Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer Blog

The following is a guest post by Chicago wrongful death lawyers at Dolan Law Offices:

When we go to the doctor or the hospital emergency room, we expect the medical experts to be able to detect the cause of our distress, especially obvious medical problems.

In 1999, Michael Scarpa visited an emergency room in Scranton with complaints of chest pain and vomiting. The advice he received was to take cough medicine and go to his regular doctor the next business day. Unfortunately, Scarpa died two days later.

An autopsy revealed he had an ulcerated esophagus and died from sepsis, caused by food entering his pleural cavity through the hole in his esophagus. The doctors apparently never discovered his condition.

A jury awarded his widow $1.2 million on April 19,2010, after deliberating only four hours.The suit named the hospital and two doctors as defendants. The widow's attorney may additionally seek delay damages that could add another $700,000 to the recovery, and a Pennsylvania wrongful death action may also be an avenue to pursue.

The jury divided the negligence as follows: hospital 40 percent; one doctor, 30 percent; and the other doctor, 20 percent. Scarpa was assigned 10 percent of the fault, because he did not tell the doctors he had had surgery on his esophagus two years earlier.

Wrongful death attorneys can navigate these difficult waters and prove the necessary elements in a Pennsylvania medical malpractice case. To win such a case, you need to prove:

• that a doctor or hospital performed negligently (did not meet an accepted standard of care)


• that the patient suffered significant injury or damages


• that the doctor's or hospital's negligence caused the injury, i.e., was the causation

If the death of your loved one was caused by the negligent, careless or illegal conduct of another person, immediately seek an experienced wrongful death attorney who can help you with your case.

Dolan Law Offices is a Chicago law firm that is committed to provide excellent legal services to its clients. Its wrongful death lawyers represent families of wrongful death victims in Chicago and in the entire state of Illinois.

Dolan Law Offices
10 South Lasalle Street #3712
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 676-7600

A Florida jury recently awarded a medical malpractice victim $32 million after an improperly placed epidural cost her the use of her right hand and the ability to walk.

The victim received the epidural in 2000 in the hopes that it would help alleviate the chronic pain she had suffered ever since an earlier car accident. Instead, the anesthesiologist inserted the epidural improperly, injecting a steroid and an anesthetic directly into the woman's spinal column. According to The Pittsburgh Channel, the medications caused significant damage to the nerves in the spinal column, leaving the victim without the use of her right hand and with significant difficulty walking.

Unfortunately, the victim faces difficulties in collecting her judgment; the doctor has filed for bankruptcy, listing the victim among his creditors. Also, although the doctor had medical malpractice insurance, his insurer is refusing to pay this particular claim. The doctor's attorney only stated that they will have to prove in a separate case that insurance coverage exists. Until the dispute is settled, the victim in this case may have to wait for any substantial payments.

The doctor was not present during the trial, as he was serving time in a federal corrections institution for a drug conviction.

Establishing your right to compensation in a PA medical malpractice case may mean struggling with insurance companies as well as with the medical professionals believed to be at fault. The experienced Harrisburg medical malpractice attorneys at Anapol Schwartz can guide you through the process of obtaining just and full compensation for your injuries. Our skilled legal team will fight to recover the compensation you need after an injury brought about by a medical professional’s error or negligence. If you've been injured, and you expect a doctor's negligence is to blame, please don't hesitate to call Anapol Schwartz at (866) 735-2792 for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The number of new medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania declined for the fifth straight year in 2009. According to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1,533 new medical malpractice cases were filed in Pennsylvania in 2009, down from 1,602 new cases filed in 2008 and 2,904 new cases filed in 2002.

Medical professionals attribute the decline in cases to new regulations enacted in 2002, which sought to limit the filing of medical malpractice suits and decrease the number of medical errors. In 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that medical malpractice suits had to be filed in the county where the malpractice allegedly occurred. The Court also held that plaintiffs seeking to file medical malpractice suits had to get a “certificate of merit” from a doctor stating that negligence has occurred.

