West Chester, PA Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical providers go through substantial training and education before working with patients alone, and that gives patients a certain level of confidence in their skills and abilities. But when a doctor’s training is insufficient or their standard of care is egregiously different from what their field requires, patients are the ones who suffer. West Chester medical malpractice claims allow patients to fight for compensation after a care provider’s negligence has left them injured, hopeless, and searching for answers.

Wondering if you have a medical malpractice case? Let’s talk. Call Kingbird Legal at 484-289-4880 to set up a consultation now.

Defining Medical Malpractice—Is Every Mistake Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a widely misunderstood area of law. When a care provider makes a mistake and patients turn to others for feedback, there’s always someone telling them to talk to a lawyer and sue them. The fact is that medical malpractice does not include every mistake a care provider makes—that would essentially be punishing doctors for being human beings and making errors. In some situations, mistakes are truly unavoidable.

What is medical malpractice, then? Each medical specialty has a standard of care that practitioners are expected to follow. These standards of care are based on decades of research pinpointing what leads to the best outcomes for patients. Deviating from that standard of care too much can cause physicians to miss important symptoms, skip necessary tests, or recommend ineffective treatments. If a provider’s care is far outside the accepted standard and it leads to preventable harm to a patient, medical malpractice may have occurred.

Common Sources of Medical Errors

Medical malpractice occurs in a variety of ways. Some of the most common include:

• Misdiagnosis and missed/delayed diagnosis: Doctors are trained to listen to a patient’s symptoms and ask follow-up questions to get the information they need to make an accurate diagnosis. However, they may miss the mark if they have their own preconceptions about what is going on. For example, a doctor may miss a diagnosis that should have been obvious because they’d already decided that the patient was exaggerating their symptoms for attention. This failure to diagnose can lead to unacceptable delays in care.
• Surgical errors: Surgical mistakes can have severe health effects on patients. Potential surgical errors include performing the wrong procedure, doing surgery when it is unnecessary, causing avoidable damage to nearby muscles or organs, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, or doing surgery to the wrong part of the body.
• Birth injuries: Birth injuries can have devastating consequences for families. When a doctor fails to act quickly enough, a baby may be stillborn or suffer preventable injuries. Potential outcomes include cerebral palsy, spinal cord damage, and shoulder dystocia. Mothers who receive substandard care may have irreparable damage to their reproductive organs.
• Failure to treat: After a diagnosis, care providers are expected to follow up with the appropriate course of treatment. If they recommend the wrong treatment, recommend no treatment at all, or discharge a patient before they are in the clear, they could be held liable for medical malpractice.
• Medication errors: Medication errors have led to thousands of preventable deaths. Medication must be given to the right person, in the right dosage, in the right form, at the right time, and for the right reason. Any mistakes in these areas could be considered malpractice if the patient suffers an adverse outcome. Additionally, patients may have a bad reaction if a doctor prescribes them medication that interacts poorly with their existing medications.
• Anesthesia errors: You may have a malpractice case if you are given the wrong amount of anesthesia or the wrong type of anesthesia for your needs. These errors can lead to fatal or severe injuries.

Medical Malpractice Laws in Pennsylvania

Medical malpractice claims are governed by Pennsylvania state law in West Chester. In general, there is a two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims. A patient has two years from the date of discovery or the date on which the injury should have been discovered to file a claim. 

If a patient is immediately and obviously injured, that two-year window starts right away. If they did not discover the injury until later, the two-year clock does not start until then. Even if the injury is not discovered immediately, patients generally only have seven years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit. The two exceptions to this are when a foreign object is left inside the body or when the injured party is a minor. All medical malpractice lawsuits must be accompanied by a certificate of merit which indicates that the case has been reviewed by an expert and found to have merit.

While some states have caps on the damages a victim may receive, Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages. This refers to damages received for actual losses suffered by a plaintiff. The limit on punitive damages is set at two times the amount of compensatory damages.

How Kingbird Legal Can Help You Pursue Compensation

If your life has been thrown into chaos by a doctor’s poor care, it’s time to talk to the medical malpractice team at Kingbird Legal. We know that improper care has left millions of people with a deep distrust of the healthcare industry and a feeling of powerlessness. Our goal is to investigate your case, get a full understanding of what went wrong and how you were injured, and fight aggressively for every dollar you deserve. 

You should be able to trust your care providers—when they prove that you cannot, they must be held accountable. Whether you’ve suffered a birth injury, surgical mistake, misdiagnosis, or other type of medical error, we are here to help you fight.

Reach Out Today to Start Your Claim

Whenever you are ready to explore your legal options in greater detail, the West Chester team at Kingbird Legal is here for you. Set up your free consultation now by calling us at 484-289-4880 or contacting us online.