Pediatric Malpractice Attorney in Pittsburgh, PA

Children can be more vulnerable to certain illnesses than adults.  They are also less able to explain their symptoms to a doctor if they’re feeling ill.  That’s why children see a pediatrician who has specialized in understanding what children need.  The pediatrician plays a crucial role in ensuring your child has a healthy childhood—and when that doctor makes a terrible mistake, it is your child’s future that is placed at risk. If your child was harmed by pediatric malpractice, having the best possible Pittsburgh pediatrician negligence lawyer on your team greatly increases your chances of holding that doctor accountable.

Jason Matzus at Matzus Law, LLC has devoted his entire practice to helping injured clients.  He is trusted by past clients and respected by the insurance companies and defense lawyers on the other side of the table.

Some childhood illnesses have the potential to progress quickly and can cause permanent harm.  In other cases, your child may recover fully, but require more invasive or painful treatment in order to make that recovery.  Whether your child has suffered irreparable damage or a worsened condition, if a pediatrician’s unreasonable mistake caused that harm, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

Choosing a lawyer to protect your child’s interests can be a difficult decision.  At Matzus Law, LLC, we have over 20 years’ experience handling these types of cases.  We have developed a reputation for excellence throughout Pittsburgh and will stand by your side through the entire legal process.  To learn more, schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with our pediatrician malpractice lawyer today.

Examples of Pediatrician Malpractice

Pediatrician malpractice occurs when your pediatrician makes a mistake that another reasonably trained pediatrician would not have made under the circumstances.  Missing a symptom of an illness or forgetting to run an important test can cost your child a healthy and active childhood.  Many childhood illnesses can cause permanent damage, meaning that your child may have to adapt to a permanent disability or require long-term care.

Examples of circumstances that can give rise to a pediatrician malpractice claim include:

• Failure to diagnose common childhood diseases, including meningitis and pneumonia
• Failure to order routine tests appropriate for children
• Failure to order diagnostic tests when specific symptoms indicate a need
• Misreading a test result
• Misdiagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Prescribing the wrong type of medication or the wrong dosage
• Failure to continuously monitor symptoms to detect development of a more serious condition
• Failure to take a full patient and family history
• Failure to refer you to an appropriate specialist when needed
• Anesthesia errors
• Failure to properly monitor a child who has been hospitalized or take proper steps to prevent infection

Recovering Fair Compensation for Pediatrician Malpractice

Insurance companies often make a settlement offer quickly in pediatrician malpractice cases.  They recognize that the value of the case may be higher than in cases involving adults—especially when a lifetime of care may be required.  Those offers are almost never fair.

At Matzus Law, LLC, we fight to make sure your compensation award accounts for every dollar you deserve.

You may be entitled to receive compensation for a wide range of past, present and future expenses, including compensation for:

• Current medical expenses
• The cost of future medical care made necessary by the pediatrician’s mistake
• Your child’s diminished future earning capacity
• Your own lost wages made necessary by the need to give your child extra care
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Diminished quality of life
• Loss of a healthy childhood
• Long-term care expenses
• In-home care expenses
• Out-of-pocket expenses, including the need for medical devices and modifications to your home or vehicle

In a typical medical malpractice case involving adults, predicting your compensation award is much more simple.  For example, your lost future earning capacity is based upon your earning capacity prior to the accident.  With children, the calculation becomes much more complex.  A child’s full potential is not yet known, after all.

At Matzus Law, LLC, we work with nationally recognized medical and financial experts to reach a fair estimate of what your child deserves.  The level of compensation available will, of course, depend upon the severity and permanence of the harm.  Because we have specialized in helping injured clients, our lawyers understand the full extent of the compensation you may be entitled to receive—and we leave no stone unturned in fighting for maximum compensation in your case.

Contact Matzus Law, LLC Today for a Free Consultation with a Trusted Pittsburgh Pediatrician Negligence Lawyer

We know that choosing a lawyer is a big decision.  We want to make it easier for our potential clients, so we provide you with a free consultation where we can sit down and discuss what happened.  Our lawyer will explain potential options for recovering fair compensation in your case and you have no obligation to hire us.

To learn more, schedule a free case review with an experienced Pittsburgh, PA pediatrician malpractice lawyer today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pediatrician Malpractice in Pittsburgh, PA

Will I have to go to court to recover compensation for pediatrician malpractice?

Sometimes, but not always. At Matzus Law, LLC, our lawyers have been handling cases like this for over 20 years. We use our legal knowledge and strong negotiation skills to reach a full and fair settlement outside of court if that is your preference.

Whether court intervention is needed to get a fair settlement will depend largely upon the insurance company and the circumstances. Pediatric malpractice cases are not only complicated, but they also have the potential to be highly emotional. Some insurance companies might not want to risk putting a sympathetic child before a jury, and might, therefore, be more willing to settle fairly out of court.

What is the role of medical experts in a pediatrician malpractice case?

A doctor’s treatment plan can vary from patient to patient. We retain a medical expert (or experts), as required under Pennsylvania law, to provide evidence about what a reasonable pediatrician would have done when faced with your child as a patient. That pediatric expert can also testify to the fact that no competent pediatrician would have acted, or failed to act, in the way your pediatrician did. The expert requirement serves a type of gatekeeping function—to prevent frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits that could overwhelm the courts.