The number of Philadelphia medical malpractice cases also declined in 2009. Once seen as the state's medical-malpractice epicenter due to the frequency of large verdicts, Philadelphia had only 491 new medical malpractice suits filed in 2009, compared with 1,365 new suits filed in 2002.

As a patient, you have the right to explore your legal options if you believe that you may have been a victim of negligence by a doctor or other medical professional. If you think medical malpractice has harmed you or a loved one, please don't hesitate to contact the experienced Central Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorneys at Anapol Schwartz. Our team of skilled attorneys will examine the details of your case and ensure your rights are protected throughout the legal process. Please call Anapol Schwartz today at 1-866-735-2792 to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that a medical malpractice trial has begun in the case of a mother of five whose untimely death from breast cancer may have been caused by the hospital's delay in sending her ultrasound results to her primary care physician. The results did not reach the woman's primary care physician for over a year.

Key questions for the jury include whether the patient might have lived if she had been diagnosed a year earlier and who was responsible for the delay in passing her test results to her family doctor. The hospital claims that the test results were mistakenly faxed to the wrong number but that, in any case, the hospital is not responsible for the patient's death.

Continue reading "Medical Malpractice Trial Seeks Answers for Cancer Patient" »

Medical transplants are extremely difficult procedures that patients expect doctors and other medical professionals to be adequately prepared to perform. According to a pittsburghlive.com article, such caution was supposedly not taken in a transplant case involving a California man and his brother. Reportedly, the 45-year-old man and his 43-year-old brother claim that they were not informed of the complications and risks involved with live-donor liver transplants. The brothers now suffer from procedural complications as a result.

Medical professionals have an obligation to provide their patients with all available information regarding procedures and the potential risks involved so that they are as well informed as they possibly can be. In instances where professionals do not provide such information, or where they administer care that is not up to par, those medical professionals are exhibiting medical negligence and can be held liable for their actions in a court of law.

Continue reading "Liver Transplant Brothers Claim Malpractice" »

We tend to take for granted that doctors and medical professionals can sometimes be wrong and make mistakes. After all, they are human just like we are. However, when protocol is ignored and an individual suffers as a result, the question is no longer why did a doctor not know something; but rather, why that doctor did not do something when they very well should have.

A story featured on pittsburghlive.com discusses a case of medical misdiagnosis that resulted in loss of life. Reportedly, a 51-year-old Fayette County woman, after visiting Uniontown Hospital and complaining of chest pains, was discharged after examination, but then died of a myocardial infarction just five days later. Allegedly, the hospital released the woman with a diagnosis of non-cardiac pain, even though the hospital was made aware of family history which indicated that a heart condition may be likely. Now, the woman's daughter is filing a wrongful death suit against the hospital, claiming that their negligent care played a determining factor in allowing the mother's heart condition to claim her.

Continue reading "Misdiagnosis at Uniontown May Have Led to Woman's Fatal Heart Attack" »

The Food and Drug Administration has declared its plans to begin a study of the negative side effects following Lasik eye surgery, which include dry eyes, blurred/double vision, and halos around objects at night. According to a recent report, the FDA will coordinate with the Department of Defense and the National Eye Institute to establish the percentage of patients who have been negatively affected by the eye-correcting procedure.

Although it is encouraging that such action is finally being initiated, a clinical trial tracking of patients who undergo the surgery will not conclude until 2012. To start things off, an online questionnaire will help patients gauge their quality of life after Lasik surgery. The head of the FDA’s medical device division stated, “This study will enhance our understanding of the risks of Lasik and could lead to a reduction in patients who experience adverse effects.”

Considering that approximately 6 million Americans have had Lasik surgery, an extremely sensitive procedure that everlastingly reshapes the cornea (a clear layer covering the eye), it is of the utmost importance that the FDA administers this study. Although 95% of Lasik patients are apparently satisfied with the results of their surgery, last summer the FDA received 140 reports of Lasik-related problems of eye damage between 1998 and 2006.

