All medical malpractice cases rest on the concept of “standard of care.” It’s a legal term, a set of guidelines that all healthcare providers have to follow (and all patients are entitled to receive). Unfortunately, patients don’t necessarily know this term or what it means for them.
These guidelines are created by the medical community. They tell doctors what tests should be ordered when patients show certain symptoms, or what procedures they should use for certain illnesses or injuries.
Medical malpractice is what happens when doctors fail to meet the outlined standard of care. If you contact us for a consultation, we’ll go over the details of your case and figure out how it fits into the guidelines.
In Pennsylvania, all medical malpractice cases also require a “certificate of merit.” This certificate is a statement from another doctor, one who’s in the same field of medicine as the doctor who was negligent in your case. On the certificate, the second doctor states that they would have acted differently had you visited them. They’re claiming that, in their professional opinion, the first doctor deviated from the standard of care.
Other important evidence includes your medical chart, the negligent doctor’s notes, and the history of care provided.