Pediatric spinal meningitis is a treatable condition but it requires fast action and a quick diagnosis from their pediatric medical care provider. If your child’s pediatrician misdiagnoses the condition, it can lead to serious and long-term health consequences and complications. Though misdiagnosis can happen, parents and families caring for children with spinal meningitis may be able to hold the medical care team accountable for their actions. Here’s what your Pennsylvania pediatric malpractice meningitis attorney wants you to know.
You May Be Able to Bring a Pediatric Medical Malpractice Suit
Under Pennsylvania law, failure to correctly diagnose your child’s condition may qualify as a form of medical malpractice. This means you may be able to sue them to hold them accountable for their actions with help from a Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney.
However, for the misdiagnosis to qualify for a malpractice suit, you must be able to show that the misdiagnosis resulted in an injury to your child. With spinal meningitis, this may include the following:
- Brain damage
- Seizures
- Kidney damage
- Hearing loss
These conditions can be preventable with quick and proper treatment, and failure to accurately diagnose spinal meningitis puts your child at an increased risk of developing these complications.
When You Can File a Lawsuit
It is a good idea to seek legal advice as soon as you think your child experienced a misdiagnosis.This is especially true since statutes of limitations might bar a suit from being filed.
In Pennsylvania the child generally has until their 20th birthday to file a lawsuit. The child’s parents generally have two years from the date of their child’s injury to file a lawsuit for damages they sustained as a result of their child’s injury
Damages You May Pursue
If you choose to sue your child’s doctor for misdiagnosing their spinal meningitis, you may be able to pursue several types of damages. The exact damages you’ll want to sue for will depend on your situation and the types of care your child will need. However, many families choose to pursue the following:
- Economic damages: These damages include past and future medical costs, home modifications, and other similar expenses that are quantifiable and easy to measure related to your child’s care and recovery.
- Non-economic damages: These damages include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other non-quantifiable expenses.
Your medical malpractice attorney can help you decide which types of damages to pursue and how much you may be entitled to when they review the details of your case.
How to Prove Pediatric Medical Malpractice for Misdiagnosis
For your lawsuit to be successful, you’ll need to be able to prove that your child’s misdiagnosis qualifies as malpractice. Here are a few factors you’ll need to satisfy:
- Show a breach of the standard of care: For your lawsuit to be successful, you must be able to show that your child’s doctor breached the standard of care meaning they didn’t provide medical care to the degree expected by Pennsylvania law.
- The breach resulted in harm to your child: You must be able to show that the doctor’s misdiagnosis harmed your child. This may be done by getting a formal and correct diagnosis with another doctor and identifying symptoms and conditions resulting from the misdiagnosis.
- You must show measurable damages: You need to be able to prove to the court that the misdiagnosis resulted in measurable damages or costs like ongoing medical care, pain and suffering, or other similar damages.
Your attorney will help you compile the necessary evidence to strengthen your case.
Let Latona Law Help
If you believe your child’s pediatrician misdiagnosed their spinal meningitis and that misdiagnosis led to complications and additional suffering, don’t wait. Schedule a consultation with an experienced Pennsylvania pediatric malpractice meningitis attorney at Latona Law today.