Continue reading " FDA Initiates Study of Lasik Eye Surgery's Negative Effects" »

A recent latimes.com article has left patients and citizens throughout the United States horrified and concerned about the quality of care provided during CT scans and other hospital services. According to the report, over 200 brain scans for potential stroke patients on a CT scan machine at Cedars-Sinai in California were conducted at eight times the normal level of radiation. Apparently many cases of radiation overdoses at the Los Angeles based medical center have been connected to a mistake the hospital made when resetting a CT scanner to accommodate new protocol for a specific kind of scan used to identify and diagnose strokes.

What is even more shocking is that this serious hospital error went unnoticed for 18 months. The problem was brought to the attention of the hospital in August 2009 when a stroke patient told the hospital that he had begun to lose his hair after a CT stroke scan. A hospital spokesman told reports that the CT machine was used for other kinds of scans, but that the re-set error only affected the potential stroke patients. However, each patient who received the CT brain perfusion scan procedure for stroke diagnosis was exposed to the radiation overdose. The hospital has found and gotten in touch with 206 patients who were subjected to the overdoses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. After doing so, the hospital discovered that approximately forty-percent of the patients had endured sporadic hair loss and many of the individuals also showed signs of reddening of the skin.

Continue reading "Radiation Overdoses Linked to Hospital's Mistake" »

The news got a little bit worse for doctors in Pennsylvania. According to a post-gazette.com article, the money that doctors have been paying for a statewide fund to use in case of large medical malpractice lawsuits will be $100 million less, which represents two thirds of the total. This money will be transferred over to the state’s general fund because Pennsylvania is trying to balance its 3.2 billion deficit. Hopefully this action does not lead to poorer healthcare when the patient goes in to see a physician.

An aide to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Hazleton said, “This is not an element of the budget that currently is in dispute. This money would be used as part of our overall strategy at plugging a $3.2 billion deficit that we face this year. If we don’t do this … we face a significant tax increase next year.”

Director of governmental affairs for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, said, “We believe we have a vested property right to that money.” Doctors have found it difficult to find insurance so they setup the fund in the 1970’s to protect them from Pennsylvania medical malpractice judgments. Doctors are mandated by state law to not only have their own insurance but to also pay money into the fund known as the Mcare insurance fund. The association also alleges the state of not transferring yearly surplus funds over to the next year, which they claim makes everything more expensive for everyone.

This is not the first time the medical society and the state have tangled in court as the medical association accused the state of withholding $616 million from going into the Mcare fund from money collected through a cigarette tax. The state went so far as to say they did not have to transfer the money. A Commonwealth Court ruled that the state’s motion to throw out the case was denied.

Continue reading "PA Will Take 100 Million of Doctor's Medical Malpractice Fund" »

The New Jersey Supreme Court has overturned a $75-million medical malpractice award given to the parents of a boy who suffered brain damage as an infant when he was deprived of oxygen following surgery in 1998. According to a news report in the Insurance Journal, the justices reversed the damages citing "numerous trial errors and other problems." According to court documents, the child now suffers from significant intellectual, verbal and neuron motor deficiencies and requires constant care. The justices also said in their ruling that the trial jury in Essex County was unnecessarily exposed to bias against medical professionals during the jury selection process.

This case illustrates the complexity of medical malpractice cases as well as the devastating impact it could have on the injured victims and their families. In this case, it involves a child who has suffered brain damage as a result of medical negligence and will probably never be able to function normally for the rest of his life.

Pennsylvania hospital negligence and medical malpractice claims help such victims obtain compensation for the damages they have suffered. Where it involves young children who have suffered brain damage because of surgical errors or birth injuries, the money obtained helps create a secure future for them, given their permanent disabilities.

Continue reading "Record Medical Malpractice Verdict Overturned in NJ High Court" »

A man has sued his surgeon for operating on the wrong knee during a knee replacement surgery. According to this news report, the suit alleges that the doctor botched his right-knee operation that left him with damage to his left knee. The patient actually went in for right knee replacement. However, his surgeon prepped the left knee and began performing replacement surgery on his left knee. However, midway through the procedure, the surgeon realized he was operating on the wrong knee, removed the instruments, sutured the incision and started operating on his right knee as planned.

