Answering Your Questions About Personal Injury And Medical Malpractice Claims
Suffering an injury or experiencing medical negligence brings about a lot of questions. The attorneys at Phillips Froetschel, LLC, help people in Pennsylvania find answers. We’ve answered some of our clients’ most common questions below to help orient you on your journey toward justice.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
People who work in health care are highly skilled, knowledgeable and caring individuals who have devoted their lives to improving those of others. However, despite their expertise and noble intentions, they can make mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes are considered medical malpractice. The definition of medical malpractice is when an action taken by a medical professional or their failure to act deviates from the standard of care in a medical setting and causes a patient to get hurt.
What Are Some Examples Of Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice takes many different forms, for example:
- Failing to diagnose a serious condition in time to treat it
- Diagnosing a condition incorrectly
- Performing the wrong surgery on a patient
- Operating on the wrong part of a patient’s body
- Prescribing a patient the wrong medication or the wrong dosage of medication
- Failing to take a patient’s symptoms seriously or investigate them
- Releasing someone from the hospital too soon
- Failing to conduct proper follow-ups or aftercare
There are many more things that could be considered medical malpractice. If you suspect you’ve suffered an injury because of medical negligence, consult with an attorney from our firm.
How Do You Prove Medical Malpractice?
Every medical malpractice case has four crucial elements – the four Ds:
- Duty
- Dereliction
- Damages
- Direct cause
The first element that must be present is duty, meaning that a doctor had a professional duty to provide care to a patient. Next is dereliction, which means that they fell short of their duty. This dereliction of professional duty must have resulted in damages to the patient. Damages can be economic, such as medical expenses, or noneconomic, such as pain and suffering. Finally, these damages must have been incurred as a direct result of the doctor’s dereliction of duty.
Talk To A Personal Injury And Medical Malpractice Attorney Today
If you think you could have a valid personal injury or medical malpractice claim, we’d like to learn more about your case. Contact us at 412-643-0682 or reach out online to set up a free consultation.