Here are some interesting malpractice statistics in Pennsylvania:
Cerebral Palsy is a severe birth injury that is caused when a baby suffers prolonged oxygen loss during labor and delivery (or earlier in pregnancy). Sadly, just a few minutes of oxygen deprivation during childbirth can cause cerebral palsy, leaving a child disabled for the remainder of their life.
In most cases, the loss of oxygen during childbirth that causes CP is the result of negligent care or management by the doctors, nurses, and/or hospital staff handling the labor and delivery.
This page will explain what cerebral palsy is and why it happens. We will also look at cerebral palsy medical malpractice lawsuits in Philadelphia. There is no question this is a good jurisdiction for cerebral palsy lawsuits. So, our lawyers will talk about the average settlement payout for a cerebral palsy lawsuit in Philadelphia and what victims can expect in the process.
The term “birth injury” generally refers to a physical injury suffered by a baby during childbirth. A very high percentage of birth injuries are caused by negligent medical care during labor and delivery. Hundreds of birth injuries occur from medical negligence in Pennsylvania hospitals annually. The good news is that Pennsylvania law allows the parents of injured children to seek financial compensation. This page will look at Pennsylvania’s most common categories of birth injuries and (2) the types of medical negligence that cause them.
This page will explain Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuits. We will explain how the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute works and who is eligible to bring a wrongful death lawsuit and get settlement compensation. We also explain the second cause of action in death cases, a survival action which provides a second path of compensation for the victim’s family
RELATED CONTENT:
In Charlton v. Troy, a Pennsylvania Superior Court nixed a $40 million verdict, ordering a new trial in a birth injury lawsuit alleging excessive traction caused a severe spinal injury.
The case revolves around the events that occurred during the birth of the Charlton twins. Mrs. Charlton underwent routine prenatal testing at the hospital when she was 37 and a half weeks pregnant with twins. The ultrasound revealed that “Twin B” was 25 percent smaller than “Twin A,” indicating discordant growth and some tachycardia in Twin B.
Statutes of limitations can be very unfair. But as harsh as the SOL can be, a statute of repose can far more Draconian, closing the courthouse steps on cases where the victims did everything they could to bring a timely action.
What is a statute of repose? It is amazing how many tort lawyers do not know until they learn the hard way. A statute of repose provides a date certain by which a claim must be brought. In most states, there are no excuses. Unlike a statute of limitations, it often cannot be tolled by the date the injury should have been discovered.
I can’t deny there is a purpose to the statute of repose. The legislature wants to create some outer time limit where a claim is just too old to be pursued, no matter what. But some states have these short statutes of repose, seven years in Pennsylvania, and only five in Maryland for medical malpractice cases that are just unfair.
Max Kennerly writes about a lot of new bills being proposed in Pennsylvania. Any legislature can propose a bill and there is always someone in every legislature – on both sides of the aisle – who likes to put out radical bills so they can brag to their constituents about how crazy they are. Still, these proposed bills do not give you a warm fuzzy feeling about the political climate right now for injury victims.
Ultimately, I think the problem is that people want jobs or more stability in their jobs and that fear distracts them from thinking about the unlikely possibility that they will be seriously injured and want to be compensated for those injuries. Politicians love blaming personal injury lawyers because they are an easy target. Often, the people throwing the punches don’t really feel like oppressing tort victims is going to solve anything but they can’t resist grabbing the low hanging fruit of blaming lawyers. To make matters worse, we have a minority of personal injury lawyers who are more than willing to live up to the stereotype.
The average verdict in a Pennsylvania personal injury lawsuit where the jury awards damages is $749,973, according to a recent Jury Verdict Research study. The median jury verdict Pennsylvania paints a little different picture: $36,400.
James A. Goodyear, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, says that because Pennsylvania doctors win a defense verdict in 85 percent of malpractice lawsuits that go to trial, it may be that “too many claims are advancing that shouldn’t.”
Alternative view: good malpractice lawsuits settle before trial.
The Philadelphia Phillies mascot is the defendant in a lawsuit stemming from a fan’s injuries at a minor league baseball game. Plaintiff’s lawsuit alleges that the “Phillie Phanatic” climbed on top of her during a game in 2008 which causing Plaintiff arthritis to get worse which, Plaintiff believes, caused her to need a knee replacement.
Exacerbation of prior arthritis claims are incredibly tough because it so hard for the doctors to really state strong opinions as to whether a trauma accident caused her injuries to worsen. I also imagine there are liability problems. In these kinds of cases, I always fear the lawsuit is filed in part because it is a case against the Philly Phanatic and that sounds a little interesting, so let’s bring a case we otherwise would not. Again, I have no facts to support this, but it makes you wonder when you hear cases with these kinds of facts.
Lawsuit Information Center