Billions Recovered Since 1969 | Serving Philadelphia for Over 50 Years | No Fee Unless You Win
You went to a doctor, a surgeon, or an emergency room to get better. Instead, a preventable mistake left you or someone you love in worse condition than before. That is not a risk you agreed to accept, and the healthcare provider who caused it should be held accountable.
Our Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys at the Rothenberg Law Firm LLP take on hospitals, physicians, and healthcare systems across Philadelphia when their negligence causes serious harm.
Contact us at (800) 624-8888 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
Visit our Philadelphia office: 1420 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Your rights matter, and we are here to fight for them
Table of contents
- Why Trust the Rothenberg Law Firm With Your Medical Malpractice Claim?
- What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?
- What Types of Medical Malpractice Cases Do Our Philadelphia Attorneys Handle?
- Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice in Philadelphia?
- What Is Pennsylvania's Certificate of Merit Requirement for Medical Malpractice Claims?
- What Compensation Can You Recover in a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Claim?
- How Long Do You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Pennsylvania?
- How Our Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys Build Your Case
- Ask the Rothenberg Law Firm LLP About Medical Malpractice in Philadelphia
- Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Malpractice Claims in Pennsylvania
- A Medical Provider's Mistake Changed Your Life. We Can Help Hold Them Accountable.
Why Trust the Rothenberg Law Firm With Your Medical Malpractice Claim?
When Allen L. Rothenberg, Esq., founded this firm in Philadelphia in 1969, he built it on a principle that still guides us: fight for every client the way you would fight for your own family. His wife, Barbara Rothenberg, Esq., joined him in 1978 and leads the Philadelphia office today. Seven of their children practice law alongside them.
Medical malpractice cases require a firm willing to challenge hospitals, insurance carriers, and corporate healthcare systems with deep legal resources. Our case results prove we have that resolve.
Medical Malpractice Recoveries That Reflect Our Commitment
- $26.3 million for a misdiagnosed brain injury resulting in permanent paralysis
- $17.5 million recovery for a child injured at birth
- $11.8 million for misdiagnosis of a degenerative spinal disease
- $6 million awarded in a medical malpractice case
- $5.15 million for failure to diagnose a tear of the carotid artery
- $3.8 million for prenatal testing error resulting in birth injury
- $2.8 million for death caused by an anesthesia overdose
- $2.65 million for failure to diagnose cancer
- $2 million for the death of an infant due to a medical mistake
These results do not guarantee outcomes, but they show the level of fight we bring when healthcare providers fail their patients.
Prepared to Take on Philadelphia's Largest Healthcare Systems
We prepare every medical malpractice case for trial. Hospitals and their insurers offer stronger settlements when they know your personal injury attorney has tried cases in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and will not accept less than what the case is worth.
Nationally Recognized for Client-Centered Legal Work
- Super Lawyers Selected Attorneys
- Best Lawyers Recognized Attorneys
- AV Preeminent Attorney Rating (Martindale-Hubbell)
- Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- National Trial Lawyers Recognition
- Top 1% of U.S. Lawyers (Litigator Awards)
- Client Champion Awards and Avvo Client's Choice Award
You Pay Nothing Unless We Recover for You
Our contingency fee arrangement means no up-front costs and no financial risk for you. We only collect a fee if we win your case.
What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care. The standard of care refers to the level of treatment that a reasonably competent provider in the same field would provide under similar circumstances. If that failure directly causes a patient to suffer harm, the provider may be liable for medical malpractice.
Four elements must be present for a valid claim:
- A duty of care existed: The provider had a doctor-patient relationship with you
- The provider breached that duty: Their treatment fell below the accepted medical standard
- The breach caused your injury: A direct link exists between the provider's mistake and the harm you suffered
- You suffered real damages: Medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, disability, or death resulted from the error
Not every bad outcome is malpractice. But when a provider's negligence causes harm that proper care would have prevented, Pennsylvania law gives you the right to seek compensation.
Our medical malpractice lawyers in Philadelphia evaluate each case against these four elements to determine whether a claim is viable.
What Types of Medical Malpractice Cases Do Our Philadelphia Attorneys Handle?
