At the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania personal injury law firm of The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers we represent clients who have been injured by medical malpractice.
Our Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys understand that medical practice cases require a team of lawyers, nurses and others trained to review the facts of these cases, including medical records.
At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania medical malpractice personal injury lawyers aggressively and zealously represent our clients and obtain the best possible results. We also work with highly-regarded medical malpractice experts to determine the type of medical malpractice and how and why it happened.
At times, we will work with other personal injury lawyers that have particular expertise to assure that our clients receive the most thorough and zealous representation.
What Makes The Levin Firm Different in Medical Malpractice Cases
If you recently suffered harm while in the care of a Philadelphia medical provider, you need strong legal representation backed by deep resources and a commitment to justice. When you turn to The Levin Firm to manage your medical malpractice case, you benefit from all the traits that make our firm what it is:
- Over 20 years in practice, and decades of combined legal experience
- A commitment to preparing every case as if it’s going to trial
- A level of personalized service unique to our firm
- A substantial track record of successful outcomes, with millions recovered for injured people
Real Results We’ve Achieved for Injured Clients
The Levin Firm has secured numerous multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts for clients harmed by the actions of other parties, including medical professionals. Our track record gives people facing the aftermath of medical malpractice the confidence and peace of mind that they’re represented by a legal team committed to fighting for the full, fair compensation they deserve.
Our Awards and Recognitions
In our 20-plus years in practice, The Levin Firm has been recognized by numerous local and national professional associations and organizations for our work on behalf of individuals harmed by medical negligence. Our founding attorney, Gabriel Z. Levin, was named a Super Lawyer® every year from 2010 to 2024, and we’ve also been recognized as one of the nation’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Hear from Our Clients
Even more meaningful to The Levin Firm than the honors we’ve received in the legal field are the positive reviews and testimonials from our clients in Philadelphia and beyond. As one satisfied client stated:
“Gabe and his team helped me after an accident and made me feel safe, as I had a team advocating on my behalf. They were always prompt to respond to any questions or concerns I had and provided great service. Gabe was also skilled at negotiating my settlement and bringing expenses down. I’m very grateful to have found them and would recommend them to anyone. You’ll be in good hands!” – Brooke S.
This feedback from the individuals we’ve supported is a testament to our commitment to providing highly personalized, client-first legal services.
How We Support You from Consultation to Resolution
The process of seeking justice after a medical malpractice injury can be overwhelming. At The Levin Firm, we believe your top priority after an injury should always be your physical and emotional healing. Our team is here to make sure you have the time and space you need to focus on your recovery. We take care of everything else.
When you trust The Levin Firm to represent you in a Philadelphia medical malpractice claim, we’ll manage every aspect of your case, including the following:
- Investigating the incident
- Reviewing medical records with outside experts
- Preparing and filing your legal claim
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Filing a lawsuit against the medical provider and taking them to court, if necessary, to seek the just outcome you deserve
We will not rest until we’ve seen your case through to the end.
Meet the Lawyers Who Will Handle Your Case
Our five attorneys – Gabriel Levin, James Stinsman, Ashley Oakley, and Joseph J. LoRusso – bring a wide range of experience and practical knowledge to our firm’s representation of injured clients. No matter the nature of your medical injury, our attorneys and support staff are prepared to work directly with you to pursue the favorable outcome you deserve.
What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice happens in many ways, and the effects of a doctor’s or a hospital’s negligence can lead to catastrophic injuries. Medical malpractice occurs when a physician, nurse, or other health care provider deviates from the appropriate standard of care in the medical community and injures a patient.
The most common types of medical malpractice include anesthesia mistakes, improper treatment, failure to deliver a baby properly, prescribing the wrong medication or the incorrect dosage of a drug, diagnosis errors, performing surgery improperly or performing surgery that was not necessary, failure to diagnose cancer and other conditions, infections that occur from improperly sterilized equipment or facilities, and failing to obtain a patient’s informed consent before performing surgery or other procedures.
When you go to a doctor or other healthcare professional seeking care, you rightfully expect that the care you receive will make your condition better, not worse.
Unfortunately, not all doctors are created equal and some fail to provide the standard of care expected in the medical profession.
Medical malpractice is a widespread problem that can happen to any patient when they least expect it. While medical malpractice laws recognize that injured patients should have the right to seek financial recovery, such laws are strict and can be confusing. For this reason, if you have been injured by poor medical care, it is time to consult a medical malpractice attorney. With the help of a skilled Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer, you can be compensated for the injuries you received at the hands of a doctor, nurse, or hospital.
