What Medical Malpractice Is

Now it is extremely important that you are aware of exactly what medical malpractice and personal injury are if you consider yourself a victim of medical negligence. One would think that medical doctors are working to help their patients. Don't get me wrong; that is exactly what they are there to do. However, sometimes these medical professionals act in such a way that results in harm to their patient. This could be considered medical malpractice if the doctor's actions have fallen below a generally accepted standard of medical treatment.

For example, medical malpractice (aka medical negligence)) results if a doctor or other medical professional doesn't diagnose a condition properly, made mistakes during the patient's treatment, or prescribed medication carelessly. These cases of negligence usually include individuals like physicians, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, and even entire organizations like medical facilities and hospitals if, say, they fail to properly train their employees or if they failed to keep the medical facilities in a sanitary working condition.

It is important to note that many states have set restrictions on medical negligence cases. The reasoning behind this is to keep people from making claims that lacked value. In most of these states, it is required that the plaintiffs would need to get a certificate of merit and present it to the court. A certificate of merit is basically a signed document in which another medical expert states (while under oath) that the other medical professional strayed from the generally accepted medical practices while treating the patient.

There are also capped ceilings to the amount that you can recover from the negligent doctor and from your attorney in such malpractice lawsuits. Also, you must file your lawsuit within two years of the date of medical negligence in most states. A good PA malpractice lawyer can let you know of all the complex laws and issues behind your specific case.


Tony McGuigano is the owner of the Pennsylvania malpractice attorney website, as well as a website called Vertigo Exercises.