Surgery on the wrong body part, the wrong side of the body, or the wrong patient should never happen. When it does, the harm is immediate and preventable. If you suffered injuries because of wrong site surgery malpractice in Philadelphia, your first steps are to seek medical care, secure records about the incident, and note the filing deadlines for making a claim for compensation. At Soloff & Zervanos, our experienced surgical error attorneys could coordinate evidence, deal with insurers, and keep your case on track while you focus on recuperating from your injuries.
Hospitals and other surgical centers use safety checklists because they are effective. Verification and visible site marking decrease risk when medical professionals perform and document these tasks carefully. When staff members skip these steps or rush through them, preventable errors may happen.
The common breakdowns that cause negligent wrong site surgeries in Philadelphia include missing or incorrect surgical site marking, incomplete pre-procedure verification, rushed time-outs, and poor handoffs between staff members. Clear documentation should show the intended surgical site, the consent, the marking, and the team confirmation before any incision. Gaps in that documentation point to avoidable errors.
Evidence must answer crucial questions about what happened during your surgery and how it injured you. This evidence should include complete medical records and audit trails, beginning with the charts from every medical professional who played a role in your surgery. Key items include the consent form, preoperative notes, nursing assessments, anesthesia records, intraoperative records, the time-out checklist, and any incident reports.
If staff members should have used imaging to pinpoint your surgery site, the films and radiology reads are also crucial evidence. Postoperative notes, revision procedures, photographs, and therapy records document the outcome of your surgery and its impact on your daily life. It is a good idea to preserve this evidence as soon as possible. The evidence should also include the names and roles of each person in the operating room and communications with risk managers or the insurer.
Our skilled Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys could send preservation letters to the medical professionals who performed your surgery error, request the facility’s policies and credentialing files, and retain an independent surgeon to review the standard of care. That review should focus on whether following the required steps would have prevented the wrong site outcome.
You must file most Philadelphia medical malpractice actions—including wrong site surgery claims—within two years of your injuries or a reasonable time after discovering the injuries. According to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1042.3, you must file a Certificate of Merit within 60 days after the complaint, stating that an appropriate licensed professional supplied a written statement that there is a reasonable probability the care fell outside acceptable professional standards or that an expert witness’s testimony is unnecessary.
Insurers may dispute causation or minimize the harm you suffered. Consistent medical records, accurate work-restriction notes, and third-party statements could help our Philadelphia attorneys tie the wrong site surgical error to specific losses you suffered. If you need additional procedures to correct the surgical mistake, keep all invoices and operative notes as evidence. Having these records gives our attorneys leverage in negotiations and positions your case for litigation if necessary.
If you suffered harm because of wrong site surgery malpractice in Philadelphia, your situation may be complex and draining. You do not have to face this on your own. While you focus on getting proper medical treatment, we could handle the legal work. We could identify the type of malpractice that occurred, organize a complete record of what happened, track every deadline, and prepare the required filings so that your case could move forward in a timely manner.
Clear communication is our standard. Our attorneys let you know what we are doing during each step of the legal process, tell you what we need from you, and why it matters. Call us at Soloff & Zervanos today to schedule a free consultation about your case.
