Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Medical malpractice is an area of law that seeks to hold medical professionals accountable for any harm they cause their patients. It generally involves instances where a healthcare professional deviates from accepted standards of care, resulting in injuries or death to a patient. 

When determining if a healthcare provider is guilty of malpractice, courts look to see if the professional deviated from the standard of care that would normally be expected under similar circumstances. Standards of care are typically established by law and provide a benchmark against which medical negligence can be judged. If it is determined that a medical professional failed to meet these standards, then they may be held legally responsible for any damages inflicted. 

For a malpractice case to be successful, there must usually be proof that the patient was harmed due to the negligence of a healthcare provider. This means demonstrating that the provider's actions fell below the acceptable standard of care and caused injury or harm to the patient. 

The law also recognizes situations where doctors make honest mistakes or use treatments that do not work out even when they follow accepted standards of care. In such cases, it may still be possible for patients to seek financial compensation, but only if they can prove that their injuries were more than just unfortunate results from appropriate treatments. 

What Are Some Common Forms of Medical Malpractice?

Because of the vast range of medical services that exist, there are numerous ways that you can become a victim of medical malpractice. 

The most common forms of medical malpractice are:

• Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis: This occurs when a doctor fails to diagnose a medical condition on time, preventing the patient from receiving appropriate treatment and possibly leading to severe complications or even death. A delayed diagnosis can also increase the severity of the disease due to the delay in treatment.
• Medication Errors: These errors occur when a doctor prescribes incorrect dosages or medications that interact with other drugs the patient may be taking, resulting in adverse reactions or even death. 
• Surgical Errors: Surgical errors include operating on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments behind during surgery, performing unnecessary surgeries, and making mistakes during routine procedures, such as childbirth or an appendectomy. 
• Anesthesia Errors: Anesthesia errors occur when too little anesthesia is administered during a procedure, causing excessive pain for the patient, or when an overdose of anesthesia causes permanent brain damage or death from cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.

Regardless of the form that medical malpractice takes in your case, we will fight vigilantly on your behalf. No one should have to suffer for a mistake their health care provider made, but we can help you seek the fair compensation you are owed.