Wilkes-Barre Medical Malpractice Lawyer | Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal Injury Lawyers / Wilkes-Barre Personal Injury Lawyer / Wilkes-Barre Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you or a loved one are experiencing distress due to medical negligence or errors by a healthcare provider or facility in Wilkes-Barre, contact Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys. Placing the trust of your health and safety in someone else‘s hands is one of the most vulnerable things you can do. Medical errors and negligence can have lasting consequences, leaving you emotionally and physically compromised.

Our Wilkes-Barre medical malpractice attorneys have decades of experience. Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys' malpractice team can help you initiate legal action and a medical malpractice claim to seek compensation and justice. We understand the emotional toll this can take on you and your family, and we value giving our client relationship the compassion, care, and turnaround you are entitled to. Our legal team offers a free initial consultation and legal advice to support your case needs. Contact us today for your free consultation.

What constitutes medical malpractice in Wilkes-Barre, PA?

Medical malpractice is at play if a Wilkes-Barre hospital patient is ill, injured, or ultimately dies because of medical neglect or error. The medical community‘s informed and educated skill sets must deliver universally appropriate care in all scenarios; failure to do so violates the providers' duty of care. You deserve the treatment and promised care that you consented to.

Common examples of medical malpractice cases

If your Pennsylvania healthcare provider fails to uphold their duty of care, there is a breach in medical care. Errors in the standard of care present medical mistakes and can be devastating. Wilkes-Barre medical professionals and medical institutions must uphold a level of care that puts patient safety and well-being first. Negligence can lead to misdiagnoses, surgical errors, improper treatment, medication mistakes, and lack of informed consent.

Hospital infections

It is a standard protocol for the hospital medical staff to routinely screen and monitor patients for infections, especially in high-risk areas such as intensive care units and surgical wards, where bacterial and viral infections are common. Sometimes, however, medical care is insufficient, and procedures do not meet the standard of care; avoidable infections can create complicated health issues. Hospital-acquired infections can present themselves as:

Surgical site infections
Medical device-related infections
Bloodstream infections
Urinary tract infections
Gastro-intestinal Infections

The negligence of healthcare providers and hospital staffing can bring about infections that can cause severe harm and even death to patients.

Birth injuries

Having a baby is a complex and exciting time to celebrate bringing new life into your family. Entrusting qualified care means that you feel safe that you and your baby have valuable and trained professionals managing your pregnancy. When there are unforeseen, avoidable occurrences that you are suddenly encountered with, life can become quickly overwhelming.

At Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, we have the capacity to handle all practice areas and types of cases involving birth injuries, including:

Cerebral palsy
Erb's palsy
Shoulder dystocia
Hypoxia
Pre-eclampsia
Toxemia
Uterine rupture
Respiratory distress.

A birth injury in Wilkes-Barre can occur due to your medical team's inability to assess distress and compromised markers at critical moments during delivery. Another mishap can occur with medical equipment used to assist delivery attempts. These oversights can create birth injuries that can ultimately require long-lasting medical care. If you or your baby have suffered birth injuries due to medical negligence, the obstetrician and other parties may be at fault. Contact Munley Personal Injury Attorneys. One of our Wilkes-Barre birth injury lawyers can help you navigate your case and legal options in a free, confidential consultation

Failure to diagnose/misdiagnosis

Preventative measures and check-ups afford us peace of mind when we have unfavorable family medical histories and illnesses and when we are experiencing unusual physical symptoms. When diagnostic procedures fault on the grounds of malpractice, multiple scenarios can occur:

Your doctor may misinterpret medical screenings, leading to misdiagnosis and mistreatment.
Medical screenings and lab work may be faulty due to the lab technicians' errors or inadequate equipment.
Diagnosis may be delayed because of mistakes, lost lab work, and poorly managed care.

Improper diagnosis by medical providers can result in faulty medical follow-ups that are unnecessary and dangerous. Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys have decades of experience helping victims of medical malpractice. Contact our law firm today to get the legal representation you need.

Medication errors

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), educated medical providers and institutions are offenders of medication errors in approximately 6.5% of every 100 hospital admissions (WHO, 2106).

Additionally, it was determined that about 50% of all medication errors occur during the prescribing and ordering phases. Nurses and pharmacists are credited with rectifying these medication errors 30-70% of the time. Errors are high, and that is quite a margin of error to account for (National Library of Medicine, NLM, Sinha et al., 2024)

The most common medication errors are due to:

Prescribing can be at fault: inadequate training and informed medicinal knowledge. Improper dosing, not accounting for allergies in electronic patient profiles, and failing to account for contraindications (meaning if a medicine should or should not be taken if the patient has a particular condition).
Communication barriers include how to inform an “average” patient and how to account for language barriers, visual handicaps, auditory handicaps, and even dementia.
In a volatile working environment, the standard of care may be relaxed where medical professionals are to make necessary, informed medical decisions.
Patients' health records may not be effectively communicated and translated to the medical recipient deemed the prescriber; this includes allergies and conditions for contraindication alerts.
The pharmacist may not validate the prescribed medicines' naming, labeling, and proper packaging.

