Two common mistakes people make after they’ve been injured as the result of someone else’s negligence are: (1) they think they don’t need a lawyer so they try to handle the case themselves; or (2) they know they need a lawyer and they call the first law firm phone number they see on a bus sign without doing any research.
First, you’ve heard the saying “A person who represents himself has a fool for a client.” Legal rules and procedures – especially in Philadelphia – are complex. Navigating them is challenging enough for lawyers who have gone through the rigors of law school. But if you have no formal legal training and you attempt to handle your personal injury matter on your own, there is hardly any likelihood that you will achieve an optimal result.
Second, there are many personal injury lawyers in Philadelphia. But there aren’t many personal injury attorneys in Philadelphia who can represent you well and secure a successful outcome for your case. Below are reasons you need to find an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to represent you in your case.
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FILE THE LAWSUIT IN TIME
In every personal injury case, time is of the essence. If your Philadelphia personal injury lawyer does not act efficiently and swiftly, 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 personal injury claim.
Pennsylvania law allows you two years from when you knew or should have known that your injury was the result of the defendants’ negligence. In the case of a deceased party, Pennsylvania law allows you two years from the official death date to file a wrongful death personal injury lawsuit. There are some additional exceptional rules that only experienced personal injury lawyers know, which is why it’s crucial to hire one to investigate your case.
YOU’LL BE ABLE TO RETAIN CRUCIAL EVIDENCE BEFORE THE DEFENDANT DESTROYS IT
An experienced personal injury attorney knows what actions must be taken early in the process such as ordering medical records; reviewing police reports; and collecting witness statements, photographs, and videos. The presence or absence of these crucial forms of evidence could determine whether your lawsuit is successful or not.
If you were injured in a slip and fall, your premises liability attorney might collect building records, weather history, janitorial schedules, etc. If you were injured in a car accident, your accident attorney might gather auto mechanic invoices, cell phone records, and the defendants’ driving records.
And remember: Much of the critical evidence is in the possession of the defendant and if those items aren’t requested early in the process, the defendant could destroy them.
Thus, you need a Philadelphia personal injury attorney to preserve any and all necessary evidence.
YOUR LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS IS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY
With each case, an experienced Philadelphia personal injury 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 personal injury cases, but you want an attorney who has tried many negligence cases successfully. So, it’s not just experience, per se, that matters – success rate is important as well. Ask the attorney you’re thinking of hiring about their record. If they don’t have a good answer, you’ve been given all the information you need. Find a better lawyer.
A PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER WILL HIRE THE RIGHT (AND BEST) EXPERTS
In many cases, a personal injury lawsuit is complicated and requires expert review and analysis. Your personal injury lawyer in Philadelphia has access to the best experts in the country. They will ensure that the most appropriate and qualified experts review your case. And they will ensure that those experts write a detailed and comprehensive report to bolster your claim in court.
To find an experienced personal injury attorney in Philadelphia to represent you in your personal injury case, contact the attorneys at VSCP Law.
Your brain is the processing center for your body. It controls what you think, how you feel, your ability to remember things, the way you move, the way you talk, and how you learn. It also controls your bodily functions, such as the beating of your heart and the digestion of the food you eat. Damage to the brain means damage to one of the most complex and impactful organs in your body. This is why injuries to your brain can be catastrophic and life-altering.
The two main categories of brain injuries are traumatic brain injuries and acquired brain injuries (also called non-traumatic brain injuries).
Traumatic brain injuries are alterations to the brain caused by an external force (a ‘blow’ to the head). Examples of causes of traumatic brain injuries include physical assault, trip and falls, sports injuries, firearms, and motor vehicle accidents.
Whereas traumatic brain injuries occur from an external force, acquired brain injuries occur internally. Examples of causes of acquired brain injuries include stroke, tumor, heart attack, aneurysm, and infectious disease.
Often, brain injuries are the result of someone’s negligence. For instance, an emergency room doctor delays treatment for a stroke, resulting in permanent brain damage. Or an obstetrician makes a mistake during childbirth, resulting in hypoxia (or inadequate oxygen to the brain) and the child develops cerebral palsy. Outside of the medical arena, maybe an improperly installed light fixture in a supermarket falls onto a customer’s head. Or someone’s car is struck by another’s car and a passenger strikes their head on the dashboard.
