Montgomery County Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Montgomery County, PA

As a patient entering a Pennsylvania healthcare facility, you should expect competent care, safe and hygienic conditions, and qualified and well-educated staff. After all, doctors are trained to skillfully diagnose and treat patients while working in a fast-paced and often demanding environment.

You should assume that the proper tests and imaging will be ordered, the appropriate medications will be administered, and the correct diagnosis will be made. Far too often, however, negligent or reckless doctors and medical staff cause harm to patients. Fortunately, if you or a loved one is suffering as a result of negligent medical care, help is right around the corner.

For over 65 years, the law offices of Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford, P.C. have represented clients who have been victimized by medical malpractice throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania.

It’s important that you get in touch with an expert Montgomery County medical malpractice lawyer who can help you understand your options for pursuing compensation. You can schedule a free initial consultation about your PA medical malpractice claim at one of our offices in Colmar or Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Our Trusted Medical Malpractice Law Firm Can Help You Claim Compensation for Your Injuries

Medical negligence is a serious public health issue with more than 250,000 patients nationwide dying each year because of medical mistakes. In fact, medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the United States, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study. There are many ways a patient can be negligently harmed, including the following:

Surgery Mistakes

Doctors and nurses are required to handle any medical situation that comes through their doors. This sometimes means they’re performing procedures with which they have little to no experience, which could result in harm to the patient. Surgery mistakes during operations may include an artery being nicked, organ punctures or destruction, a wrong body part being operated on, improper sterilization of equipment, surgical instruments or gauze left in the body, and more.

Anesthesia Miscalculations

A patient is never more vulnerable than when they’re under anesthesia. Even the slightest miscalculation or failure to recognize a problem can have catastrophic consequences. Some victims emerge from surgery suffering brain damage. Anesthesia miscalculations may occur due to an overdose of anesthesia, improper intubation, defective equipment, and failure to monitor vital signs. These miscalculations can sometimes even result in death.

Post-Operative Negligence

Post-operative negligence includes inadequate or improper patient monitoring, incorrect administration of medication, improper sterilization techniques, unsafe patient movement resulting in falls, and more. Likewise, improper discharge refers to the early release of a patient before they’re well enough to leave the supervision of the hospital. In these cases, patients who are released early may find that their health worsens and they have to return for additional medical treatment. In more serious cases, improper discharge can lead to death if the patient is dependent on support from the hospital to stay alive.

Delayed Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis

Delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis—a situation in which a medical professional incorrectly offers a prognosis—can lead to a serious illness or a preventable death. A misdiagnosis can be made as a result of pressure and a lack of time to thoroughly and accurately assess the situation. Receiving treatment for the wrong condition can cause irreversible damage. When a doctor fails to act according to the proper standard of care by misdiagnosing a patient, they may be liable for medical malpractice. For help, contact our legal team as soon as possible.

Medication Mistakes

Medication mistakes occur when a physician prescribes an incorrect dosage, prescribes the wrong medication, or administers the medication incorrectly. Patients who have been given the wrong medication mistakenly due to an error in communication or misdiagnosis are often subject to serious injury or death.

An example of a medication error is taking an over-the-counter product that contains acetaminophen while you’re already taking prescription pain medicine that contains this exact ingredient. This mistake could cause you to take more than the recommended dose of acetaminophen, putting yourself at risk of liver damage.

Childbirth Injuries

Childbirth injuries include brain injuries, broken bones, damaged nerves, and failure to provide a medically necessary cesarean section. These birth injuries can also be caused by a medical provider’s poor prenatal care, failure to anticipate birth complications, misidentification of birth defects, and more.

Because birth-related injuries and medical malpractice law can involve complex medical and legal issues, it’s often essential to get advice or representation from a Montgomery County, PA medical malpractice lawyer. For help, look no further than the expert childbirth injury lawyers at Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford.

The Hippocratic Oath requires a new physician to swear to do no harm to patients and to uphold specific ethical standards in the practice of medicine. When a physician makes harmful or injurious patient mistakes, they can be held liable monetarily for not providing a reasonable standard of care. Failure to meet reasonable standards of patient care in Pennsylvania may constitute legally actionable medical malpractice.

