When you see a doctor or go to a hospital, you trust them to provide the best possible care. Negligence by medical professionals can cause serious harm to innocent patients. If you suffered because of substandard medical care, you deserve to be paid for your losses.
At Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers, a Bethlehem medical malpractice lawyer will represent you throughout the process of getting compensation for your ordeal. You need legal counsel from a law firm with a track record of success, so you have the best chance of winning your case.
Associate Attorney Christine Clarke has a record of verdicts exceeding $100 million. She has successfully represented victims of medical malpractice against some of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies and hospital systems. Founding Partner Jon Ostroff and the rest of the legal team at our firm won a $1,300,000 pre-trial settlement for a Lehigh Valley client who suffered from a surgical error during a routine skin biopsy. We know how to handle these cases, and we are prepared to fight like hell for you.
What Constitutes Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?
If a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional makes a mistake that injures you or fails to diagnose a condition that is harming you, this may be malpractice. Alternatively, if a different treatment than the one prescribed would have given you a better result, you might have been the victim of medical malpractice.
Our seasoned lawyers see doctors in Bethlehem and through the Lehigh Valley making certain kinds of errors time and time again. You could have a potential medical malpractice lawsuit if your doctor or another medical professional:
- Botched a surgery, especially if they performed the wrong surgery or worked on the wrong body part
- Mishandled a birth, injuring the mother or child
- Did not diagnose cancer or misdiagnosed cancer as something else
- Failed to treat a condition aggressively, causing it to worsen
- Made an error with anesthesia
- Prescribed or gave the wrong medication
- Provided poor emergency room care
- Did not follow up on lab or imaging tests
There are other instances that could count as malpractice. If a family doctor did not refer you to a specialist and your condition worsened, failing to make the referral might be considered negligence. You might have a malpractice claim if you got an infection while in the hospital. If a doctor did not warn you of all the risks and benefits of treatment, they might have committed malpractice. Our knowledgeable attorneys will listen to your story and discuss the process of bringing a malpractice case and whether we think you can recover compensation for your suffering and injuries.
Medical Malpractice Damages in Bethlehem
Your damages are the money you receive from a successful medical malpractice claim. Damages compensate you for your actual losses. Actual losses include medical expenses and past and future lost wages.
Additionally, the needless pain and anxiety you experienced are actual losses. If you suffered harm because of a doctor’s mistake, your doctor should pay for it. If your child will never be able to participate in team sports, that limitation has a cost. If your life expectancy is shorter because a doctor failed to take your symptoms seriously, you have suffered an actual loss.
You deserve full compensation for your losses, whether they have a fixed dollar value or not. The Bethlehem malpractice attorneys at Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers will produce compelling evidence of your losses and pursue a financial recovery against the medical professionals who caused your suffering. Money cannot take the pain away, but it can help you and your family move forward with your lives.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for Medical Malpractice in PA?
The law requires lawsuits to be filed within a specific timeframe. In general, you have two years from the time of the medical mistake to bring a lawsuit. However, it is always a good idea to discuss your case with a skilled doctor malpractice attorney. Depending on the situation, an exception might apply.
Sometimes, a victim might not know about the malpractice until later. For example, perhaps a doctor treated you for ulcers, but you got a stomach cancer diagnosis three years later. In a case like this, the two-year “clock” did not begin running until you learned of the doctor’s mistake. You could sue the doctor for misdiagnosis within two years of discovering you had stomach cancer and not ulcers.
Before 2019, state law prevented anyone from filing a medical malpractice lawsuit more than seven years after a medical mistake. The only exception was if a surgeon left an object in a patient’s body. However, in 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that the seven-year time limit for other cases was unconstitutional. If you have a potential medical malpractice claim based on something that happened in the past, talk with one of our Lehigh Valley attorneys about whether you can still bring a lawsuit.
Trust Your Medical Malpractice Claim to Our Seasoned Bethlehem Attorneys
If a medical professional did not provide you proper care and your health suffered because of it, they should pay for their mistakes. You endured damage to your health—they should bear the financial consequences.
Rely on one of our respected attorneys to get the maximum payment available in your case. Call us today to discuss your case with a Bethlehem medical malpractice lawyer willing to fight for you.
