Medical Lawyer

Skilled Lawyers Working Hard for the Injured in Western Pennsylvania and Beyond

A Pittsburgh medical malpractice lawyer at Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC knows that hospitals should be a place of healing and recovery, and doctors and nurses should act as the protectors of our physical well-being. Frequently, though, the opposite is the case. According to the Institute of Medicine, as many as 98,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors. In 2020, pacourts.us reported that there were 1,476 medical malpractice suits filed in Pennsylvania alone. A doctor misdiagnoses a patient by failing to see a dark mass of cancerous tissue on an X-ray. A surgeon permanently damages a patient’s nerve while performing an unrelated surgery. An obstetrician fails to deliver a baby in a timely manner, resulting in the infant’s lifelong cerebral palsy. A nurse administers a patient the incorrect dose of medicine, resulting in the patient’s death.

Injured Due To Medical Malpractice And Have Questions? We Can Help, Tell Us What Happened.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits in Pennsylvania

At Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC we believe that you should feel safe in your hospital and in the hands of medical professionals. Our job is to ensure that incompetent doctors are barred from practicing and that hospitals and maternity wards are places of mending and new life instead of places where you have to worry about you and your loved one’s safety.

How We Can Help You

Even though some injuries are irreversible, we will help you obtain the financial support needed to repair the damage done to you and your family and to help you live your life as fully as possible with your injuries. Filing a lawsuit is important not only to obtain money to cover your medical needs and to make up for your pain and suffering but also to ensure that the health care worker or hospital that is responsible for your injuries will not harm someone else.

Get Advice From An Experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer. All You Have To Do Is Call 412-471-4300 To Receive Your Free Case Evaluation.

Silence About Medical Malpractice Hurts

According to the Institute of Medicine, the majority of medical errors go unreported, by both the patients who suffer from them and the doctors who commit them. This silence not only damages the quality of our healthcare system but also prevents those who are injured from being awarded the financial support they need to live with the injuries and disabilities suffered due to medical malpractice.

Many lawyers will take on medical malpractice cases, but our team of lawyers has a 40-year tradition of handling and winning medical malpractice cases, we understand what it takes to collect the evidence, locate the top medical experts, and organize a solid foundation of proof that wrongdoing occurred. In short, make sure you hire the best Pittsburgh medical malpractice attorneys you can find to get the best possible outcome for your case.

Contact a Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today About Your Medical Malpractice Case

If you have been injured due to the negligent care of a doctor, nurse, or hospital, you should be compensated for your injuries. Chances are that you have ongoing medical expenses and disabilities resulting from their medical mistake, and it may be that the health professional or institution that was careless with your safety is now endangering the safety of others.

The Types of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits We Handle in Pittsburgh

We handle a wide range of medical malpractice cases, including but not limited to:

We work on breast cancer cases involving breast cancer missed on mammograms or breast cancer misdiagnosis. These cases also include situations where breast tissue was removed for biopsy but the cancer was missed when it was evaluated.

We work on colon cancer cases including those in which colon cancer was missed on colonoscopy or a colon polyp was not properly evaluated after its removal.

We work on cases involving cervical cancer and endometrial (uterus) cancer, especially cases in which cervical cancer was missed on the Pap smear (Pap test).

We work on many other medical malpractice cases involving a doctor or hospital’s failure to detect cancer or misdiagnosis of cancer, including bladder cancer, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, and skin and melanoma cancers.

$10 Million

Medical Malpractice Against UPMC Shadyside Hospital

We obtained a $10 million verdict against UPMC Shadyside Hospital for medical malpractice which caused the death of Michael Rettger. This is the largest ever recorded medical malpractice verdict in Pittsburgh, PA.

$6 Million

Cerebral Palsy And Brain Damage

We obtained a jury verdict of $6,000,000 in the Court of Common Pleas of Indiana County against Indiana Hospital and an obstetrician.

$2.5 Million

Medical Malpractice Against UPMC Shadyside Hospital

UPMC Shadyside paid a $3,200,000 judgment as a result of $2,500,000 verdict against UPMC Shadyside for the family of a 24 year old who died because the nurses failed to have the patient seen by a doctor despite a significant change in his condition.

$1.8 Million

Failure To Diagnose Lung Cancer

We obtained a jury verdict of $1.8 million in Erie against two doctors for failing to diagnose and treat our client’s lung cancer. As a result of this failure, our client died unnecessarily.

See All Case Results

We Work on Failure to Diagnose Cases, Including:

The failure to diagnose and treat heart attack
Meningitis
Compartment syndrome
Aortic dissection
Pulmonary Embolism
Stroke

Our lawyers also work on cerebral palsy cases. Each year, 5,000 infants and 1,200-1,500 toddlers are diagnosed with cerebral palsy – and many of these cases are due to preventable delays and careless mistakes made during birth and delivery.

Our lawyers work on many cases of surgical error or surgical mistake, including hernia surgery, gall bladder surgery, gastric bypass (bariatric weight loss) surgery, carpal tunnel surgery, and all types of laparoscopic surgery cases.

Contact a Skilled Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today!

To talk with our team of skilled attorneys about your case or to consult with a board certified physician on our staff, email us. There are laws in place that protect you in these situations, and by working together, we can protect your safety and others.

