Medical Malpractice

One in three patients who are admitted to the hospital will experience a medical error.

Research confirms that hundreds of thousands of people die every year due to preventable medical errors.  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind only heart disease and cancer.

When you seek medical care from a physician or in a hospital or clinic, you expect that – at the very minimum – your condition will not worsen due to any carelessness or recklessness on the part of the physician, nurse or other healthcare provider.

While some unfavorable medical outcomes are truly unavoidable, others warrant significant compensation for the resulting harm and losses if the healthcare provider failed to live up to the acceptable standard of medical care.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Do I have a valid medical malpractice claim? Medical malpractice occurs when a physician, nurse, hospital, clinic, or other healthcare provider gives careless or reckless care to a patient. If a healthcare provider fails to live up to the acceptable standard of medical care and you are harmed as a result, you may have a valid claim for medical malpractice.

What are examples of medical malpractice?

• Failure to diagnose/misdiagnosis — Failure to conduct necessary tests, careless reading or interpretation of test results
• Surgical mistakes — Operating on the wrong patient or body part, performing unnecessary or wrong surgery, carelessness during surgery, leaving surgical tools in a body cavity
• Medication errors — Incorrect dosage or drug, timing errors in medication, failure to determine potential allergies
• Anesthesia errors — Failure to conduct proper workup, administration of incorrect drug or incorrect dosage
• Birth injuries — Forceps or vacuum injuries, shoulder dystocia, delivery room errors, Erb’s Palsy, cerebral palsy, hypoxia or oxygen deprivation

What can stop me from pursuing a valid medical malpractice claim? In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for an adult’s medical malpractice claim—the deadline by which time you must file your lawsuit in court—expires only two years from the date of the medical malpractice or – in certain cases involving hidden injury or cause – from the date you discover, or reasonably should have discovered, that you have been injured and that your injury has been caused by another person’s conduct. (If the victim is under 18 years of age, the time to file is longer.)  Because the statute of limitations can be a complete and permanent bar to your claim, you should seek the advice of an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as you think you may have a possible claim.

OUR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ATTORNEYS

The successful medical malpractice group at the Law Firm of DiOrio & Sereni, LLP is committed to connecting with you, listening to you, learning the facts of your possible claim, and evaluating those facts to help determine whether you have a valid and viable medical malpractice claim.

If we ultimately take on your lawsuit, we will fight hard and do our best to recover all of the compensation that you deserve, including for lost income, medical expenses, physical pain, emotional suffering, and disfigurement. Many times positive outcomes are achieved only by going to trial. However, in some cases our attorneys are able to obtain favorable settlements outside of the courtroom, making the experience less stressful for our clients.

Contact the Law Firm of DiOrio & Sereni, LLP

To schedule an initial consultation, contact us online or call us at 610-565-5700. Evening and weekend consultations can be arranged upon request, and we will travel to meet with you, if necessary.