If you have suffered a brain injury as the result of someone’s actions or inactions, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit. But you shouldn’t just contact any personal injury attorney. You need to find a traumatic brain injury lawyer, one with the requisite experience needed to win your case.
A Philadelphia brain injury attorney can walk you through the next steps. They will help you get the healthcare you need to maximize your recovery. Brain trauma attorneys know which critical care you need and how to access it.
Your brain injury attorney in Philadelphia knows what evidence-gathering actions must be taken early in the process such as ordering medical records and, in the case of traumatic brain injury: reviewing police reports as well as collecting witness statements, photographs, and videos. The presence or absence of these crucial forms of evidence could determine whether your lawsuit is successful or not. And remember: Much of the critical evidence is in the possession of the defendant and if those items aren’t requested early in the process, the defendant could destroy them.
Your traumatic brain injury lawyer in Philadelphia knows how to navigate the complicated rules and procedures in Philadelphia to ensure that your lawsuit is not time-barred or restricted in any compromising way.
Your brain injury lawsuit will require expert review and analysis. Your Philadelphia brain injury lawyer has access to the best experts in the country. They will ensure that the most appropriate and qualified experts review your case. And they will ensure that those experts write a detailed and comprehensive report to bolster your claim in court.
If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury, contact the experienced brain injury lawyers at VSCP Law.
People often confuse medical errors and medical malpractice. Medical errors are mistakes that take place in the context of medicine. Doctors, like other professionals, occasionally make mistakes. Those mistakes or medical errors rise to the level of medical malpractice when their actions fail to adhere to the standard of care. The standard of care for a doctor is what a reasonably skilled doctor within the same area of medicine would have provided to a patient under the same circumstances. With those distinctions in mind, below are the most common medical malpractice errors in Philadelphia.
MISDIAGNOSIS AND DELAYED DIAGNOSIS
Misdiagnosis
Healthcare providers often misdiagnose patients, which could lead to serious injury or death. An example is when doctors misdiagnose women who are having heart attacks. Because women experiencing heart attacks have symptoms that differ from men’s heart attack symptoms, doctors fail to recognize that a heart attack is indeed what the woman is suffering from. While men may often experience chest pain or numbness in their left arms when having a heart attack, women may experience nausea, stomach pain, or dizziness. Poorly informed doctors misdiagnose women with menstrual cramps or indigestion rather than treating them urgently for the heart attacks they’re experiencing.
Delayed Diagnosis
There are many medical conditions that require prompt intervention by healthcare professionals. For example, a stroke is when blood supply to the brain is interrupted or reduced. This is an urgent medical issue and requires a timely diagnosis. When the healthcare professional recognizes the signs of stroke and acts quickly, they can help restore blood flow to the brain. Failure to do so will lead to oxygen deprivation in the brain, which can lead to brain damage, disability, and even death. If a healthcare professional delays diagnosis of stroke and/or fails to act urgently, thereby delaying or withholding lifesaving treatment and disability-preventing treatment, they could be held liable for medical malpractice.
Misdiagnoses and delayed diagnoses can result in serious injury or death and, in those cases, the patient or their loved ones should consult a Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney immediately.
SURGICAL ERRORS
Surgeons are responsible for doing exactly what they stipulate to and nothing more and nothing less. Perhaps they damage a nerve, operate on the wrong body part, leave a piece of surgical equipment (eg, gauze or scalpel) inside the body cavity, or they damage an organ. All of these mistakes support a medical malpractice action, as does any negligence by the anesthesiologist in the administration of the anesthesia. Your surgical mistake attorney in Philadelphia can evaluate the actions and inactions of the surgical team who rendered you care and determine whether they committed medical malpractice.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG ERRORS
While prescription drugs can promote healing, ease pain, calm nerves, balance out blood levels, lower dangerous cholesterol, regulate heart functions, etc., they can also cause serious harm and even death, if not prescribed appropriately. Prescription drug errors include prescribing the wrong medication, prescribing the wrong dosage of medication, failure to warn a patient of serious side effects, and not taking into account the patient’s medical history and current drug use. Talk to a Philadelphia prescription error attorney if this happened to you or a loved one.
