Filing a Birth Injury Claim in PA
A child is very ill when born and later is diagnosed as having cerebral palsy. A patient dies following routine elective surgery. Many immediately assume the doctor was at fault while some believe it was just meant to be.
As lawyers representing patients in Pennsylvania birth injury and medical malpractice cases, we know that not every bad result is preventable. On the other hand, many are. The difficulty, of course, is finding out what happened and why.
Tragic and unexpected results sometimes occur during the course of medical care. Should there have been a better result?
When the family members or the victim seek explanations from the healthcare providers in attendance, the explanation as to the cause of the injury seem inadequate. You begin with a suspicion and it’s a suspicion that’s unpleasant to live with, the fact that this terrible birth injury was in some way preventable.
How do you begin? Start by asking questions. If the answers don't make sense or if you have other suspicions, then perhaps you should seek another professional's opinion, preferably a lawyer whose practice is devoted to birth injury cases.
Once a determination has been made that a viable birth injury or medical malpractice claim exists that should be pursued, filing a formal lawsuit is generally required. The people in charge of hospitals and the insurers who represent physicians and nurses typically have no interest in helping solve or expose problems early on. Rather, they want to test your determination, and that of your attorney.
Filing a birth injury or medical malpractice claim in Pennsylvania is initially no different than any other personal injury claim. After suit is filed, however, there are vast differences between the typical personal injury suit and a medical negligence suit because of the need to have access to and consult qualified experts, to do the needed medical research, to read and interpret the hospital and other records, including films, ex-rays, computerized axial tomographic studies and MRI’s.
Then, after the experts have been consulted, one has to develop a plan for how life is to be made whole for a seriously injured person. For that purpose you consult physical medicine specialists, neurologists, speech therapists, physical therapists, and life care planners – those people who help you to determine how it’s possible with money to make a difference, a meaningful and positive difference, in the life of the victim.
The law office of Meyers Kenrick Giuffre and Evans is dedicated and available to help you determine if you have a birth injury or medical negligence claim in the state of Pennsylvania.