Helpful Tips to Hold Your Healthcare Provider Accountable

If you believe you may have been the victim of medical malpractice while under treatment at a hospital, you may be wondering whether you can file a lawsuit against the hospital and what the process of filing a negligence suit against a hospital is like. Below is a brief overview of the process of asserting a medical malpractice claim against a hospital. 

Speak To A Montgomery County Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice claims are among some of the most complex cases in law. If you think you may have a medical malpractice case against a hospital, you should speak to an attorney or law firm that handles medical malpractice cases to better understand your legal rights and options. 

Most attorneys and law firms will offer free consultations, and if they agree to take your case, they will do so on a contingency fee basis. This means that the attorney is paid a percentage of your total financial recovery only if and when the attorney recovers compensation for the client.  If the attorney loses the case, the client will not be responsible for any legal fees.

Determine Whether The Hospital Has Any Liability

Even though the malpractice you suffered took place at a hospital, it does not necessarily mean that the hospital has liability for the malpractice. When malpractice is committed by a doctor, you will need to determine if the doctor is an employee of the hospital or an independent contractor. Hospitals only have liability for negligent acts and omissions committed by their employees. 

However, even if a provider isn’t employed by the hospital, you may be able to assert a direct claim of negligence against the hospital by arguing that the hospital negligently granted privileges to the provider who injured you (in other words, the hospital knew or should have known the provider posed a substantial risk of committing malpractice).

Obtain Your Medical Records

Hospitals are required to keep your medical and treatment records on file for a certain period of time following your treatment, so request a copy of whatever records the hospital has for you.

Identify All Liable Parties

Although a hospital may or may not have employer liability for negligence committed by a medical provider, as noted above the hospital may have liability for other forms of negligence. An attorney will need to carefully examine the details of your case to identify all individuals and entities (such as the hospital, or medical practices, or ambulance services) that may be held legally liable to you for your injuries and damages.

Comply With Statute Of Limitations And Filing Rules

Under Pennsylvania law, you only have two years from the date on which you suffered negligent medical treatment in which to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Wait too long, and the court can permanently dismiss your lawsuit.

In addition, medical malpractice cases have certain filing requirements that must be met in order to avoid having the case dismissed at the outset. Chief among these is the requirement to have a medical expert (usually another medical provider with similar specialization and training as the provider whose negligence caused you harm) render an opinion as to the applicable standard of care and how your provider’s treatment fell below this standard; this requirement is meant to weed out frivolous medical malpractice claims from being filed in court.

Contact Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford Today to Speak with a Skilled Montgomery County Medical Malpractice Attorney

Medical malpractice is unfortunate but all too common in today’s healthcare system. When serious injuries occur as a result of medical errors, you need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Montgomery County on your side to fight for any monetary damages associated with the accident. If you think you or a family member has been injured as a result of medical negligence, consider getting in touch with the expert medical malpractice attorneys at Rubin, Glickman, Steinberg & Gifford, P.C.

After meeting with you one-on-one to discuss your case and any potential obstacles during a free consultation, we’ll outline the facts and circumstances surrounding any impending legal action and will help you determine the most strategic method to compensate you for any lost wages, medical bills, property damage, and psychological trauma associated with the malpractice.

For nearly 68 years, our attorneys have been serving the legal needs of clients in Montgomery County, Bucks County, and throughout the surrounding areas. We have offices in Colmar and can meet with you in your hospital or home if you are unable to travel, including the following hospitals:

• Jefferson Health
• Grandview Hospital
• Suburban Hospital
• Einstein Medical Center Montgomery
• Montgomery Hospital
• Abington – Lansdale Hospital (previously North Penn Hospital)
• Doylestown Hospital
• Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest
• Lehigh Valley Health Network
• St. Luke’s Hospital

Give our Montgomery County, PA medical malpractice attorneys a call at 215-822-7575 or complete our online contact form for help today