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Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Table of Contents
When something goes wrong during hospital, surgical, or medical care, the first reaction is often confusion rather than anger. You may feel that your care, or a loved one’s, fell short without knowing whether it legally qualifies as medical malpractice.
A misdiagnosis, surgical error, or other medical mistake can leave you facing permanent injuries, overwhelming medical bills, lost income, or the loss of someone you love. Those situations deserve careful answers and a thorough investigation, not pressure to move on before the full extent of the harm is understood.
Bosworth & Associates prepares catastrophic medical malpractice cases for trial against hospitals, physicians, and health systems throughout the Philadelphia area. If you are considering your legal options, contact our team for a free consultation.
Why Choose Bosworth & Associates for Medical Malpractice
Deciding who should stand between you and a hospital is a weighty choice, especially with a filing deadline looming. Our team at Bosworth & Associates helps prepare medical malpractice and wrongful death cases for trial against hospitals and health systems. We have recovered more than $167 million in settlements and verdicts across our practice.
Our founder, Tom Bosworth, became the youngest lawyer in Pennsylvania history to obtain a jury verdict over $10 million for a living client as lead counsel. His work has earned recognition as one of Pennsylvania’s Top 10 Verdicts and among the top 100 wrongful death verdicts in the country.
Every case is different. Yours deserves attention shaped by the specific harm and losses in front of you. Contact Bosworth & Associates for a personalized strategy today.
Client Testimonials
“Tom has been great with my case and his work ethic is perfection. When I first reached out to him he wasted no time getting straight to the point and opened my case right away. He was honest, understanding and professional. Tom updates me when asked, and answers any questions I have. His staff is efficient and they get to things right away. I would definitely recommend Tom he really cares about helping his clients.” — Maria S.
“Tom is not only an exceptional lawyer but also a kind and caring person. He is passionate about helping people and their families, and he develops genuine connections with his clients. Tom has been my lawyer for several years, and I can say without hesitation that he has done everything in his power to advocate for my family. In addition to being a skilled litigator, Tom has proven to be an experienced advisor and thoughtful listener. He has gone above and beyond to make himself available to listen to our concerns, answer our questions, and guide us (even taking my calls and answering messages at night, on weekends, and during holidays). With Tom as our lawyer, we feel confident and supported.” — Alexandra W.
“Attorney Tom Bosworth takes you and your case seriously. He gets back to you at all hours of the day or night. He is very accessible, which is important. He is a strategic thinker and knows the law well. He is good at setting expectations and preparing you for your legal action. I would highly recommend him and his firm.” — Talia S.
Meet Your Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyers
What Counts as Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?
Medical malpractice is care that falls below the accepted medical standard and causes harm to the patient. In Pennsylvania, a medical malpractice claim generally has to show four things:
- A provider-patient relationship that created a duty of care
- A breach of the accepted standard of care
- A direct link between that breach and the injury
- Real damages that resulted from the harm
Each element has to connect to the next, which is why a claim depends so heavily on the medical records and on how the care is measured against the accepted standard.
Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?
You may have a case if substandard care caused you serious harm, though it usually requires a closer look. A bad outcome by itself does not prove malpractice. What matters is whether the treatment fell below the accepted standard and whether that failure, rather than the underlying illness or injury, caused the damage.
A medical mistake can change every part of your life, but a malpractice case depends on more than the severity of the outcome. A medical malpractice lawyer can help determine whether the provider’s actions fell below the accepted standard of care, whether that failure caused the injury, and what evidence is needed to prove the connection.
Types of Medical Malpractice in Philadelphia
Medical negligence takes many forms, and the most serious cases tend to fall into a recognizable set of categories. At Bosworth & Associates, our legal team handles a wide range of medical malpractice cases, including the following types.
Failure to Diagnose or Delayed Diagnosis
A missed or delayed diagnosis can allow a treatable condition to progress to a stage where care becomes far less effective. Cancer, stroke, and infection cases often turn on whether a reasonably careful provider would have ordered the test, made the referral, or read the imaging differently.
Surgical Errors
Surgical mistakes range from wrong-site procedures to retained instruments to injuries to nearby organs or nerves. These cases often require careful review of the operative report alongside the patient’s records from before and after the procedure.
Medication and Anesthesia Errors
Wrong-drug, wrong-dose, and anesthesia administration errors can cause organ damage, brain injury, or death. Hospital pharmacy and anesthesia department protocols are usually central to how the harm occurred.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can leave a child with lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. These cases typically involve labor and delivery decisions, fetal monitoring, and the timing of intervention.
Hospital and Nursing Negligence
Hospital and nursing claims can include failures in monitoring, medication administration, infection control, and communication between shifts. The institution itself, not only the individual provider, may share responsibility for the harm.
Failure to Obtain Informed Consent
A patient has the right to understand the material risks of a procedure before agreeing to it. When a healthcare provider withholds or misrepresents that information, an informed consent claim may apply alongside other negligence theories.
How Long Do You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Pennsylvania?
In most cases, Pennsylvania gives you two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, set by 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524(2). However, that deadline is not always measured from the date of treatment. Under Pennsylvania’s discovery rule, the filing period may begin when you knew, or reasonably should have known, that medical negligence caused your injury.
Different rules can also apply to minors and certain other situations, making it important to have your case reviewed as soon as possible by an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.
Certificate of Merit Requirement
Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawsuits are subject to an additional procedural requirement called a Certificate of Merit under Pa.R.C.P. 1042.3. In most cases, a qualified licensed professional must provide a written statement supporting the claim that the medical provider departed from the accepted standard of care.
Because obtaining that review takes time, speaking with a medical malpractice attorney early can help avoid unnecessary delays.
What Compensation Can You Recover in a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Compensation in a medical malpractice claim covers the losses the negligence caused, which can be financial, physical, or personal. What a specific claim may include depends on the facts, but the common categories are:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Wrongful death and survival damages in fatal cases
Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases, which ties recovery to the actual harm rather than an arbitrary limit. The value of any claim depends on its specific facts, so the most useful estimate comes after a careful review of your records and losses.
How Do You Choose a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
Choosing among medical malpractice lawyers in Philadelphia comes down to a few practical questions about how a firm actually handles these cases. Suing a hospital or health system is difficult work, and these institutions defend claims hard. The firm you choose should be ready for that fight rather than a quick settlement.
A few things are worth weighing, such as whether:
- The firm prepares cases for trial, not only for negotiation
- They have resources to retain qualified medical expert witnesses who meet Pennsylvania’s standards
- They offer contingency representation, so you do not pay legal fees out of pocket
- The lawyers have experience with your specific case type
- The reviews speak positively of the firm
You should also look for a firm that offers free consultations so you can see if the firm is a good fit before investing your money.
Discuss Your Medical Malpractice Case With Bosworth & Associates
If you believe a medical mistake caused a serious injury or the loss of a loved one, a free consultation can help you understand your legal options. Bosworth & Associates represents people and families in complex medical malpractice cases throughout Pennsylvania and prepares every case with trial in mind.
Call 267-928-4183 or reach us through our contact form to get started.
Written By Tom Bosworth
Tom Bosworth is a Philadelphia plaintiff’s attorney at Bosworth Law who has recovered over $80 million for injured clients and families across medical malpractice, wrongful death, birth injury, and product liability cases. He graduated magna cum laude from Temple University Beasley School of Law and is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Pennsylvania and a National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 honoree. His results include a $19.7 million jury verdict, the largest ever secured by an attorney his age as lead counsel in Pennsylvania medical malpractice history.