Medical malpractice takes many forms. Each one represents a different failure by a healthcare provider to meet the standard of care that patients in Philadelphia deserve.
Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose
A delayed or missed diagnosis of cancer, heart disease, stroke, or infection can cost a patient critical treatment time. Conditions that are treatable when caught early can become fatal when a physician fails to order the right tests or misreads results.
Surgical Errors
Surgical errors include wrong-site surgery, damage to surrounding organs or nerves, instruments left inside the body, and surgical infections caused by improper technique. Patients who undergo procedures at hospitals across Philadelphia, from Jefferson to Penn Medicine to Temple University Hospital, trust their surgical teams to meet basic safety protocols.
Birth Injuries
Errors during labor and delivery can cause cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries, oxygen deprivation, and other permanent harm to newborns. Families who trusted obstetricians and delivery teams at institutions like the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) or Einstein Medical Center deserve answers when something goes wrong.
Medication Errors
Prescribing the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or a medication that dangerously interacts with another prescription the patient is already taking. Pharmacy errors and hospital dispensing mistakes also fall into this category.
Emergency Room Negligence
Overcrowded ERs, understaffed shifts, and rushed evaluations lead to missed fractures, undiagnosed internal bleeding, and patients sent home with conditions that require immediate treatment.
Anesthesia Errors
Too much or too little anesthesia, failure to review a patient's medical history, and improper monitoring during surgery can result in brain damage, nerve injury, or death.
Each type of malpractice requires a different medical expert and a different legal strategy. Our attorneys match the approach to the specific facts of your case.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice in Philadelphia?
Medical malpractice liability is not limited to the individual doctor who treated you. Pennsylvania law allows claims against every provider and institution whose negligence contributed to your injury.
- Physicians and surgeons who made diagnostic or treatment errors
- Hospitals and healthcare systems that failed to maintain safe staffing levels, enforce safety protocols, or properly credential their providers
- Nurses and medical staff whose errors in administering medication, monitoring patients, or following physician orders caused harm
- Specialists and consultants such as radiologists, pathologists, and anesthesiologists who missed critical findings
- Pharmacies that dispensed incorrect medications or dosages
- Nursing homes and long-term care facilities where medical neglect led to preventable injury or death
Hospitals in Philadelphia can be held directly liable for institutional failures, not just for the mistakes of individual employees. Understaffing, inadequate training, and systemic safety breakdowns are the responsibility of the facility itself.
The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority tracks safety events and publishes data that can support claims against institutions with documented patterns of failure.
What Is Pennsylvania's Certificate of Merit Requirement for Medical Malpractice Claims?
Pennsylvania requires a Certificate of Merit (COM) in every medical malpractice lawsuit. Your attorney must file this document within 60 days of the initial complaint. It certifies that a qualified licensed medical professional has reviewed your case and concluded that a reasonable probability of negligence exists.
The COM is a procedural requirement, not proof of malpractice. But failing to file it on time can result in your case being dismissed before it is ever heard.
This is one of the reasons medical malpractice cases demand experienced legal representation from day one. Our Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys work with qualified medical experts to secure the COM and build a case that meets every procedural requirement Pennsylvania imposes.
What Compensation Can You Recover in a Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Claim?
A successful medical malpractice claim in Pennsylvania can recover compensation for the full scope of harm caused by the provider's negligence.
| Economic Damages | Non-Economic Damages |
|---|---|
| Past and future medical bills | Physical pain and suffering |
| Surgery, rehabilitation, and therapy costs | Emotional distress and mental anguish |
| Lost wages and missed work | Loss of enjoyment of daily life |
| Reduced future earning capacity | Disability and loss of independence |
| Cost of in-home care or assistive devices | Loss of companionship (in wrongful death claims) |
Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases. That means there is no artificial limit on the economic or non-economic compensation your family can recover.
Punitive damages are available when the provider's conduct was reckless or outrageous. Pennsylvania caps punitive damages at twice the amount of compensatory damages awarded. A portion of any punitive award goes to the state's Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund (MCARE).
How Long Do You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania's statute of limitations gives you two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. The clock starts on the date you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury and its connection to the provider's negligence. This is called the discovery rule, and it matters in malpractice cases because harm from a medical error is not always immediately obvious.
