The medical malpractice lawyers of The Cochran Firm in Philadelphia understand how difficult it can be to deal with the aftermath of medical malpractice. You may be facing additional surgeries, suffering from missed diagnoses, having serious drug interactions, or going through complications from unreported mistakes.
Here are five ways the malpractice lawyers at The Cochran Firm in Philadelphia can help right now:
You need an attorney who has the experience, knowledge, and resources to give you the best possible chance of winning your medical malpractice lawsuit. The defendant in your case (a hospital or its insurance company) will have a team of lawyers at its disposal; you need an attorney who can operate on this level and emerge with a good result in these difficult circumstances.
As medical malpractice attorneys, we have seen firsthand the culture of silence that exists within the medical profession in Pennsylvania. When errors are made, there is often a reluctance to report them to patients. One of the biggest challenges in medical malpractice lawsuits is uncovering evidence of documented medical mistakes. According to Pennsylvania law, incidents of medical malpractice must be reported, though underreporting is common in these cases.
However, this can actually work in favor of plaintiffs like you. If your attorney can prove that the hospital in your case obscured important evidence, this will make the institution look dishonest and make it easier for you to secure a settlement or verdict.
The most common complaint lawyers get relates to failure to communicate.
We know that our clients need regular updates on their cases, so we make sure to provide these consistently. We return all client phone calls within one business day, so that you can always get the clear answers you need in a timely manner.
We understand that when you come to us for help, you are entrusting a very important part of your life to us. We want to get to know you and we want to know how your medical malpractice injury has changed your life. As your Philadelphia personal injury lawyers, we want to help you heal during this difficult time.
We believe that everyone should have access to justice, regardless of their financial situation. That’s why we offer to take medical malpractice cases on a contingency basis, which means that we don’t charge any fees unless we win your case.
We understand that many people are reluctant to pursue legal action because of financial worries. By taking cases on a contingency basis, we can help more accident victims in Philadelphia get justice for their medical injuries and settlements that allow them to get their lives back on track to start over again with the support of an experienced, accident-focused law firm.
Additionally, working on a contingency basis gives us a strong incentive to win every case we take on. If we don’t obtain a favorable outcome for our clients, we don’t get paid. Plus, because you know that we get paid only if you do, you can be confident that we’re always working in your best interests.
The Cochran Firm in Philadelphia is a compassionate and knowledgeable law firm. Contact one of our medical malpractice attorneys to discuss your case today at 800-969-4400.
While medical mistakes can happen in many different ways, the following are some of the most common causes of medical malpractice:
Sleep deprivation is a very common problem in hospitals. Overworked and exhausted doctors are more likely to make mistakes. To prevent burnout, it’s important for hospitals and clinics to properly staff their facilities, ensure that doctors have adequate rest between shifts, and take steps to reduce doctors’ and nurses’ stress levels.
A groundbreaking report from Johns Hopkins found that diagnostic errors cause 795,000 deaths and permanent disabilities in the U.S. each year. Communication problems in hospitals often lead to these kinds of diagnostic failures.
In some cases, this type of communication breakdown can be the result of poorly designed systems or protocols. Other times, it may simply be the result of individual healthcare providers not taking the time to properly communicate with each other.
In certain healthcare facilities, doctors are constantly put under pressure to treat more patients than they can safely handle. This also puts a strain on nurses who administer medicine and relay critical information.
Sometimes healthcare facilities allow improperly qualified professionals to carry out important tasks in order to keep up with the demands on their services (for example, where a nurse executes a difficult procedure unassisted, even though a doctor should be present).
If you can prove that this type of institutional negligence caused you an injury or illness, you should be entitled to compensation from the hospital that provided your treatment.
Defective medical devices pose a major risk to patient safety; as we noted in this blog post, they’ve caused millions of injuries and tens of thousands of deaths since the turn of the century.