Anesthesia errors

Anesthesia errors are often serious and long-lasting. When an anesthesiologist has a client, detail must be meticulously accounted for:

Medical history is to be detailed and thoroughly examined. Specific questions must be answered and documented.
If intubation is necessary, an anesthesiologist must insert the breathing tube properly; complications can cause unsecured airways, throat adhesions and further complications, including life-long problems or death.
Dosages of anesthesia must account for the patient's medical history and current physical state.
Anesthesiologists must properly monitor vital signs and account for any abnormal or interrupted response during procedures. Failure to be attentive throughout a patient's entire procedure prove to be fatal.

Anesthesia errors can lead to respiratory problems, strokes, heart attacks, and wrongful death. Pre-surgery notes and protocol efforts are to be highly investigated by an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Surgical errors

Anesthesia errors are often severe and long-lasting. When an anesthesiologist has a client, detail must be meticulously accounted for:

Medical history is to be detailed and thoroughly examined. Specific questions must be answered and documented.
If intubation is necessary, an anesthesiologist must insert the breathing tube properly; complications can cause unsecured airways, throat adhesions, and further complications, including life-long problems or death.
Dosages of anesthesia must account for the patient's medical history and current physical state.
Anesthesiologists must properly monitor vital signs and account for any abnormal or interrupted response during procedures. Failure to be attentive throughout a patient's entire procedure proves fatal.

Anesthesia errors can lead to respiratory problems, strokes, heart attacks, and death. Pre-surgery notes and protocol efforts are to be highly investigated by an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

Emergency room errors

Critical thinking and decision-making are essential in the ER, where people are admitted in rushed circumstances, and timely assessment and execution are in demand. ER, doctors and nurses must quickly diagnose and treat conditions that are often made after catastrophic falls, gunshot wounds, or a tragic car accident and are usually life-threatening. The standard of care and obligation to adequately treat a patient may be questionable if a blood clot, brain injury, or other complex injury is left unidentified.

Lab or test errors

Testing lab findings are left for the interpretation of the technician or radiologist; they then convey the interpretive results in their notes. Errors occur when a test is misdiagnosed, causing an untreated condition to progress or causing a healthy individual to have unnecessary treatment. Victims of these errors may seek out compensation for such errors. The hospital or medical professional is liable in this scenario, and there are legal ramifications that an experienced personal injury attorney can assist you with.

Wilkes-Barre Nursing Home negligence

Making the decision that your loved one must live in a nursing home is sometimes hard enough—finding the financial resources to make their care a reality can also be an enormous challenge. Once everything is in place, you can continue to work and generate income, knowing that your loved one is cared for by a compassionate and skilled staff whose primary focus is their well-being.

If you discover that the most unfortunate and unimaginable has occurred—neglect or abuse of your loved one at their care facility—you are beside yourself. The anger, guilt, and rage are overwhelming; the thought of your loved one's inability to fend for themselves in what is supposed to be a safe environment is maddening. Various behaviors qualify as nursing home negligence:

Untreated bedsores
Serious injuries and falls
Malnutrition
Dehydration
Improper medication; over medication to lessen perceived care needs.
Restraints administered in a manner that causes injury
Unexplained injuries
Verbal abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Theft

If you suspect that your loved one has is being abused or neglected at a nursing home, our personal injury lawyers at Munley Personal Injury Attorneys can help with legal counsel.

How long do victims have to file medical malpractice lawsuits in Wilkes-Barre?

In Pennsylvania, a PA medical malpractice lawsuit may be filed within two years from the date of the negligence. An exception to this rule exists: if a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice and dies due to the negligence and harm inflicted upon them, families have two years from the date of death to seek retribution. Victims in the Wilkes-Barre area should file a claim with a Wilkes-Barre medical malpractice lawyer and begin the legal process to secure compensation; avoid insurance company's early settlement offerings, as hospitals often have insurance legal teams ready to manage and close claims as early as possible.

How can the medical malpractice lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys help my case

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys specializes in taking on major medical facilities, medical device manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies. Northeastern Pennsylvania listed us as the Regional Tier 1 ranking in the 2024 Best Law Firms for Northeastern Pennsylvania for Personal Injury Litigation and Medical Malpractice Law. We are used to going up against big entities and walking away from verdicts with fairly compensated clients. With decades of experience and the reputation to show that we get the job done, our super lawyers have collected tens of millions for injured victims.

Our team of experienced medical malpractice lawyers offers a free initial consultation and legal advice to support your case needs.

Do I Have A Case?

If you think you may have a personal injury case, contact us now for a FREE consultation.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

1170 PA-315
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
(570) 399-0406