Awaiting a surgery can be a very nerve-racking process, because all of us have heard stories of surgeries gone wrong. There are even more risks of injury during orthopedic surgeries, which focus on bones, joints, ligaments and tendons, because these procedures tend to be lengthy, complicated, and invasive,

“An orthopedic surgeon’s failure to adhere to the accepted standards of care during a surgery can and should be considered medical malpractice,” says our Philadelphia orthopedic malpractice attorney at The Weitz Firm, LLC. Unfortunately, proving that you are entitled to compensation for damages caused by an orthopedic surgeon’s malpractice is anything but easy.

Different types of orthopedic malpractice

There are many types of orthopedic malpractice, but a large percentage of medical malpractice lawsuits against orthopedic surgeons are stemming from the surgeon’s failure to perform a surgery correctly and failure to properly interpret the patient’s diagnostic tests.

Also, medical malpractice cases in which an orthopedic surgeon operates on the wrong limb or wrong part of the body are not unheard of. Our experienced medical malpractice attorney in Philadelphia has also handled cases in which surgeons failed to install the right size of prosthesis and failed to use appropriate tools like pins and screws.

These are some of the most common types of orthopedic malpractice that can be encountered in hospitals and outpatient surgery centers in Pennsylvania and all across the U.S.:

How to sue an orthopedic surgeon for orthopedic malpractice?

Regardless of how you were injured or harmed before, during, or after an orthopedic surgery, the law is on your side. You may be able to recover damages by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the orthopedic surgeon who operated on you.

However, recovering damages can be tough because you will be required to demonstrate evidence that the surgeon’s actions fell below the accepted standard of care and amounted to medical malpractice.

As you may or may not know, in order to receive monetary compensation through the legal theory of medical malpractice, you have to establish four elements of your claim:

  1. There was a doctor-patient relationship, or, in other words, the doctor owed you a duty of care (collect documents proving that you hired the doctor, and the doctor agreed to be hired in turn);
  2. The orthopedic surgeon breached the duty of care when his or her actions or omission to act fell below the accepted standard of care;
  3. That breach of duty resulted in your injury; and
  4. Your injury resulted in damages such as medical expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other emotional and financial damages.

Contact The Weitz Firm, LLC, to discuss your situation and build a strong legal case that would help you win. Get a free consultation from our lawyers to find out your options on suing a doctor for orthopedic malpractice. Call our offices at 267-587-6240.

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