FAILURE TO PROPERLY TREAT
A doctor commits medical negligence when they fail to provide the appropriate treatment to their patient. Perhaps the doctor ignores certain symptoms and orders the wrong kind of surgery for the patient. Perhaps the doctor misreads an x-ray. In all of these cases, the healthcare provider failed to properly treat their patient. Contact your hospital medical malpractice attorney in Scranton if you suspect your doctor committed medical negligence during their treatment of you.
BIRTH INJURIES
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about seven in 1,000 children will suffer from a birth injury. A birth injury refers to damage caused to a baby shortly before, during, or after their birth. Birth injuries can result in permanent damage to the baby that will last into childhood and adulthood. Common birth injuries include bone fracture, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus, vacuum extraction complications, brain damage, and encephalopathy. Your birth injury lawyer in Philadelphia can help evaluate whether your child’s birth injuries are related to a healthcare provider’s negligence or medical malpractice.
The above are the most common medical malpractice errors in Philadelphia, Scranton, and other cities in Pennsylvania. If you believe you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at VSCP Law – www.vscplaw.com
When your loved one has died as the result of someone else’s actions (or inactions), you may be able to seek legal recourse in the death case. But wrongful death cases are complicated. There are legal requirements related to filing an estate, the timing of your claim, and what damages you can claim. There are often complex medical records to review and understand. Here are some important legal actions your wrongful death attorney can take, which will help you win legal remedies for your wrongful death case.
FILE A TIMELY LAWSUIT
Under the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute, you have two years after the official death date to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This restriction is typically referred to as the wrongful death statute of limitations.
Two years may seem like a long time, but your wrongful death attorney will need ample time to investigate the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death. They will need to order records such as medical records or employment records. They will need to talk with various individuals who were involved in or had substantial knowledge about the circumstances leading up to your loved one’s death. They will need to fully understand whether someone or multiple people are at fault for your loved one’s death.
SET UP AN ESTATE
It is essential to know who represents the estate prior to filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
If your loved one died without a will, the court may appoint a personal representative called an “administrator.” An administrator of an estate may be a surviving spouse, other family member, or family friend. The administrator collects all the assets of the decedent, pays creditors, and distributes remaining assets to heirs or other beneficiaries.
If your loved one died with a will, the person appointed in the will as the “executor” has similar responsibilities to the administrator in that they must collect assets, make sure all debts and taxes are paid, and then distribute the remaining assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with law and the will.
The other important function of an administrator or an executor is the ability to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Your wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia will help you figure out who should represent the estate.
PURSUE AND PRESERVE CRITICAL EVIDENCE
One of the first essential steps in pursuing and preserving evidence is to order an autopsy on the deceased. And when ordering the autopsy, your experienced wrongful death attorney knows whether to order toxicology along with the autopsy. Toxicology includes a search for chemicals or drugs in the blood, saliva, and urine. Obviously, this autopsy must be done prior to the burial or cremation so your attorney will act swiftly to ensure that all necessary actions are taken before the decedent is buried.
Other examples of evidence that needs to be gathered in a timely fashion include police reports, witness statements, photographs and videos, death certificate, and physical objects that are related to the wrongful death. It is imperative that you help your lawyer gather these necessary pieces of information to the extent that you can. The presence or absence of this evidence will determine whether your wrongful death lawsuit is successful or not.
HIRE THE RIGHT (AND BEST) EXPERTS
Your wrongful death case is likely complicated. It will require expert review and analysis. In a medical malpractice wrongful death case, for instance, your attorney will have to find a doctor that is trained in the same practice of medicine in which the defendant doctor practices. Your wrongful death attorney has access to the best experts in the country and they will ensure that the most qualified experts review your case and write an ironclad report to bolster your claim in court.
FILE THE COMPLAINT, INCLUDING ALL NECESSARY CLAIMS
A wrongful death attorney evaluates the case with knowledge of all possible causes of action and claims for wrongful death damages. They know how to work with bereaved families to help them achieve a fair outcome for their wrongful death claim. Your wrongful death lawyer understands how to maximize the value of your wrongful death lawsuit so you get all possible legal remedies for wrongful death.
The above are a sampling of some important legal actions to take in cases of wrongful death. To talk with an experienced wrongful death attorney who will walk you through the essential steps, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.
If you think you have been a victim of surgical errors, here are some ways you can maximize compensation in your medical malpractice case.
