Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is the “unwarranted departure from generally accepted standards of medical practice resulting in injury to a patient, including all liability-producing conduct arising from the rendition of professional medical services. Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, physician, nurse, technician, etc. makes a mistake or fails to take action. These mistakes result in an injury to the patient. While some cases can yield undesirable results and are unfortunately unable to be prevented, some do warrant compensation for damages incurred.

When placing your life, or the life of a loved one, into a healthcare professionals’ hands, you have every right to assume that you are safe. You trust and believe that they will follow their oath to “do no harm” and will provide you with the highest quality medical care possible. Unfortunately, when a doctor or nurse makes a mistake, the results can be disastrous for patients – even deadly. If you or someone you love is the victim of medical malpractice, whether you are suffering due to a delayed or wrong diagnosis or surgical error or received incorrect medication, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. 

The law provides that harm caused to a patient due to the misdiagnosis or the failure to diagnosis an illness, injuries suffered during the birth of a child, incorrect treatment of a medical condition, or misuse of prescription medications is not acceptable. Consulting with an attorney at Lee & Harry will provide you with the information you will need to decide your best options to potentially receive fair compensation for your pain and suffering.

Common medical mistakes made in Medical Malpractice case include:

• Doctor Negligence: Physicians take an oath to “do no harm.” If mistakes are made during diagnosis, treatment or follow-up care that causes injury to a patient, it may be considered medical malpractice.
• Anesthesia Errors: Mistakes made during procedures involving endotracheal intubation, epidural anesthesia, and local anesthesia may result in brain damage or other injuries including paralysis, stroke, nerve damage, persistent vegetative state, or death.
• Surgical Errors: Operating on the wrong body part or even the wrong patient should “never” occur but unfortunately it does with often tragic results. Injuring a nerve during surgery, improper administration of anesthesia or leaving a piece of surgical equipment inside the patient, may all lead to injury or death.
• Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer: Failure to diagnosis cancer at the earliest stages leads to delayed treatment and serious complications or even death.
• Medication Errors: When a patient is prescribed the wrong medication or a pharmacy makes a medication error, adverse side effects can occur. Additionally, if a patient receives the wrong dosage of medication – too much or not enough –serious injuries can result or even death.
• Blood Transfusions: Red blood cell transfusions are commonplace in US hospitals. However, a National Institutes of Health report revealed almost 60 percent of blood transfusions were “inappropriate procedures” not benefitting the patient or even causing complications, infections or mortality.
• Misread Diagnostic Tests: When x-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, PAP smears, and other diagnostic tests are either not prescribed, performed too late or misinterpreted by physicians; conditions go undetected and untreated.
• Failure to Diagnose Cardiovascular Disease: Untimely performance of an EKG test, stress testing, echocardiogram, cardiac imaging studies, angiography, a CT heart scan, heart magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positive emission tomography scan (PET scan), and other diagnostic tests may lead to a heart attack or cerebrovascular stroke.
• Hospital Negligence: Understaffing, poor training, failure to provide treatment in a reasonable time, lack of cleanliness or failure to monitor or stabilize a patient’s condition contribute to adverse outcomes for patients.

After you or a loved one are injured due to a medical or healthcare provider’s negligence or carelessness, it can be difficult to determine what your next steps should be. Addressing these injuries can often result in lost wages, exorbitant medical expenses, and even extensive therapy. As a result, it is important to find an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who will be able to work with you and your loved ones and recovery your losses in order that you can protect for your future.

For proper representation, call The Law Office of Lee & Harry at (215) 764-5533 for a free consultation. We can analyze your injury and the incident and begin to craft a course of action for your case. We will fight for you to get the compensation that you are entitled to.