Levittown Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Schedule a free consultation with Laffey Bucci D'Andrea Reich & Ryan to learn about your legal rights.
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Schedule a free consultation with Laffey Bucci D'Andrea Reich & Ryan to learn about your legal rights.
It is very common to experience a certain amount of anxiety when you go to see the doctor, even for a regular wellness exam. That anxiety rises when there is a need for ongoing treatment or a surgical procedure. We place our trust in the medical professional to deliver a standard of care to help with the diagnosed ailment. Unfortunately, there can be complications with a treatment or diagnosis that can lead to further injury. If those complications are caused by negligence, it could mean you’ve suffered from medical malpractice.
According to data collected by the Civil Justice Resource Group, there are anywhere between 25,000 to 120,000 deaths caused by medical malpractice each year. These are the kinds of scenarios where you need to speak to a Levittown medical malpractice lawyer. The attorneys at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan D’Andrea Reich & Ryan have decades of experience with medical malpractice lawsuits. We’ve helped to secure substantial settlements for our clients who have gone through the complicated issues associated with medical malpractice.
If you or someone in your family has been harmed due to a healthcare provider’s negligence, you must discuss all your options to seek a remedy with an attorney. Consultations with our lawyers are always free.
The National Library of Medicine published a study in 2024 that outlined how a wide range of medical errors can lead to severe injury or death. For instance, one of the most common and preventable causes of injury is medication error. In hospitals, these types of errors occur at a rate of six out of every 100 admissions. Which of the following common malpractice cases would apply to your claim?
When your Levittown medical malpractice attorney takes on your case, they will thoroughly investigate the root cause of the medical malpractice incident. There can be more than one issue. The following are the possible reasons why these incidents can occur:
When a doctor conducts an exam, they log the results in a computer system. There can also be written reports. Those records are shared with other staff members, pharmacists, and specialists. Anywhere along that chain of support, there can be a miscommunication that results in a mistake that causes harm.
Anyone, including doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, is susceptible to making a mistake. Those errors can be anything from a procedure not being followed to leaving a condition unattended.
Every visit to a doctor’s office requires a patient to sign a general consent form. Additional consent forms will be required for any procedure. Those forms need to provide the patient with a list of all the possible complications from a procedure or treatment. If a patient isn’t fully informed, that could be considered an issue of neglect.
If an improper tool or medical device fails during a procedure, injuries could be sustained. There have been recent lawsuits involving defective heart shunts and pacemakers. In those situations, the manufacturer can be included in the lawsuit.
Sometimes, facilities use improper tools or failures with medical devices such as grafts or pieces of equipment.
It is also essential to establish who is directly responsible for your injury. Those could be any of the following:
A physician takes an oath to “do no harm” to their patients. Despite the years of education and training, negligent acts can occur. In order for you to move forward with a malpractice claim, you and your Levittown medical malpractice lawyer need to establish the following:
When you put your trust in a medical professional, they owe you a standard of care. That standard is the same level of care that every healthcare provider is obligated to deliver to their patients. When that standard is violated, the medical professional can be held accountable.
The injury associated with that violation of care can trigger additional medical expenses. It can also mean a loss of income, along with additional pain, suffering, and emotional stress. All of those damages need to be accounted for and included in any monetary settlement.
Most importantly, you and your attorney must establish that negligence caused your injury. That is something that will require independent experts to verify.
To make a claim for medical malpractice, you and your malpractice attorney will gather evidence, including the following:
Establishing a relationship between you and your doctor is the easiest thing to prove in a medical malpractice case. That can be backed up with records of appointments or your history with that physician. If you hear a doctor talking on TV and take their “advice,” you wouldn’t be able to claim a relationship.
In addition to your medical records, you should document your injuries with photos and videos. Those photos can help you track the progress of your recovery.
Your complete medical records will be the primary source of establishing liability in your malpractice case. Those records will need to include all your initial visits with your healthcare provider, along with all the tests and results that were run. If surgery was involved, there would be a detailed account of the procedure. You’ll also need to obtain the records from your hospital stay.
Those records detail the incident but not necessarily the financial damages. You will also need to collect the receipts of all your medical expenses. That includes any payments made by your insurance company. Additionally, you’ll need to provide a record of how this incident has impacted your employment. Your pay stubs can establish those damages if you were kept from work.
State law, and more specifically 231 Pa. Code Rule 1042.3, requires anyone who is bringing a medical malpractice case to first obtain a certificate of merit. This is a preliminary verification that what you went through was indeed a form of negligence.
That certificate will have to be provided by another doctor who will review your records and conduct an examination of you and your current condition. This doctor does not have to be called on to testify at your subsequent trial, but they should not be associated in any way with the medical practice or hospital where your injury occurred.
Once your Levittown medical malpractice attorney has gathered all the evidence and is confident in the merits of your case, they will move on to the next phases of the claim. The goal is to take the burden of processing these claims off your hands and allow you to focus on your recovery. This is what your lawyer will take over:
Every medical practitioner is required to carry out malpractice insurance. Your first option to obtain a remedy for your injuries is to make a claim with that carrier. Your Levittown medical malpractice attorney will take the lead with those negotiations. They will present all the evidence of your injury and your demand for damages.
The insurance company will conduct its own investigation. When you’ve retained a skilled attorney, they will also be present during any questioning by the insurance company lawyers. This will protect your interests.
If the insurance company disputes the evidence or only offers a lowball settlement offer, you can discuss with your lawyer if filing a civil complaint is the best way forward. That would mean your legal counsel will now make the transition to representing you in court. That could mean adding more expert witness testimony and preparing you to testify. Your story will be compelling for the jury, and your attorney will ensure you’re ready to answer questions.
If you’ve suffered an injury from a trusted healthcare provider, it can be physically and emotionally draining. When Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan takes on your case, we will provide you with the legal expertise you need to make informed decisions about how to move forward with your claim. More importantly, we also offer support through open communications. We’ll immediately inform you about any settlement offers or resistance to making an offer.
We are a firm with a track record of success that we’re happy to share with you. We want you to feel confident about working together. At your first initial consultation with a Levittown medical malpractice lawyer, you’ll tell us what happened and provide us with the initial evidence. We’ll also answer all your questions about the possible options and outcomes. Call to set up the consultation today. Finding what you should do next will bring you peace of mind.
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