Every doctor and similar medical professional has the responsibility to act with a certain duty of care. This duty of care is to perform in a way that a similarly situated medical professional with reasonable skill and competence would have performed under the same circumstances. When a doctor fails to uphold this standard of care[1] and a patient suffers unnecessary injury, medical malpractice occurs.
Medical errors can be minor or they can be severe, even causing the death of a patient who otherwise would have survived. In an article regarding medical malpractice, Forbes Magazine reported[2] that an estimated 200,000 people die as a result of medical errors on an annual basis. Even if patients survive the medical error, such mistakes can cause unnecessary complications, can exacerbate medical conditions, or even cause new illnesses or injuries that otherwise would not have been suffered.
Though medical malpractice is relatively rare—as most medical professionals do meet the appropriate standard of care—it is important to be educated on the different types of medical malpractice and how they can affect you a loved one. The following are brief overviews of the most common types of medical malpractice in the United States.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Failure To Diagnose, Delay In Diagnosis, Or Misdiagnosis
When you go to an emergency department or doctor’s office presenting certain symptoms, the doctor should ask all of the appropriate questions, run all of the proper tests, and take any other necessary steps to accurately and completely diagnose your condition.
Unfortunately, some medical professionals do not delve deep enough into a patient’s medical history or symptoms to correctly diagnose their condition in a timely fashion.
For example, the symptoms of a minor heart attack are often similar to that of acid reflux. Too often, doctors diagnose a patient with acid reflux and send them home with medication, only to have the patient have a more severe heart event at a later date. On many occasions, if the doctor had performed tests such as an electrocardiogram or an angiogram, or had simply asked more about the patient’s family medical history, the first heart attack would have been easily diagnosed and the patient would have received proper treatment to avoid future episodes.
Diagnosis issues often cause additional complications because they delay the proper treatment for a patient’s illness. For instance, if a cancer patient receives a diagnosis at stage one, the disease can often be successfully treated. If a doctor error causes the diagnosis to be delayed to stage four, the patient has a much lesser chance of survival even with treatment.
Medical Misdiagnosis
When you have symptoms of an illness arise, your first instinct should be to visit your doctor or another type of healthcare provider to have any medical condition diagnosed. There are many tools that doctors have for diagnosing illnesses, and a proper diagnosis is imperative to ensure that you receive the necessary treatment for your condition. Unfortunately, a large number of patients receive an inaccurate diagnosis each and every year in Philadelphia and across the U.S.
Common Harmful Misdiagnoses
While any medical condition could potentially be misdiagnosed, there are some conditions that are misdiagnosed more regularly than others and that can cause particular harm to patients. The following are some examples of commonly misdiagnosed illnesses.
- Heart Attack – One of the main symptoms of a heart attack is chest pain, however, there are many other signs that a patient has suffered a heart attack and may have serious heart disease. However, in many situations, a heart attack can be misdiagnosed as a panic attack or even simple indigestion. This results in patients with serious cardiovascular risks being sent home from the emergency department or doctor’s office with antacids or anti-anxiety medication. In many cases, these patients may have needed heart medicine or even surgery to protect them from future heart attacks. Without the proper treatment, many patients will suffer additional life-threatening heart attacks that could have been prevented with a proper diagnosis.
- Cancer – Different types of cancers can have widely varying symptoms. Symptoms like fatigue, weakness, or nausea can often be misdiagnosed as a wide range of simpler illnesses, especially if there is no obvious tumor site. However, when cancer is diagnosed in the early stages of the disease, there is a much better chance of successfully treating cancer with less severe treatments. However, cancer that is not diagnosed initially can quickly progress into later stages of the disease, which can require significantly more invasive and aggressive treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. These treatments can make a cancer patient seriously ill and can lower their immune system, thereby increasing the risks of life-threatening illness. Sometimes, if a cancer diagnosis is delayed too long, the disease may not be treatable at all and may be fatal.
- Meningitis – Meningitis is an often life-threatening illness that requires immediate medical treatment to save a patient’s life – especially if the patient is a child. Unfortunately, meningitis can often be misdiagnosed as a virus if a doctor does not perform the necessary tests to identify a bacterial illness. Bacterial meningitis1 is the most severe and life-threatening type. If bacterial meningitis is misdiagnosed as a viral condition, the patient may suffer brain injuries or even death.
The above are only a few of the many serious situations that can result from a medical misdiagnosis. If you are concerned about the well being of a loved one learn what your next steps should be to get them help. Act now and contact the skilled Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at The Levin Firm for legal assistance. Reach out to us online or give us a call at 215-929-8166 Today.
