Doctors in Pennsylvania must go through many years of school and training prior to being licensed. This is important because they must take care of many complicated medical matters that can have a major impact on patients’ lives. People may understand what a doctor told them about their illness or injury, but most people do not understand how to perform a procedure or why a certain medication is prescribed. Therefore, people need to trust that the doctors know what they are doing.
Also, there are many risks associated with many medical procedures, and many medications have side effects. People need to know that these risks are there, but ultimately if they want to get better they will have to assume some of these risks and go forward with the treatment. Sometimes, though, things go wrong, and the reason they went wrong was not an inherent risk — it was because the doctor did something incorrectly. In these situations, the patient may want to pursue a medical malpractice claim against the doctor.
However, just because something went wrong does not necessarily mean that the doctor was at fault. So, prior to filing a medical malpractice claim, the victim will need another medical expert to certify the case. This means that another medical expert will have to review the facts and determine whether the doctor may have been negligent or whether the problem had nothing to do with the doctor’s actions. This does not mean that they need to prove that the victim will win, just that there could be a viable claim.
Many people go through medical procedures and take medications every day in Pennsylvania. Complications could arise in even the simplest of procedures, but doctors are also human and make mistakes. So, depending on the circumstances, the victim could seek compensation for the issues that arose due to mistakes made by their doctor. These are very complicated cases, so it can help to have the assistance of an experienced attorney.
Source: pacode.com, “Rule 1042.3. Certificate of Merit” accessed Jan. 29, 2018
