the proper treatment may be ineffective. In some cases, misdiagnosis may result from hospital error, such as mixing up blood samples. This may cause the doctor to reach an incorrect diagnosis through no fault of their own.
Surgical Errors
Surgical mistakes may include wrong-site surgery, operating on the wrong body part, and anesthesia errors. Many of these errors may be due to a combination of administrative oversight and surgeons’ failure to confirm the patient’s identity. Nevertheless, patients often end up in worse condition than if they had no surgery at all.
Speak with a Dedicated Medical Malpractice Attorney Today
When a physician makes a mistake, it can cost lives. At Shollenberger Januzzi & Wolfe, our legal team understands precisely what is at stake in each malpractice case. If you are seeking compensation for any injury-related costs in Lancaster, PA, our medical malpractice lawyers are more than happy to help. To schedule your free consultation to learn more, contact us online or by phone at (717) 229-6580.