PRESERVE EVIDENCE
Often, victims of surgical errors inadvertently lose or destroy key pieces of evidence. It is imperative that you preserve all necessary records and items pertaining to your surgical errors medical malpractice case. If you are unsure whether a document is essential to your case, err on the side of holding onto it. Keep everything you can because you don’t know yet what item will become crucial to the success of your case.
Examples of evidence include medical records, intake forms, toxicology reports, labwork, prescription slips, photographs and videos, work records, financial statements, and physical objects that are related to the medical malpractice (e.g., prescription bottles, medical devices, etc.). Even media such as emails, text messages, and social media posts should be preserved in case they can help your case.
Again, the absence of these items could reduce the value and success of your surgical errors medical malpractice case.
KEEP UP WITH FOLLOW-UP MEDICAL CARE
An error that victims of medical malpractice often make is failing to go to their follow-up care. Whether it’s out of a distrust of doctors, inconvenience, or physical discomfort, some people just discontinue seeking medical treatment after their medical injury. This is a huge mistake. You may seek a second opinion, you may change doctors, but you should not skip your follow up care. Further, make sure to document and keep track of all out-of-pocket medical expenses. Extensive follow-up care helps establish your future care needs for your surgical errors medical malpractice case and, hopefully and most importantly, it also helps you recover.
DOCUMENT YOUR INJURY AND RECOVERY
In order to maximize compensation, it will be important to establish that the effects of the surgical errors are continually burdensome. Make sure to take photos and videos throughout your journey to give a visual picture of the scarring and disfigurement you’re suffering. Journaling is another way to keep track of your injury and the uncomfortable effects of it.
It’s also helpful to document your conversations with healthcare providers. With time, your memory may fade a little so try to write down conversations with healthcare and rehabilitation providers soon after they occur.
TALK TO A LAWYER
In addition to the above important steps, a step you should take early on in the process is to consult with a medical malpractice lawyer. This lawyer will be able to make sure you abide by all the necessary regulations, including the time-sensitive statute of limitations. Your lawyer also knows all the important steps you need to take to maximize compensation and will help guide you through them.
If you believe you are a victim of surgical errors, contact the medical malpractice attorneys at VSCP Law.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world as we know it, hospitals and doctors’ offices had to scramble to transform traditional medical practice into one that could survive widespread shutdown orders. And thus, telemedicine – for the first time in history – became the primary way doctors and patients interacted with each other for most outpatient appointments. “Telemedicine” – also referred to as “telehealth” – is the delivery of healthcare using electronic information and technology, such as computers, videoconferencing, wireless communications, and the internet.
DEFICIENCIES IN TELEMEDICINE
While this form of virtual healthcare is inarguably more convenient than in-person healthcare, it is not necessarily better. Indeed, both doctors and patients will concur that some in-person visits are essential for proper care, diagnosis, and treatment. For instance, a dermatologist would have a difficult time establishing whether a mole is cancerous simply by looking at it on the small screen on her laptop. Instead, she’d have to look at it in person, from different angles and distances, tap it, squeeze it, and measure it to truly know whether it should be biopsied to check for cancer.
TELEMEDICINE AND PERSONAL INJURY LIABILITY
As to how telemedicine affects personal injury and medical malpractice lawsuits, it operates under the same laws as traditional, in-person medicine. That is to say, if you have been injured because of what a doctor or medical team has done or not done, then you might have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit. This is true whether the treatment took place in the same room or across the telecommunications highway. Even when the doctor is communicating with you and rendering medical treatment through electronic means, they must provide you proper care and if they don’t, they could be liable for your injuries.
TELEMEDICINE AND PERSONAL INJURY LAWSUITS
As in traditional personal injury lawsuits, telemedicine lawsuits will require the thorough preservation of evidence. Evidence includes health summaries, hospital notes, prescription slips, lab results, and other medical reports. When the doctor or hospital provides virtual care, they have the same duties to make an adequate record of their treatment of the patient. Even though the setting is different, their obligations to their patients are the same. Notably, it can be argued that the virtual healthcare setting is ripe for more medical mistakes. Indeed, as mentioned above, how can anyone be certain of a proper diagnosis when it’s rendered through a video conversation rather than through a thorough in-person screening?
Telemedicine cases can open up new issues for personal injury lawyers such as, where should the Complaint be filed if the patient was in one state and/or county and the doctor rendering care was in another? This and other confounding issues make the need to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer that much greater.
To consult with an experienced personal injury attorney about your potential telemedicine personal injury case, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.
