You believe something went seriously wrong with your medical care. Maybe a physician failed to diagnose a condition. Perhaps you experienced an unexpected surgical complication. A family member may have died following treatment, and you have unanswered questions about what happened.

You are considering contacting a Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney — but you are not sure what happens next.

For many people, that uncertainty makes an already difficult situation more stressful. Understanding how a potential Pennsylvania medical negligence claim is evaluated can make the process less intimidating.

Step 1: The Initial Conversation

The first step is typically a conversation about what happened.

You do not need to understand every medical detail or arrive with a fully organized case file. The purpose of the initial discussion is to give our attorneys enough information to understand the basic circumstances.

You may be asked questions such as:

• When did the treatment occur?
• Which doctors, hospitals or other healthcare providers were involved?
• What condition were you being treated for?
• What do you believe went wrong?
• When did you first realize there might have been a problem?
• What injuries or complications occurred?
• What treatment have you needed since then?

These questions help us begin evaluating whether the matter warrants additional investigation.

Step 2: Identifying the Potential Medical Issue

Medical malpractice is different from many other personal injury claims.

If a driver runs a red light and causes a collision, the negligence may be relatively apparent.

Medical care is usually much more complicated.

A patient may have multiple medical conditions. Several doctors may be involved. Symptoms can have many possible explanations, and complications can occur even when medical care is appropriate.

For that reason, we work to identify the potential medical issue at the center of the case.

• Was a diagnosis missed?
• Was surgery performed improperly?
• Was an abnormal test result overlooked?
• Was medication administered incorrectly?
• Did providers fail to respond to a medical emergency?

Identifying the issue helps determine which records are needed and which field of medicine should review them.

Step 3: Obtaining and Reviewing Medical Records

Medical records are often among the most important evidence in a medical negligence case.

Depending upon the circumstances, relevant records may include:

• Hospital charts
• Physician office records
• Emergency department records
• Nursing notes
• Operative reports
• Radiology images and reports
• Laboratory results
• Pathology reports
• Medication records
• Patient portal communications
• Discharge instructions

These records can help establish a timeline showing what healthcare providers knew, what actions they took, and how the patient’s condition progressed.

Medical records can be extensive. A serious case may involve records from several hospitals, specialists and other providers.

Reviewing them carefully can reveal information that a patient or family never knew existed.

Step 4: Determining Whether the Standard of Care May Have Been Violated

A bad outcome alone does not establish medical malpractice.

The central question is generally whether the healthcare provider’s conduct fell below the professional standard applicable under the circumstances.

That determination may require analyzing what a reasonably competent provider in the relevant field would have done.

For example, a case involving a radiologist who allegedly failed to identify an abnormality on imaging raises different medical questions than a case involving an obstetrician, surgeon, emergency physician or oncologist.

Understanding the applicable standard of care is therefore an essential part of evaluating the case.

Step 5: Evaluating Causation

Even when a medical mistake occurred, another important question remains:

Did that mistake cause the patient’s injury?

This issue is known as causation.

Suppose a physician failed to diagnose a serious illness during an office visit. It may be necessary to determine whether diagnosing the condition at that time would likely have changed the patient’s outcome.

Similarly, if a patient suffered complications following surgery, the question may be whether those complications resulted from negligent surgical care or were known risks that could have occurred despite appropriate treatment.

These distinctions are among the reasons medical malpractice cases require careful investigation.

Step 6: Consulting Appropriate Medical Professionals

Medical experts frequently play an important role in evaluating and pursuing professional negligence claims.

In most cases, the records are reviewed by a physician who practices in the relevant field and is in a position to say whether the care fell outside accepted professional standards and contributed to the harm alleged.

That review is frequently where a potential claim is set aside. If a qualified physician concludes the treatment was appropriate under the circumstances, that generally ends the inquiry.

This means an attorney generally cannot evaluate a significant medical negligence claim based solely upon suspicion or an unfortunate result. Medical evidence matters.

Step 7: Determining Who May Be Responsible

A medical negligence case does not always involve a single doctor.

Depending upon the circumstances, potentially responsible parties could include physicians, specialists, nurses, hospitals or other healthcare providers and entities.

Our attorneys examine who made particular decisions, who was responsible for monitoring the patient, who received test results and whether institutional policies or failures contributed to the injury.

Identifying the appropriate parties can require a detailed understanding of the patient’s entire course of treatment.

Step 8: Evaluating the Harm Caused

Medical malpractice litigation can be lengthy and complex. As a result, the nature and extent of the injury are important considerations when evaluating a potential claim.

We consider additional medical expenses, future treatment needs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, physical limitations, pain and suffering, and the overall impact of the injury.

In the most serious cases, negligent medical care can result in permanent disability or death.

Understanding the full consequences of an injury is essential to evaluating the potential claim.

Why It Is Important Not to Wait

Pennsylvania imposes time limitations on legal claims, and determining when a particular deadline begins or expires can involve complicated factual and legal questions.

Waiting can also make an investigation more difficult.

Records can become harder to obtain, memories fade and important information may be lost.

If you suspect that medical negligence caused a serious injury, speaking with an attorney promptly can help preserve your ability to investigate the circumstances and determine what options may be available.

You Don’t Need to Know Whether You Have a Case Before Calling

One of the biggest misconceptions about contacting a medical malpractice attorney is that you need to prove malpractice before making the call.

You don’t.

That is what the evaluation process is designed to determine.

You may have questions because something about your treatment does not make sense. Another physician may have raised concerns. Your condition may have worsened unexpectedly. Or you may simply want to understand why an outcome occurred.

A conversation with an experienced attorney can help determine whether those concerns warrant further investigation.

Speak With a Pennsylvania Medical Negligence Attorney

Medical negligence cases can involve complicated medicine, extensive records, and difficult legal questions. Choosing an attorney with many years of experience handling these cases can be an important decision.

John A. Caputo and Elizabeth L. Jenkins of John A. Caputo & Associates, P.C. represent individuals and families who have suffered serious injuries as a result of medical negligence in Pennsylvania.

If you have questions about the medical care you or a loved one received, call 412-391-4990 for a free consultation. When you call, you speak directly with an attorney. We handle these cases on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.