Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Our medical malpractice lawyers represent people injured by negligent or careless healthcare providers. Serving cases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and nationwide.

Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Get the Results You Deserve

If you or a loved one have been injured by a medical care professional, you need the help of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to investigate the facts, get to the root cause of the injury, and prove your claim.

At the law firm of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, our attorneys work diligently with highly trained doctors, nursing specialists, and other medical experts to gather the evidence needed and build the strongest medical malpractice case possible. We work tirelessly to get a successful resolution to your medical malpractice claim — and pursue justice for you.

Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Serve Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lemoyne, PA, Red Bank and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Our law firm has earned a distinguished reputation for helping clients achieve life-altering case results through a wide variety of case types across the region and nation.

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Common Types of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Our medical malpractice attorneys have achieved historic outcomes for our clients. We serve cases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and nationwide.

  • Anesthesia Errors

    Anesthesia errors may be the result of negligence by doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and other medical staff who assist in administering anesthetic drugs.

    Types of Anesthesia

    • General anesthesia — renders a patient unconscious
    • Spinal and epidural anesthesia — injected into the spinal cord and most commonly used during childbirth
    • Local anesthesia — numbs a specific part of the body
    • Dissociative anesthesia — creates a trance-like state
    • Regional anesthesia — numbs larger areas of the body

    Common Errors

    • Administering too much or too little of a drug
    • Improperly intubating the patient
    • Failing to establish intravenous access for a patient
    • Failing to monitor a patient’s vital signs while anesthetized
    • Waiting too long to administer anesthesia
    • Administering the wrong type of anesthesia drug
    • Failing to prevent interactions with other medications
    • Failing to monitor a patient or to properly administer oxygen during surgery
    • Failing to instruct patients on limiting food or liquid intake prior to surgery
    • Administering anesthetic drugs to which the patient is allergic

    Most Common Injuries and Outcomes

    • Brain injury
    • Dizziness and confusion
    • Abnormal pulse or heart problems
    • Brain or organ damage
    • Blood pressure complications
    • Vein, artery, and nerve damage
    • Spinal cord injury
    • Strokes and seizures
    • Larynx damage
    • Serious allergic reaction
    • Respiratory problems
    • Blood clots
    • Anesthesia awareness (a patient is conscious during the procedure and experiences pain, but is unable to physically respond)
    • Coma or death
  • Birth Injuries & Trauma

    What should be the happiest time of any parent’s life can be turned upside down by medical negligence. When a doctor treating a pregnant woman breaches their duty of care, the baby may be at risk of serious injuries that can be permanent and impair the child’s quality of life. Negligent care not only exposes babies to needless risk, it can also jeopardized the health and safety of the mother.

    Common Errors

    • Failing to monitor the mother and baby’s vital signs before and during delivery
    • Failing to promptly perform an emergency cesarean section delivery when a baby is in distress, potentially resulting in cerebral palsy, brain injury or death
    • Improperly using forceps or a vacuum extractor to remove a child from the birth canal
    • Brachial plexus injuries and palsy due improper management of shoulder dystocia

    View all Birth Injury Practice Areas

  • Emergency Room Errors

    While individuals often visit an emergency room to receive life-saving care, many leave with serious injuries or pass away as a result of the negligence of a doctor or other healthcare professional.

    Common Errors

    • Failure to perform required tests or studies
    • Delayed or misdiagnosis
    • Medication errors leading to incorrect dosage, prescription interactions, or allergic reactions
    • Misreading or reporting of x-ray or other test results
    • Delayed treatment
    • Contaminated or wrong blood type
    • Premature discharge
    • Failure to follow up after discharge
    • Failure to communicate all test results to patients and their primary care physicians
  • Hospital Malpractice

    Negligence on behalf of doctors or other healthcare personnel who work at a hospital can often lead to serious injuries or death of visiting patients.

