By VSCP LAW
If you believe you have been injured because of what a doctor has done (or has not done), then you might have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit and you should contact an attorney right away to discuss your options. But there are so many lawyers in Philadelphia and in the whole state of Pennsylvania, how do you decide whom to hire?
To start, you wouldn’t hire a math teacher to help your child learn how to play the piano. Just as there are specialists in education, so, too, are there specialists in law. Thus, for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Pennsylvania, you should hire a Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer. And not just anyone. You need to hire an experienced Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney. Here’s why.
In every medical malpractice case, time is of the essence. If your Philadelphia, Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyer does not act efficiently and swiftly, critical information could be permanently lost or worse: You could lose the opportunity to file a lawsuit at all! You need to hire an experienced attorney who appreciates the time-sensitive nature of your medical malpractice claim.
Pennsylvania law allows you two years from when you knew or should have known that your injury was the result of the defendants’ medical mistake.
In the case of a deceased party, Pennsylvania law allows you two years from the official death date to file a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit.
In some exceptional cases, the plaintiff can show that the defendants “fraudulently concealed” their negligence (for instance, if they persuaded the plaintiff that their injury was not caused by their actions or inactions). In the case of fraudulent concealment, the plaintiff is granted two years from the time they discovered (or should have discovered) that the defendant’s actions or omissions could likely have caused their loved one’s death.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney knows what actions must be taken early in the process such as ordering medical records including hospital intake forms, nurses’ logs, doctors’ notes, lab results, diagnostic orders and test results, etc.
Other examples of evidence that needs to be gathered in a timely fashion include witness statements, photographs and videos, and physical objects that are related to the medical malpractice claim such as prescription bottles and medical devices.
The presence or absence of these crucial forms of evidence could dictate whether your lawsuit is successful or not.
Despite aggressive advertising to the contrary, many attorneys do not actually have experience working on Pennsylvania medical malpractice cases. Many law firms list “medical malpractice” on their websites because they want people to come to them with medical malpractice cases, but they don’t actually have any significant experience trying these types of complicated cases.
An experienced Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney will have tried at least dozens of cases in an actual courtroom. Taking a case from the beginning stages to verdict involves multiple levels of work and effort. With each case, the Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney becomes more and more capable because they learn something new every time. And not only do you want an attorney who has tried many medical malpractice cases, but you want an attorney who has tried many medical malpractice cases successfully. So it’s not just experience, per se, that matters – success rate is important as well.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney evaluates the case with knowledge of all possible causes of action and claims for damages. For example, here are the various forms of compensation you can collect in a Pennsylvania medical malpractice case in the context of a birth injury. Also, there are special statutes in Pennsylvania that apply to certain cases. An experienced Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney knows which statutes apply to your case and how to craft your claim in the way that puts you in the best position to win.
If you believe you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a medical error in Pennsylvania, contact VSCP Law at vscplaw.com.
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