According to the John Lewis Institute for Social Justice, “social justice” is “a communal effort dedicated to creating and sustaining a fair and equal society in which each person and all groups are valued and affirmed.” Further, it seeks to end “all systems that devalue the dignity and humanity of any person.”
Given that social justice is an effort at the community level, how are personal injury lawyers advancing it? In order to understand that, first let’s explore a sampling of contexts in which certain persons are devalued, thereby creating the need for social justice advocacy.
WORKPLACE
In workplaces across the country, companies may engage in racist hiring, retention, compensation, and termination practices. Other unfair practices may include, for example, not providing proper safety equipment to a subgroup of workers, rendering them more likely than their colleagues to suffer serious injury from workplace accidents. Personal injury lawyers advance social justice when they fight on the behalf of these injured workers and ensure workplace safety is prioritized over company profit.
PUBLIC ACCESS
Disability rights are social justice rights. In other words, those in the disability community are included in the group of marginalized people who seek a fairer and more equitable society. There are various circumstances where a personal injury lawyer can help fight for disability rights. For instance, let’s say a company fails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA mandates that public accommodations (whether owned by the government, a non-profit organization, or a private company) must meet certain minimum standards for accessibility. Failure to meet these guidelines can cause people in the disabled community serious injury. A personal injury attorney can sue the company on behalf of the injured person.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code provides an individual the right to sue state government employees and others for civil rights violations. Prisoners can use Section 1983, for example, to sue the prison for inhabitable living conditions, faulty healthcare, or the failure of a security guard to protect a prisoner during an assault. Other possible claims against a prison include false arrest, wrongful conviction, false imprisonment, abuse of process, and the use of excessive force. A personal injury lawyer can file a lawsuit against the prison and other government entities for the personal injuries they caused to the client.
As may be obvious, in many examples of social justice violations, there’s a corporate greed that seems to be valued over human safety. Often, injuries happen to people because the company is more concerned with their bottom line than the health, wellbeing, and safety of others.
Personal injury lawyers can help drive societal and systemic change by holding profit-hungry corporations, companies, agencies, and organizations accountable for their actions and inactions. And, notably, change happening at the court level operates at lightning-fast pace compared to change happening at the congressional or legislative levels.
To fight inequality and further social justice, hire the personal injury lawyers and social justice advocates at VSCP Law.
If you believe you’ve been injured as the result of someone else’s actions or inactions, you should consult with a Philadelphia personal injury attorney. Read on to understand the two main things you can do to prepare for the consultation.
GATHER INFORMATION
When you meet with a Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, try to have with you documents that will be necessary in determining whether you have a viable case. Documents that may be necessary include: your work history, medical records, cell phone records, photos, emails, medical records and reports, statements from eyewitnesses, contact information for eyewitnesses, police report, and other information that helps establish what was happening immediately before you got injured as well as how you got injured and what happened after you were injured.
The more evidence you bring to your initial meeting with the Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, the better. And personal injury lawyers will always appreciate it if you organize the notes and records to make the review of them that much easier.
Notably, sometimes, your attorney might tell you not to do things that you think you probably should. For instance, if you were in a car accident, you may be inclined to have your car repaired immediately. But your Pennsylvania personal injury attorney would advise against that. How your car looks and how damaged your car is due to the accident are crucial elements of evidence and should not be altered. Thus, before the car is repaired, your lawyer may want to take a look and send an automotive expert to do so as well.
BE READY TO SIGN FORMS
Before the Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer can review all of the crucial evidence for your case, you need to sign a Contingent Fee Agreement with them. This agreement establishes the
client-attorney relationship. It stipulates that you, the client, do not need to pay the lawyer anything upfront. The lawyer will assume all the costs and expenses to build and try your case. The lawyer only gets paid back for all of those costs and expenses if the lawsuit is successful.
To find a personal injury attorney in Pennsylvania who will review the evidence you collect, thoroughly evaluate your case, file a complaint, and win a successful outcome for you, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at VSCP Law.
If you are wondering, when is the best time to file a lawsuit? A Philadelphia personal injury attorney would tell you: “sooner, rather than later!”
Before examining why filing your lawsuit as-early-as-possible is the best approach, it’s important to understand Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations law.
Pennsylvania Statute of Limitations
Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations allows you two years from when you knew or should have known that your injury was caused by what the defendant did or didn’t do.