If a faulty medical device has caused you an injury, you may have several options when it comes to pursuing compensation. You could sue the hospital for using the device in question, on the grounds that its employees should have realized there was a problem with it before exposing you to it. Alternatively, you could sue the manufacturer of the device or the entity responsible for repairing or maintaining it.
Defective drugs are also hugely problematic, not least because the problems with them often don’t become apparent for years after their release. For example, people were taking Zantac (ranitidine) to treat gastrointestinal ulcers and other issues for decades before it came to light that the drug was linked to the development of certain cancers.
If you’ve been affected by an issue like this, you may be able to file suit against the manufacturer of the medication that injured you. If this is an existing problem that has affected others, there may be a class-action lawsuit you could join. If you’d like to learn more about this possibility, you should schedule a free initial consultation with one of our medical malpractice lawyers.
The emergency room (ER) is a chaotic, high-pressure environment. ER doctors must often attend to multiple patients at once and contend with frequent interruptions. These conditions can lead to errors in patient care and, ultimately, medical malpractice-related injuries and deaths.
The most common ER mistakes include incorrect prescriptions, poor diagnoses, and procedures performed on the wrong patients. Many families have lost loved ones due to medical errors in the ER, and many patients have been left with permanent injuries.
Any claim of emergency room malpractice must be thoroughly investigated to determine if there is a basis for liability. This requires collecting all documents related to your care, including test results, prescriptions, reports by your primary physician, and records related to the negligent care you received.
Emergency room documents, health and safety laws, and standard operating procedures must be reviewed by medical experts to see whether malpractice may have played a role in a given case.
What is medical malpractice? Medical malpractice is a legal term used to describe a situation where the negligence of a medical professional results in injury or death. In order to succeed in a medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff must show that the medical professional breached their duty of care and that this breach resulted in harm.
What are some common examples of medical malpractice? Common examples of medical malpractice include birth injuries, surgical errors, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, and failure to obtain informed consent before surgery.
How do I know if I have a medical malpractice case? If a healthcare professional owed you a duty of care, and their actions fell below the accepted standards of medical care, and you were injured as a result, you may have a medical malpractice case on your hands.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim? In Pennsylvania, you need to file your medical malpractice case within two years of the date of the injury, or the date on which you found out about it. While there are some exceptions to this rule, you will generally lose your right to file suit if you allow this deadline to pass.
What types of compensation can I receive? In Pennsylvania, three main types of damages may be awarded in a medical malpractice case:
Do I need an expert witness to file a medical malpractice claim in Pennsylvania? Yes. According to the Pennsylvania Code, a Certificate of Merit must either be filed along with a medical complaint or within 60 days of filing the complaint.
Does Pennsylvania have a cap on medical malpractice damages? Pennsylvania does not cap general or special damages; however, a court will cap punitive damages at 200% of the compensatory damages awarded in a given case.
It is a sad fact that people are often injured or killed as a result of the negligence of healthcare providers. These professionals are supposed to be caring for us when we are at our most vulnerable, but all too often they make mistakes that have devastating consequences.
If you’ve been harmed by the negligence of a healthcare provider, it is important to know that you have options. To learn more, contact us today at 800-969-4400, or via our online contact form, to schedule a free consultation.
The emergency room (ER) is a chaotic, high-pressure environment. ER doctors must often attend to multiple patients at once and contend with frequent interruptions. These conditions can lead to errors in patient care and, ultimately, medical malpractice-related injuries and deaths.
The most common ER mistakes include incorrect prescriptions, poor diagnoses, and procedures performed on the wrong patients. Many families have lost loved ones due to medical errors in the ER, and many patients have been left with permanent injuries.
Any claim of emergency room malpractice must be thoroughly investigated to determine if there is a basis for liability. This requires collecting all documents related to your care, including test results, prescriptions, reports by your primary physician, and records related to the negligent care you received.
Emergency room documents, health and safety laws, and standard operating procedures must be reviewed by medical experts to see whether malpractice may have played a role in a given case.
Get a free consultation
