Numerous instances of medical malpractice happen in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation, most likely on a daily basis, but the vast majority of these malpractice events remain unexplored.
In a lot of the cases, they go unexplored because nobody suffered serious injury. When a patient doesn’t get hurt, the patient won’t have a claim.
Imagine this, a surgeon accidentally sews you up and leaves a small surgical screw floating around inside your body. Your doctor realizes it after the fact when he’s counting up the parts and realizes a screw is missing. He thinks, did that fall on the ground, or is it in the patient? The surgeon knows that there’s a good chance you’ll never exhibit any systems, and no one will ever be the wiser, so he stays silent.
These kinds of mistakes happen quite frequently, so the malpractice goes undetected. Even if patients discover it, though, an injury has to have occurred for a valid claim of medical malpractice damages to existing.
It’s particularly distressing, however, when serious injuries result from malpractice and patients don’t seek justice.
Some patients refrain from pursuing their malpractice claims because they worry that other doctors will refuse to give them treatment if the medical community views them as “litigious.” Others are afraid that their medical costs could increase if they pursue a claim. Still, others worry that the costs of litigation will outweigh the risks and rewards.
Finally, there are other situations in which people with valid claims for damages never find out that they were victims of malpractice. Sometimes, surgeons or doctors will try to cover their tracks with excuses that appear legitimate.
If you are recovering from a serious medical malpractice injury, you may realize that you have a right to seek financial restitution. Most medical malpractice lawyers will happily talk to you about the facts of your potential lawsuit to explore whether you may or may not have a viable claim for damages.