    Common Errors

    • Delayed or misdiagnosis
    • Medication errors leading to incorrect dosage, prescription interactions, or allergic reactions
    • Delayed treatment
    • Misreading or reporting of x-ray or other test results
    • Failure to timely consult with appropriate specialists
    • Surgical errors
    • Premature discharge
    • Failure to institute appropriate screening practices/competency requirements for healthcare professionals
    • Failure to communicate all test results to patients and their primary care physicians
    • Failure to have in place or enforce policies and procedures regarding medical care
    • Injuries resulting from patient falls
  • Hospitals and Vicarious Liability

    As with every employer, hospitals and hospital systems are liable for the negligent acts of their employees. This can include physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and the aides who transport patients.

    Common Hospital Employee Errors

    • Misdiagnosis
    • Failure to timely and accurately comply with medical orders
    • Mistakes in prescribing or administering medication
    • Failure to properly monitor a patient
    • Failure to regularly take a patient’s vital signs
    • Failure to keep proper records
    • Failure to respond to a patient’s call quickly enough
    • Failure to document or monitor patients who are fall risks
    • Failure to report suspicious symptoms to the physician
    • Failure to check for bed sores
    • Failure to follow a doctor’s instructions
  • Medical Device Errors

    According to the advocacy group Consumer Reports, tens of millions of patients rely on medical devices to diagnose, manage, and maintain a variety of health conditions — but these products are loosely regulated and often lack thorough testing before being placed on the market. With little regulation or standardized procedure for reporting potential problems, medical device defects and errors often go undetected until a significant number of patient injuries or deaths occur.

    Common Medical Devices

    • Diagnostic devices, used for both hospital and in-home testing, such as lab equipment and home test strips
    • Implanted devices used to correct damage and injuries, such as pacemakers, monitors, and surgical mesh
    • Artificial body parts, joints, and organs
    • External devices, used by hospitals to regulate vital functions, such as heart pumps and ventilators
    • Internal maintenance devices used to maintain organ function, such as pacemakers and coronary stents

    Learn more about Medical Device Litigation

  • Medication Errors

    When a patient is given the wrong type or wrong dosage of medication, or is given a medication that is not safe for them to take due to other drugs or health conditions, they may suffer serious harm or even death.

    Common Errors

    • Labeling errors leading to the patient taking, or being administered, the drug by mistake
    • Dosage errors based on an act of carelessness or because the incorrect dosage amount was written on a patient’s chart
    • Medication mix-ups due to typos or careless provider actions
    • Dangerous drug interactions with other medications or health conditions

    Potential Sources of Liability

    • The doctor who prescribed the medication
    • The nurse who administered the medication
    • The hospital where the doctor or nurse is employed
    • The pharmacist who filled the prescription
    • The medication manufacturer (in the case of a manufacturing or labeling error)

    Learn more about Pharmaceutical Litigation

  • Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis

    When we are sick, injured, or suffering with unexplained symptoms, we take for granted that our medical providers will be able to promptly diagnose our condition and provide the treatment we need to recover. Unfortunately, in an alarming number of cases, this doesn’t happen. Medical mistakes and errors are on the rise throughout the country, and cases involving misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of medical conditions are increasingly common.

    Studies conducted by the Institute of Medicine show that as many as 12 million people each year suffer from diagnostic errors made by healthcare providers, leading to roughly 10% of all patient deaths. Unfortunately, these cases often go unreported by patients who are unaware that an error occurred or are unsure of their legal rights in holding their doctors accountable.

    Common Errors

    • Medical misdiagnosis of serious conditions resulting in delays in treatment and worsening of patient health, such as with cancer and heart disease
    • Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of emergency situations that require an immediate medical response, such as with strokes or aneurysms
    • Diagnostic errors that result in treatments that contraindicate symptoms, such as prescribing asthma inhalers for patients suffering from pneumonia
    • Failure to diagnose symptoms of major illnesses or diseases
    • Failure to detect emergency situations requiring immediate care
    • Mistakenly diagnosing and treating patients for conditions they do not have

    Learn more about Failure to Diagnose Cancer

  • Surgical Error Malpractice

    All surgeries come with inherent risks, including the possibility that a surgeon or hospital staff member might make a mistake. Often, these mistakes can occur due to inattention on the part of medical professionals, and the results can be devastating — even deadly — for the patient.