The suit alleges that the defendants not only failed to perform the surgery properly, but also failed to documents in their medical records that they "surgically invaded" the wrong knee. The patient was later diagnosed with damage to cartilage under his left knee cap. The five-count medical negligence lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 on each count, plus costs of the suit.

It is an unfortunate and unnerving reality that surgical errors commonly occur in Pennsylvania. Most surgeries are done without any problems, but sometimes complications can arise because of medical negligence on the part of the surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse or other hospital support staff. Surgical errors in Philadelphia and throughout the state of Pennsylvania can leave you with lifelong problems or worse, result in death.

Continue reading "Man Sues Doctor for Operating on Wrong Knee" »

A Philadelphia doctor has admitted to botching dozens of prostate cancer surgeries at a Veteran Administration hospital stating that he sometimes missed his target while implanting radioactive seeds, leaving patients with incorrect dosages. According to this Associated Press news report, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that 92 out of 116 men treated at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia in the hospital's brachytherapy program received incorrect doses of radiation seeds. The doctor in question performed a majority of the procedures under a VA contract with the University of Pennsylvania, where he was on staff.

During a Senate hearing, the doctor admitted that he never informed patients about his errors. He argued that this does not amount to "substandard care" because brachytherapy is still an "evolving field." A 68-year-old victim of this medical malpractice in Philadelphia testified that he lost his job during the five months he spent in bed after the doctor implanted the seeds into his rectum instead of his prostate in 2005. The VA misdiagnosed his condition stating that he was suffering from hemorrhoids or constipation. But the problem was eventually diagnosed as a radiation burn and the man had to undergo surgery to get it corrected.

Continue reading "Philadelphia VA Hospital Medical Malpractice Allegation Against Doctor" »

The website abcnews.go.com reported in a story on March 6, 2009 that the parents of an 18 year old who sustained a brain injury during a snowboarding accident are suing the doctors claiming they “intentionally killed” him to harvest his organs. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District of Western Pennsylvania by Michael and Teresa Jacobs claiming that doctors “hastened” their son Gregory Jacobs’ death by impeding treatment and eventually removing his breathing tube, causing him to suffocate. The family claims that their son had not been officially declared brain dead when doctors began the transplant process. The Jacobs are seeking $5 million in damages against doctors at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa. and a representative from the Center for Organ Recovery and Education in Pittsburgh.

Both Hamot Medical Center and the organ center expressed condolences to the family for the Pennsylvania wrongful death in a prepared statement. Hamot insists that their doctors performed treatment that was “timely, appropriate, and well documented.”

In addition the Hamot said, "Proper consent was received in order for his organs to be donated and the protocols that were followed were consistent with all established donation procedures," it read. "Any claims otherwise are completely baseless. While we have yet to receive formal notification of a lawsuit having been filed, we will vigorously defend against any accusations of wrongdoing."

Dennis Boyle, the Jacobs’ lawyer, said, “Essentially, the family was told that Greg was brain dead and he would not recover and therefore, they signed a document that agreed to an organ transplant. Greg was not, in fact, brain dead.”

The Jacob’s family claim that their son was listed brain dead “retroactively” as life support was being removed in preparing for organ harvesting.

Hospital officials recognized in an interview with the media in 2007 that the recorded time of death was a mistake.

In many cases, as careful as a medical team is, they won't be able to protect the patient from the need for more medical treatment. To be liable for medical malpractice in Philadelphia, the doctor has to have been negligent. However, as a patient or the family of a deceased patient, you have the right to explore legal options. Sometimes, a wrongful death claim is cut and dry. Other times, you may not be sure of the best option.

A personal injury lawyer who has experience with medical malpractice can look at the basic information and determine whether or not you have grounds to sue a doctor, medical team, pharmacist, or hospital for medical malpractice. Anapol Schwartz has successfully represented clients for over 30 in Pennsylvania, and they can help you. Please call Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys at 1-866-735-2792 for a free consultation.