Harrisburg Medical Malpractice Lawyers

When you seek medical care, you expect doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals to provide treatment that meets accepted standards of care. When a preventable medical error causes serious injury, worsens an existing condition, or results in the death of a patient, the consequences can be devastating for the patient and the entire family.

Pisanchyn Law Firm represents patients and families in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and throughout Central Pennsylvania who have been harmed by medical negligence.

Our Harrisburg medical malpractice lawyers investigate cases involving misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, surgical mistakes, medication errors, birth injuries, anesthesia errors, hospital negligence, and other potentially preventable medical injuries.

How Do You Know If You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?

A poor medical outcome does not automatically mean malpractice occurred.

Medicine involves risks, and even appropriate treatment does not always produce the result a patient or physician hoped for. A medical malpractice claim generally requires evidence that a healthcare provider failed to meet the applicable standard of care and that this failure caused or contributed to the patient’s injury.

That distinction can be difficult for a patient to determine without reviewing the medical evidence.

You may have questions about medical malpractice if:

• A serious condition was missed or diagnosed too late.
• Your condition became significantly worse after treatment.
• A surgical procedure resulted in an unexpected injury.
• You received the wrong medication or dosage.
• Important test results were overlooked or not communicated.
• Treatment was provided for the wrong condition.
• Your baby suffered a serious injury during pregnancy, labor, or delivery.
• A healthcare provider failed to respond appropriately when complications developed.
• Another physician later told you that something may have gone wrong with your earlier care.

If you suspect a medical mistake, obtaining and reviewing the relevant medical records can be an important first step in determining what happened.

Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle

Medical negligence can occur during virtually any stage of a patient’s care.

Our attorneys investigate Harrisburg medical malpractice claims involving:

• Failure to diagnose
• Delayed diagnosis
• Cancer misdiagnosis
• Emergency room errors
• Surgical mistakes
• Anesthesia errors
• Medication and prescription errors
• Radiology and imaging errors
• Birth injuries
• Failure to properly monitor a patient
• Hospital negligence
• Postoperative complications
• Infections associated with negligent care
• Blood transfusion errors
• Medical device injuries
• Failure to recognize or respond to a medical emergency

Some cases involve an obvious event. Others require a detailed review of records to determine when the patient’s condition changed and whether appropriate action should have been taken.

Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis

Diagnosing an illness isn’t always simple, and an incorrect initial diagnosis does not necessarily constitute malpractice.

However, serious problems can arise when symptoms, test results, imaging, medical history, or other information should have led a reasonably careful healthcare provider to investigate further.

A delayed diagnosis can allow a disease or medical condition to progress before appropriate treatment begins.

Cases may involve delayed or missed diagnoses of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, infections, internal injuries, blood clots, appendicitis, and other serious conditions.

In these cases, an important question is often not simply whether the diagnosis was wrong, but whether an earlier diagnosis would likely have changed the patient’s treatment or outcome.

Surgical Errors and Complications

Every surgical procedure carries some degree of risk. A complication alone does not establish medical negligence.

A malpractice claim may arise, however, when an avoidable error occurs because accepted standards of care were not followed before, during, or after surgery.

Potential issues may include operating on the wrong area, damaging surrounding organs or tissue, anesthesia mistakes, failure to recognize complications, inadequate postoperative monitoring, or unreasonable delays in responding when a patient’s condition deteriorates.

Determining whether a surgical injury resulted from an accepted complication or medical negligence often requires a detailed review of the procedure and subsequent treatment.

Birth Injuries and Medical Negligence

Few medical malpractice cases are more difficult for a family than those involving an injury to a newborn.

Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other medical professionals involved in prenatal care, labor, delivery, and newborn care must monitor both mother and baby and respond appropriately when complications develop.

Potential birth injury cases may involve delayed delivery, failure to respond to fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments, failure to perform a timely cesarean section, medication errors, or other issues during pregnancy and delivery.

Because the effects of a serious birth injury can last a lifetime, these cases may require evaluation of future medical care, therapy, assistive equipment, educational needs, and other long-term consequences.

Why Medical Records Matter

Medical malpractice cases are heavily dependent on medical evidence.

Records can establish the patient’s symptoms, test results, diagnoses, medications, procedures, communications, changes in condition, and the decisions made by healthcare providers throughout treatment.

Depending on the case, relevant information may include:

• Hospital records
• Physician notes
• Nursing records
• Laboratory results
• Radiology and imaging studies
• Medication records
• Surgical reports
• Anesthesia records
• Monitoring records
• Discharge instructions
• Records from subsequent healthcare providers

A complete timeline can help identify when an error may have occurred and whether different medical care could have prevented or reduced the patient’s injury.

Medical Experts and Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice cases frequently involve highly technical questions.

Determining whether the standard of care was violated may require review by qualified medical professionals familiar with the type of treatment involved.

Experts may evaluate what a healthcare provider knew at the time, what steps should reasonably have been taken, whether the treatment fell below the applicable standard of care, and whether that failure caused the patient’s injuries.

This is one reason medical malpractice claims are different from many other personal injury cases. Establishing that a patient suffered a terrible outcome is not enough by itself; the medical evidence must support the connection between negligent care and the resulting harm.

Who Can Be Responsible for Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is not limited to mistakes made by physicians.

Depending on the circumstances, potentially responsible parties may include:

• Doctors and surgeons
• Nurses
• Anesthesiologists
• Radiologists
• Pharmacists
• Hospitals
• Medical practices
• Other healthcare providers or facilities

A serious medical event may involve treatment from numerous providers. Part of investigating a malpractice claim is determining where the breakdown in care occurred and who may bear responsibility.

What Compensation May Be Available?

Medical negligence can create additional medical expenses while also affecting a person’s ability to work and live independently.

Depending on the facts of the case, a medical malpractice claim may seek compensation for losses such as:

• Additional medical treatment
• Future medical expenses
• Rehabilitation and therapy
• Lost income
• Reduced future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent disability
• Scarring or disfigurement
• Loss of quality of life
• Other damages resulting from the injury

When malpractice results in death, surviving family members may have additional legal options under Pennsylvania law.

The appropriate damages depend upon the injury, its long-term effects, and the circumstances of the individual case.

Medical Malpractice Cases Require Careful Investigation

Medical malpractice cases can involve years of medical history, multiple healthcare providers, thousands of pages of records, and complicated questions concerning diagnosis and treatment.

For that reason, we do not assume that an unexpected outcome automatically means malpractice occurred.

Our attorneys investigate what happened, obtain and review relevant records, identify the medical issues involved, and determine whether the evidence supports moving forward with a claim.

That process is particularly important in cases involving catastrophic injury, permanent disability, or death.

Harrisburg Medical Malpractice Lawyers Serving Central Pennsylvania

Pisanchyn Law Firm represents patients and families in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and communities throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Our Harrisburg office is located at:

Pisanchyn Law Firm
3609 N. Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717-238-3333

Our attorneys handle medical negligence claims involving hospitals, physicians, nurses, surgical care, emergency treatment, diagnostic errors, birth injuries, and other forms of medical malpractice.

Talk to a Harrisburg Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you believe a medical mistake caused a serious injury or the death of someone you love, you do not have to determine on your own whether malpractice occurred.

Pisanchyn Law Firm can review what happened, evaluate the available medical information, and discuss whether further investigation of your care may be appropriate.

Call our Harrisburg office at 717-238-3333 or 1-800-444-5309 for a free consultation.

For medical malpractice matters accepted on a contingency-fee basis, there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.