For example, 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. This restriction is typically referred to as the wrongful death statute of limitations.
Timeliness of Evidence
Think of all the evidence a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer may need to present at trial to prove that the defendant’s negligence caused your injuries. In the case of an auto accident: police reports; eyewitness statements; photos of the car prior and immediately after the accident; statements from the tow truck company, the automotive repair company, and the insurance adjuster; records of the defendant’s cell phone activity immediately prior to the accident; emergency room and other medical records, including x-rays, CT scans, radiology reports, blood labs, toxicology reports, intake notes, and vitals for both you and the defendant. This list is in no way exhaustive.
What is essential to understand is that some evidence is finite in quality. That is to say, some evidence is more fresh closer to the date of the incident. Witness statements, for example: the testimony of eyewitnesses to the accident that caused your injury will not be fresh forever. With time, the crispness of the memory fades and the details become blurry. That’s why it’s essential to collect witness statements as soon as possible after the injury.
Timeline of Most Personal Injury Cases
Even if you file your lawsuit promptly, there will still be a wait time of at least a couple of years before your case goes to trial. Between the time your attorney files the Complaint and the actual trial is a lengthy period called “Discovery,” in which both sides to the lawsuit request, exchange, and examine information and evidence pertaining to the case. This includes depositions of parties, experts writing reports, and often a series of motions and hearings on evidentiary issues.
And notwithstanding the considerable length of the discovery period, another delay looms large in Philadelphia: cases are backlogged due to the closure of courts during the early months of the COVID pandemic. So, there is a long line of postponed trials that get priority over recently-filed cases.
In sum, the sooner you file your lawsuit, the less time you’ll have to wait until the trial. To talk with an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to help you file your lawsuit in the most timely manner, contact VSCP Law.
Many people in the Philadelphia area suffer from a medical injury and they wonder, “What constitutes medical malpractice? Do I have a medical malpractice lawsuit?” To answer, it makes sense to first explore the following questions:
WHAT IS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?
Medical malpractice is a negligence claim in the context of medicine. This means that if you have been injured because of what a doctor or medical team has done (or has not done), then you might have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit. The medical malpractice might have occurred because your doctor gave you a wrong diagnosis or prescribed the wrong medicine. Or maybe the nurses injured you while administering medicine or wound-care. Maybe the hospital did not provide medical staff to address your medical issue in a timely manner. If a doctor, nurse, or any health care professional causes you to suffer an injury related to their treatment of you either by doing something or not doing something, you may have a medical malpractice lawsuit.
HOW DO I FILE A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT IN PENNSYLVANIA?
Your first step in filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is to contact a Pennsylvania-based medical malpractice attorney. The medical malpractice lawyer will walk you through the necessary steps which will include obtaining your medical records and hiring medical experts to determine whether you have a valid case. The medical malpractice attorney makes all of this as easy as possible for you – you simply have to sign the contingent fee agreement as well as a document that permits the attorney to collect your medical records from your doctors. Your medical malpractice lawyer will then review your records and consult with medical experts to determine if your case can be filed.
HOW LONG DO I HAVE AFTER THE INJURY TO FILE A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE SUIT IN PENNSYLVANIA?
The rules in Pennsylvania are that you have two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. The name for this time restriction is “statute of limitations.” This medical malpractice statute of limitations rule means that you have two years after you knew or should have known that your medical injury was caused by your doctor or healthcare provider. The exception to this two-year rule is for children who are the victims of medical malpractice. For them, the statute of limitations runs two years after they become an adult (ie, two years after their 18th birthday).
WHAT IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO FILE THE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE COMPLAINT IN PENNSYLVANIA?
In order to prove your medical malpractice claim, your attorney will need to hire an expert. The expert must be in the same field of medicine as the healthcare professional who committed the medical malpractice. For instance, if your injuries occurred during gastrointestinal surgery, your medical malpractice attorney will likely discuss the case with an expert who is a gastrointestinal surgeon. Assuming the expert agrees that a medical error took place and caused your injuries, the expert will prepare a Certificate of Merit Letter. Your Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney will then need to file a Complaint along with the Certificate of Merit in the court. And thus begins your formal lawsuit against the defendants.
If you believe you have suffered a medical injury and would like to explore whether what you experienced constitutes medical malpractice, contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at VSCP Law.