For children, the deadline is extended. A minor has until their 20th birthday to file a claim, regardless of when the malpractice occurred.
If a patient dies as a result of malpractice, the family has two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death action.
How Our Philadelphia Medical Malpractice Attorneys Build Your Case
Medical malpractice claims are among the most evidence-intensive cases in personal injury law. Your attorney needs to prove that a trained healthcare provider made a mistake that a competent provider would not have made, and that the mistake caused real harm.
- Medical record review: Your complete hospital records, lab results, imaging, and physician notes are reviewed to identify where the failure to meet the standard of care occurred.
- Expert medical opinions: Qualified physicians in the same field evaluate your treatment and provide the testimony needed to support your claim and satisfy the Certificate of Merit requirement.
- Hospital staffing and safety records: Shift logs, staffing ratios, and internal incident reports from the Pennsylvania Department of Health can reveal systemic failures.
- Accreditation records: The Joint Commission inspects and accredits hospitals nationwide, and deficiency reports can support claims against facilities with documented safety issues.
- Damage documentation: Medical bills, employment records, treatment projections, and life care plans quantify the financial and personal impact of the malpractice.
Medical malpractice cases require expert testimony and procedural requirements that many other personal injury cases do not. Not all personal injury law firms are equipped to handle these claims. The Rothenberg Law Firm has the experience to handle these challenging claims and the results to back it up.
Contact us at (800) 624-8888 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
Visit our Philadelphia office: 1420 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Ask the Rothenberg Law Firm LLP About Medical Malpractice in Philadelphia
Q: How do I know if what happened to me is actually medical malpractice?
A: Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider's treatment falls below the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes injury. A bad outcome alone is not necessarily malpractice. Our attorneys work with medical experts to evaluate whether the care you received met the standard of care a competent provider would have provided.
Q: Can I sue a hospital in Philadelphia, or just the individual doctor?
A: You may be able to sue both. Pennsylvania law allows claims against hospitals for the negligence of their employees and for institutional failures like understaffing, poor training, and inadequate safety protocols. We identify every liable party to maximize the compensation available for your claim.
Q: Does a medical malpractice case in Pennsylvania take a long time to resolve?
A: While your case’s timeline depends on several factors, medical malpractice cases are typically more complex and time-consuming than standard injury claims. The Certificate of Merit requirement, the need for expert witnesses, and the resources of hospital defense teams can all extend the timeline. Our goal is always to resolve your case as efficiently as possible without settling for less than its full and fair value.
Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Malpractice Claims in Pennsylvania
Q: Can I file a medical malpractice claim if a family member died because of a medical error?
A: Pennsylvania law allows certain surviving family members to file a wrongful death action and a survival action. The wrongful death claim covers the family's losses, and the survival action recovers compensation for the suffering the patient experienced before passing. The deadline is two years from the date of death.
What if my child was injured during birth at a Philadelphia hospital?
Birth injury claims are among the most serious medical malpractice cases. Errors during labor and delivery can cause cerebral palsy, brain damage, and other permanent conditions. Pennsylvania extends the filing deadline for minors until their 20th birthday, but early investigation preserves critical evidence.
Can I still file a claim if the medical error happened more than two years ago?
A: You may still have a valid claim if the injury was not immediately discoverable. Pennsylvania's discovery rule starts the two-year clock on the date you knew or should have known about the injury and its cause. A lawyer can evaluate whether the discovery rule applies to your situation.
How much does it cost to hire a Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney?
Our firm works on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing up front and nothing out of pocket. We only collect a fee if we recover compensation for you.
A Medical Provider's Mistake Changed Your Life. We Can Help Hold Them Accountable.
The healthcare provider who harmed you or your loved one has lawyers, insurers, and corporate resources protecting them. Our attorneys at the Rothenberg Law Firm LLP have spent over 50 years in Philadelphia taking on exactly that kind of fight, and winning. We are ready to do the same for your family.
Contact us at (800) 624-8888 or through our contact form for a free consultation.
Visit our Philadelphia office: 1420 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Your rights matter, and we are here to fight for them
The Rothenberg Law Firm Accident and Injury Lawyers - Philadelphia Office
1420 Walnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Ph: (215) 330-6551