If a preventable mistake injured you or a loved one, you could protect your right to proper compensation by prioritizing your health and getting help from a lawyer. When you reach out to Marzella & Associates, our hospital error lawyers will ensure your health, secure proof of the hospital’s negligence, keep procedural missteps from undermining your claim, and fight to ensure you get compensated fairly for your injuries and related damages. Don’t hesitate to contact us to learn how we can assist you.
Protect Your Health First with Prompt Follow-Up Care
Start by protecting your health. Seek follow-up care and, when appropriate, a second and independent opinion. Preventable harm usually worsens because warning signs go unaddressed. Delayed diagnosis and delayed treatment are among the most common sources of patient harm in hospital settings. A second (or more) opinion can help distinguish a complication from a preventable error and produce separate medical records that later anchor causation.
Preserve Hospital Records and Electronic Data Early
Hospitals generate extensive documentation, including medical charts, medication logs, vital signs, consultations, and electronic audit trails. Those records can be updated, corrected, or archived through routine processes. However, the key details are typically found in time stamps and cross-department handoffs. Likewise, the most common adverse events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority (PSA) include communication or monitoring failures.
Prompt preservation requests will capture complete records and metadata, preventing gaps that later obscure what happened to you in the hospital.
Reconstruct the Timeline of Events Leading to Your Injury
Preventable hospital errors rarely hinge on a single act. They emerge from delays, including flagged labs that weren’t assessed, alarms that repeat without escalation, or imaging orders that weren’t performed. Building a minute-by-minute timeline exposes where the hospital failed you.
An accurately reconstructed timeline can help convert scattered entries into a coherent narrative that shows when medical professionals should’ve intervened and why their delay or inaction is crucial to your case.
Identify Where Hospital Care Deviated from Medical Standards
Negligence is measured against accepted standards and the hospital’s own policies. Sepsis protocols, medication-verification procedures, fall-prevention plans, and discharge criteria are written for a reason. Aligning your medical records with protocols can reveal deviations that insurance providers can’t dismiss as judgment calls.
Use Medical Experts to Establish Causation
Expect the hospital staff to say that your injury was inevitable, regardless of their actions. Proving otherwise will require expert interpretation of how proper care would have changed your condition’s trajectory. Pennsylvania law likewise requires a certificate of merit supported by qualified experts in medical negligence cases. Expert opinions translate clinical failures into clear causation, turning the hospital’s argument that an outcome was bad or inevitable into an accountable error.
Document the Full Impact of a Preventable Hospital Injury
On top of the past and current medical treatments and hospital stays, preventable errors carry long tails, including rehab, readmissions, assistive devices, lost earnings, diminished independence, and emotional trauma. Having a comprehensive documentation of all your injury-related losses can ensure that the hospital and its insurers can’t undervalue your claim and capture all your economic and non-economic damages.
Understand Pennsylvania’s Time Limits for Hospital Negligence Claims
Pennsylvania generally allows two years from the date you were injured to file a hospital negligence claim, with limited exceptions. Unfortunately, waiting for explanations from the hospital doesn’t pause the deadline. Delays also weaken evidence because medical records can be tampered with.
Get Legal Guidance After a Preventable Hospital Error
Preventable hospital injuries require prompt, careful action. If you or a loved one was hurt due to a preventable error, get in touch with Marzella & Associates today. Our hospital error lawyers in Harrisburg will review your records, identify where care broke down, and pursue compensation to cover all your damages. Contact us online or call 717-876-8681 to schedule your complimentary consultation.