    Common Errors

    • Performing unnecessary surgery
      Operating on the wrong part of the body
    • Using surgical tools in a negligent manner
    • Failing to properly sterilize tools or the operating room
    • Improperly administering anesthesia
    • Causing accidental damage to nerves or muscles during the operation
    • Failing to prevent avoidable postoperative complications, such as infections
  • Postoperative Negligence

    After an operation, patients are still at risk of suffering injuries, complications, or even death. In fact, you are rarely at more risk for a serious infection than you are during and immediately after a surgical operation. Medical professionals must take proper precautions to reduce the risks of any postoperative complications — or they may be liable for resulting injuries.

    Common Errors

    • Failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs
    • Failure to check for common postoperative complications, such as bleeding and blood clots
    • Failure to prevent infections
    • Improperly administering necessary medications
    • Inadequately warning a patient of postoperative risks

Medical Malpractice Facts

  • 100K

    Deaths attributed to medical errors in hospitals and clinics annually

  • 400K

    Hospitalized patients who experience some type of preventable harm ann

  • 1 in 1,000

    Primary care visits that cause preventable harm

  • 10-15%

    Overall misdiagnosis rate

Source: National Library of Medicine

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Information

The law offices of Cohen, Placitella & Roth have represented victims of medical malpractice and their families for 50 years. Our seasoned attorneys achieve historic, life-altering outcomes for our clients’ medical malpractice claims. We work with clients in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and nationwide.

  • What is the Definition of Medical Malpractice?

    Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when health care providers or a medical facility, through its acts or omissions, fail to meet their required duty of patient care. Medical professionals have a duty to treat their patients in accordance with the standard of acceptable care. When they fail to do so, and their failure causes a patient’s injuries, they may be liable for damages caused by their examples of medical malpractice.

  • What Happens When Medical Malpractice Results in Wrongful Death?

    When medical malpractice leads to death, a lawsuit must be brought under the Wrongful Death Act for the damages resulting to the decedent’s family members and the Survival Act to compensate the decedent’s estate for any pre-death damages. A medical malpractice and wrongful death attorney can help guide you through the process of meeting the burden of proof for your case.

  • What does a Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Claim Involve?

    A wrongful death claim can take two to five years to complete depending on where the lawsuit is filed and the nature of the case. Damages typically include the decedent’s final medical expenses and funeral expenses. Every state has its own wrongful death act listing the family members who may recover damages and the nature of the damages they may claim.

  • What Affects Wrongful Death Settlement Payouts in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

    The process for calculating damages due to wrongful death is similar to medical malpractice cases. In general, the primary consideration is the deceased person’s life circumstances, his or her work, any family he or she supported, and the nature of his or her injuries and damages.

  • How do I get a Lawyer for a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

    The legal system is complex to navigate, and if you are considering filing a lawsuit for either medical malpractice or wrongful death, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.

  • How to Prove a Medical Malpractice Case

    To prove medical malpractice, you need to be able to show that the medical professional or facility breached their standard of care and that their breach of care caused damages. This requires proof not only that a medical professional was negligent but that the negligent treatment caused the harm. To prove these two elements of the claim – negligence and causation – it is necessary that your lawyer consult with doctors who are experts in the applicable field of medicine and who are qualified to render an opinion that a physician’s care was negligent and that it caused harm.

  • How Long Does a Medical Malpractice Case Take?

    On average, a medical malpractice case will take about two to five years to be completed. Every case is different, with many variables affecting the timeline for a medical malpractice lawsuit. The timing and location of breach of care, the complexity of medical issues, and the rules and issues of the court where you’ve brought your case can all impact the timeline. When filing a medical malpractice claim, it is critical to act quickly. Each state has a statute of limitations on malpractice cases, and the clock generally starts from the time you first discover that you were harmed.

  • How Much is the Average Medical Malpractice Settlement?

    Just as there is no one typical medical malpractice case, there is no hard-and-fast rule that lays out what a typical settlement looks like. An experienced medical malpractice attorney such as those at Cohen, Placitella & Roth will be able to look at your case and help you gauge your chances of success (as well as type of recovery you may expect).

  • How Can I Contact a New Jersey Medical Malpractice Lawyer?

    The experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Cohen, Placitella, and Roth have offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Red Bank, New Jersey. We’ve achieved life-altering settlements for clients in our region and across the nation. Contact us today for a FREE case evaluation.

