Philadelphia Surgical Malpractice Lawyers

For more than two decades, Ross Feller Casey has represented patients and families devastated by preventable surgical errors and other serious medical negligence throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The firm has recovered nearly $3.5 billion for its clients and achieved numerous record-setting medical malpractice verdicts and settlements involving catastrophic injuries and wrongful death.

Every surgical procedure requires patients to place extraordinary trust in their healthcare providers. Whether undergoing a routine operation or a complex procedure, patients depend on surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and hospitals to follow established safety protocols and provide competent medical care. When preventable mistakes occur before, during, or after surgery, the consequences can be life-changing.

Surgical malpractice can leave patients facing additional surgeries, permanent disabilities, severe infections, organ damage, nerve injuries, prolonged recovery, or even death. While some complications are unavoidable risks of surgery, others occur because medical providers failed to meet accepted standards of care.

At Ross Feller Casey, our attorneys represent victims of surgical malpractice throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Working alongside our on-staff team of physicians, we have the resources and experience necessary to investigate complex surgical negligence claims involving some of the region's largest hospitals, healthcare systems, and surgical centers.

Among the firm's many successful medical malpractice recoveries are several major verdicts and settlements involving surgical negligence and surgical errors, including:

• $25 million verdict for the wrongful death of a patient caused by surgical negligence.

• $23.9 million verdict for a man who suffered catastrophic injuries following a botched spinal surgery, one of the largest published medical malpractice awards in York County history.

• $15 million recovery for a boy who suffered a severe brain injury during surgery to treat a cancerous brain tumor after preventable surgical errors.

• $6 million recovery for the family of a girl who died as a result of medical negligence following a routine tonsillectomy procedure.

These results reflect Ross Feller Casey's commitment to holding surgeons, hospitals, and healthcare systems accountable when preventable surgical errors cause catastrophic injuries or wrongful death.

What Is Considered Surgical Malpractice?

Not every surgical complication qualifies as medical malpractice. A surgical malpractice case arises when a medical provider's actions fall below accepted medical standards of care and directly cause injury to a patient. Surgical malpractice can occur before, during, or after an operation. Examples of serious surgical negligence include:

• Wrong-site surgeries. Although rare, operating on the wrong body part or performing the wrong procedure is considered a serious and often preventable medical error.
• Retained surgical objects. Surgical sponges, clamps, needles, and other instruments should never be left inside a patient. These errors often require additional surgery and can cause infections, internal damage, and long-term complications.
• Anesthesia errors. Mistakes involving anesthesia may cause brain injuries, cardiac arrest, oxygen deprivation, stroke, or death.
• Failure to recognize post-operative complications. Patients may develop internal bleeding, blood clots, infections, sepsis, or other dangerous conditions after surgery. Delays in diagnosis and treatment can dramatically worsen outcomes.
• Nerve and organ injuries. While some surgical risks are unavoidable, unnecessary damage to healthy organs, blood vessels, or nerves may indicate negligence.

Pennsylvania is home to some of the nation's most respected hospitals and surgical centers, including major academic medical institutions throughout Philadelphia. While these facilities perform countless successful procedures every year, the complexity of today's healthcare systems means that communication failures, staffing issues, and preventable mistakes can still occur.

Determining whether a poor outcome resulted from negligence often requires extensive review by qualified medical experts. Our surgical malpractice attorneys work closely with physician consultants to identify potential violations of the standard of care.

Why Do Surgical Errors Happen At Major Philadelphia Hospitals?

Many people assume that surgical mistakes occur only at small or under-resourced hospitals. In reality, errors can happen at any healthcare facility.

Philadelphia's major hospitals perform thousands of surgeries each year, ranging from routine procedures to complicated, lengthy operations. The sheer volume of patients can create opportunities for mistakes when communication breaks down among surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, residents, fellows, and other healthcare professionals.

Teaching hospitals create unique challenges because multiple providers may be involved in a patient's care. While medical education is essential, hospitals must still ensure that all providers are properly supervised and that patient safety remains the top priority. Causes for surgical errors may include:

• Miscommunication among members of the surgical team
• Failure to properly review diagnostic imaging or test results
• Inadequate pre-operative planning
• Improper patient identification procedures
• Fatigue among medical professionals
• Poor post-operative monitoring
• Delayed recognition of complications

When preventable errors happen, patients and their families deserve answers about what occurred and whether those failures could have been avoided.

How Has Pennsylvania Law Changed For Surgical Malpractice Lawsuits?

Pennsylvania has experienced significant changes in medical malpractice litigation in recent years.

Historically, patients were generally required to file medical malpractice lawsuits in the county where the alleged negligence occurred. A Pennsylvania Supreme Court rule change expanded venue options, allowing many medical malpractice lawsuits to be filed in counties in which healthcare systems regularly conduct business.

This development is particularly important for patients treated by large healthcare networks operating throughout the Philadelphia region and across Pennsylvania.

Healthcare systems frequently own hospitals, outpatient surgical centers, physician practices, and specialty facilities in multiple counties. As a result, venue selection may be more flexible than many patients realize.

Choosing where to file a surgical malpractice lawsuit can have important strategic implications. An experienced surgical malpractice lawyer can evaluate all available options and determine the best approach based on the specific facts of the case.

When Should I Contact A Surgical Malpractice Attorney?

Many victims of surgical negligence are uncertain whether they have a valid claim. They know something went wrong, but have been told that complications are simply part of surgery.

The truth is that only a thorough investigation can determine whether a preventable error occurred.

If you experienced unexpected complications after surgery, required additional corrective procedures, suffered a severe infection, developed unexplained injuries, or lost a loved one following a surgical procedure, you should seek legal guidance as soon as possible.

At Ross Feller Casey, our surgical malpractice lawyers work alongside experienced physicians to review medical records, consult qualified experts, and determine whether negligence played a role in your injuries.

If you suspect that a surgeon, anesthesiologist, hospital, or healthcare system failed to provide appropriate care, contact Ross Feller Casey for a free consultation. We handle surgical malpractice lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation on your behalf.