Brain Injury Misdiagnosis Lawyers in Pittsburgh, PA

Leading Brain Injury Misdiagnosis Lawyers Advocate for Victims of Medical Negligence in Pittsburgh and Across Western Pennsylvania

Medical advances in recent years have contributed substantially to what doctors know about the brain.  Technological advances now allow doctors to identify many brain injuries that would have gone undetected in the past.  Despite this, brain injuries are some of the most commonly misdiagnosed injuries among patients—and brain injury misdiagnosis is among the medical errors most likely to result in serious long-term consequences or even death.

At Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC, our talented team of lawyers have helped countless medical malpractice victims get justice.  Collectively, we have nearly 100 years’ experience fighting to protect patients’ rights across Western Pennsylvania.  Brain injury misdiagnosis victims have legal rights and our lawyers work tirelessly to protect those rights.

If you or a loved one are suffering complications after a brain injury misdiagnosis, you need the best possible lawyer in your corner.  Medical malpractice cases are almost always complex, and brain injury misdiagnosis cases are among the most complicated.  

A brain injury misdiagnosis does not automatically give you the right to financial compensation.  To speak with a lawyer who knows how to prove that a misdiagnosis amounted to medical malpractice, call our office for a free case review today.

Brain Injury Misdiagnosis Creates Serious Risk for the Patient

When a brain injury is misdiagnosed, the patient’s actual diagnosis is delayed—meaning that important treatment may be delayed.  This creates the risk that the brain injury will continue to progress and lead to permanent damage and serious complications.  

Brain injury misdiagnosis can lead to:

• Cognitive impairment
• Loss of motor function
• Paralysis
• Vision loss
• Memory loss
• Seizure disorders
• Coma
• Death

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are trained to recognize the signs of a brain injury.  Some brain injuries are traumatic—meaning they were caused by some type of head trauma—while others are non-traumatic.  Non-traumatic brain injuries can be caused by oxygen deprivation (including hypoxia in babies), stroke or an underlying health condition. 

Importantly, even in the case of traumatic brain injuries, brain injury victims may not begin to show symptoms immediately.  In some cases, hours or days may pass before the victim realizes that something is wrong.  Doctors have a duty to take precautions and provide appropriate instructions to patients who might have suffered a head injury.

When Brain Injury Misdiagnosis is Medical Malpractice

Victims of brain injury misdiagnosis only have the right to financial compensation if the doctor’s actions amounted to malpractice.  Medical malpractice is another term for medical negligence.  In the simplest terms, this means that the misdiagnosis happened because the doctor was somehow careless or reckless in your treatment. 

Under Pennsylvania law, victims of misdiagnosis must prove the basic elements of medical malpractice in order to proceed with a claim for damages.  Those elements include:

• Duty.  You must show that the doctor or healthcare professional owed you a duty of care.  This element is relatively simple to prove (the doctor-patient relationship alone establishes duty).

• Standard of care.  It is the victim’s responsibility to establish the standard of care that the doctor should have adhered to.  This means we have to show what a reasonable and competent doctor would have done under the circumstances—the generally accepted level of treatment established by the medical community.

• Breach.  A breach of the doctor’s duty is shown by proving that the doctor made some sort of mistake.  That mistake must have caused the patient to receive a level of care that did not meet the applicable standard of care.

• Causation.  Causation requires showing that the mistake actually caused you to suffer harm.  Proving causation is complicated because medicine itself is complicated.  our lawyers will work to show that your condition would have likely improved—or would not have deteriorated—if you had received the correct treatment.

• Damages.  Damages represent the harm you suffered as a result of the doctor’s mistake.  Pain and suffering caused by more extensive treatment, diminished quality of life, lost wages and even your increased medical bills can all be included in your claim for damages.

At Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC, our lawyers work with respected medical experts in the field to successfully establish your claim for financial compensation.  We have both the legal knowledge and resources necessary to get you the compensation you deserve—even in the most complicated of brain injury misdiagnosis cases.

Examples of situations where a brain injury misdiagnosis might be medical malpractice include:

• Failing to order the appropriate diagnostic tests
• Misreading a test result
• Failing to give the patient appropriate instructions
• Failing to follow up
• Failing to take, or consider, a patient’s medical and family history
• Failing to perform an adequate physical or mental exam

Schedule a Free Case Review with an Experienced Brain Injury Misdiagnosis Lawyer

When a doctor misses the signs that a patient sustained a brain injury, or diagnoses the wrong brain injury, the results are often devastating. To learn how we can help in your specific case, schedule a free case review today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Brain Injury Misdiagnosis Lawsuits