  • Corporate lawyers are tough people, but these lawyers made a personal connection with me. The team was great to work with. They didn’t apply pressure or try to settle too quickly. 

    Rob M.
  • Their team maintained a consistent level of detailed communication with us during the entire process, leading to a favorable outcome, performed during the mediation process, allowing us to avoid a costly and time-consuming jury trial.

    Kody Z.
  • I am still at a loss for words about how appreciative my family and I are to the legal team at CP&R for all their effort. All I can say is thank you. 

    Jessica O.

Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

If you are considering filing a lawsuit for either medical malpractice or wrongful death, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Contact us today for a free evaluation of your medical malpractice lawsuit.

  • Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

    Every state limits who can file a lawsuit for wrongful death. Some states require the plaintiff to be the executor of the decedent’s will. Others allow surviving spouses, parents, or children to sue. Other states extend the eligibility to siblings and other relatives.

  • How do I File a Wrongful Death Claim?

    To file a claim for wrongful death, you first have to determine whether a wrongful death occurred. Each state has slightly different definitions of the term, so a lawyer can help you figure out how your state defines wrongful death Your attorney will also let you know whether you’re eligible to file the claim.

  • Who should I Contact to File a Wrongful Death Claim?

    The legal system is complex to navigate, and if you are considering filing a lawsuit for either medical malpractice or wrongful death, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.

  • What is the Pennsylvania Statute of Limitations on medical Malpractice?

    The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim in Pennsylvania is normally two years. The two-year period does not, however, begin until the injured person knew, or through the exercise of reasonable diligence could have discovered they were harmed by medical malpractice or medical negligence.

  • Does Pennsylvania have a cap on Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Settlements?

    Pennsylvania does not have a cap on payouts for medical malpractice lawsuits. There is no cap on economic damages, and there is no cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering).

  • Does New Jersey have a cap on Medical Malpractice Payouts?

    New Jersey does not have a cap on payouts for medical malpractice claims.

  • How Much can you Sue for Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?

    Pennsylvania does not currently impose any limits on the final award for medical malpractice cases, so there is no limit for payout as long as a capable medical malpractice lawyer can prove the damages.

We get Results for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Our team of medical malpractice lawyers in Philadelphia, PA and New Jersey have achieved life-altering settlements for victims of medical malpractice. Contact our attorneys today for a free case evaluation.

VIEW CASE RESULTS

Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today

Our medical malpractice attorneys achieve life-altering outcomes for our clients medical malpractices lawsuits. Contact us today for a free case evaluation. Our law firm serves cases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and nationally.

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Identifying and Understanding Medical Malpractice

If you’ve been harmed by the health care provider who should have helped you, it’s important to understand the difference between a potential risk of medical treatment and harm caused by medical negligence. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you determine where your case lies on the spectrum.

A medical malpractice claim is a type of lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that a medical provider breached their duty of care. This breach can look like a misdiagnosis, a premature hospital or emergency room discharge, a surgical error, misreading an x-ray, or even failure to recognize the symptoms of an illness.

When a medical professional’s negligence has led to disabling injuries, however, the story changes a lot. Malpractice can lead to lifelong disability and even wrongful death, and in these cases, damages can be overwhelming.

Determining IF YOU Have a Medical Malpractice Claim

If you think you have been harmed as a result of medical malpractice, it is important to speak with a lawyer with the expertise and resources to investigate and handle your case. Experienced lawyers, working with qualified medical experts, will review your medical records and evaluate your treatment. To be able to prove a medical malpractice case, the lawyer must be able to prove: (1) whether the treatment you received met the minimum standard of care applicable to your needs and (2) the medical negligence caused your injuries or increased the risk of harm.

What are Potential Recoveries You Can Expect in a Medical Malpractice Claim?

Settlements and verdicts in any civil court case depend primarily on the circumstances giving rise to the case and the extent of the damages at issue. Each case is unique. If a doctor’s negligence didn’t cause long-term harm or disability to the patient, there may be very little to gain in a lawsuit. In some situations, where damages do not warrant filing a lawsuit but where the medical care was negligent, an alternative for patients is to file complaints with medical facilities and regulatory boards.