When we feel unwell, we trust our medical professionals to accurately and competently diagnose and treat us until we are back to full health. Unfortunately, due to inadvertence or even sometimes carelessness, medical professionals may make mistakes in our treatment that cause us further harm. When medical professionals act in a way that does not comply with the applicable standard of care and a patient is thereby harmed or injured, those medical professionals may be responsible for having committed medical malpractice.

For nearly three decades, the medical malpractice attorneys of Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC have helped hundreds of clients across Western Pennsylvania obtain financial recovery when they are harmed by the negligence of the medical professional they trusted to treat them. Pursuing medical malpractice claims is a complex and time-consuming process. At Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC, we believe that our track record of success in helping victims of medical malpractice speaks for itself. For example, our attorneys have helped one of our clients obtain the largest medical malpractice verdict in Pittsburgh in the last 20 years. Our attorneys understand the complexity of the work that medical professionals do but believe that when those professionals negligently harm patients they should be held responsible for their mistakes.

If you or a loved one have been harmed by medical malpractice in Pittsburgh or elsewhere throughout Western Pennsylvania, contact the medical malpractice attorneys of Berger Lagnese & Paul, LLC today to learn more about your legal rights and options.

Medical Malpractice Frequently Asked Questions

What is medical malpractice and how is it determined?

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional is negligent in his or her treatment of a patient. A medical professional commits negligence when he or she owes a standard of care to a patient, breaches that standard of care and the professional’s breach of the standard of care is the direct and proximate cause of harm or injury to the patient and the patient incurs compensable damages as a result of his or her injuries.

What is the standard of care?

The standard of care sets forth the actions that a medical professional is expected to take in treating a patient. The standard of care in any case of treatment of a patient is usually defined as the acts or conduct that another reasonable medical professional of similar training and experience would undertake under the same circumstances in the same community.

What is “informed consent?”

Informed consent is the patient’s authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical treatment. In order for consent to treatment to be considered “informed”, a medical professional seeking to perform the treatment must ensure that the patient (or his or her surrogate) has the ability to understand the relevant medical information, the implications of alternative treatment options, and the ability to make an independent, voluntary decision. The professional should present all information relevant to the proposed treatment, including the patient’s diagnosis, the nature, and purpose of the proposed treatment, the risks, adverse effects, and expected benefits of the proposed treatment and all other treatment options, including the option of foregoing treatment. If consent to treatment is not “informed”, then it is not valid consent.

What is a “Certificate of Merit?”

The certificate of merit is a requirement for every medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania. The certificate sets forth that an “appropriate licensed” medical professional has reviewed the plaintiff’s medical malpractice claim and has set forth a written opinion that there is a “reasonable probability” that the care, conduct, and treatment of the defendant medical professional has fallen “outside acceptable professional standards” and is a direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s harm or injury.

What are common types of medical malpractice?

Although a medical professional can commit negligence in any aspect of medical treatment, some forms of medical malpractice are more common than others. Some of the common types of medical malpractice that our attorneys see include birth injuries, brain injuries, surgical errors, hospital errors, medication errors, delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and failure-to-diagnose.

Who can be held responsible for medical malpractice?

Any medical professional who renders treatment to a patient can be held responsible for medical malpractice if his or her breach of the applicable standards of care directly and proximately causes harm and injury to a patient. Examples of medical professionals who can be held responsible for medical malpractice include doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, pharmacists, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, and physical and occupational therapists. In addition, it may be possible to hold the hospital or facilities that employ these professionals responsible for their employees’ medical malpractice. A hospital or other medical facility can be held responsible through vicarious employer liability or can be held directly responsible for negligently hiring, training, or supervising a medical professional that the facility knew or should have known was a risk for committing medical malpractice.

How do I know if I have a medical malpractice case?

Although many people assume that any bad outcome of medical treatment is the result of medical malpractice, this is not the case. It is entirely possible for a medical professional to commit no mistakes and act perfectly according to the applicable standards of care, but for the patient to still suffer a bad outcome for treatment. Many treatments have risks of adverse outcomes or side-effects. Instead, a patient who suffers harm or injury following treatment only has a medical malpractice case if his or her treating professional has breached the applicable standard of care in his or her conduct and treatment, the professional’s breach is directly and proximately responsible for causing the patient to suffer harm or injury, and the patient’s harm or injury has resulted in some form of compensable damages, such as additional medical expenses or pain and suffering.

What should I do if I believe I am the victim of medical malpractice?

If you believe that you or a loved one have been the victim of medical malpractice, it is important that you speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Medical malpractice law is a complex area of personal injury law that requires extensive knowledge of both the law and medical principles. A knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney can help to understand whether you have a potential medical malpractice claim and help you to obtain the evidence you need, including expert opinion testimony, to successfully prove each of the elements of your claim.

What is my medical malpractice suit worth?

If you have been injured or harmed by medical malpractice, you may be entitled to various forms of compensation. Some of the kinds of damages you could recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit include medical expenses to treat the injuries or conditions that were caused by the malpractice, lost wages due to work missed during your recovery from the injuries or harm you suffered, lost earning potential if your injuries or condition prevent you from returning to your old job, pain and suffering caused by your injuries or condition, and any loss of quality of life.

FAQ: What are the statistics on medical malpractice in the United States?