Pittsburgh Wrongful Death Law Blog

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, medical professionals are expected to provide their utmost effort in caring for the community's health. Residents place their trust in these professionals to handle their loved one's medical conditions. People often go to medical facilities for consultations and treatment in order to get well. However, there are growing incidents of patients who have sustained injuries due to inappropriate treatment by medical practitioners. This disregard for the patient's welfare is commonly known as medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice has three elements and one of them is negligence. Negligence in health care means committing an error in the manner of care provided to the patient. It may include the treatment that the medical practitioner did or did not administer in a given situation. It may also mean that the practitioner did not provide the correct medicine or amount that is appropriate for the patient in a given circumstance. Overall, negligence encompasses carelessness in providing treatments, medications and surgeries that may endanger the patient's life.

Vehicular accidents are indiscriminate and may strike innocent victims regardless of who they are. The roadways of Pittsburgh may sometimes be unforgiving to motorists as car accidents can happen all too often. These accidents may victimize motorists and result in catastrophic injuries.

A local police officer responding to assist undercover detectives was injured when her vehicle was involved with a collision at the intersection of Meadow Street and Lincoln Avenue. The woman who was driving the other vehicle and her son were also injured in the crash. The officer was reported to be responding to a call from a crowd gathered around the undercover detectives during an investigation.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, health care providers play an important role in the community. People turn to their doctors when they have illnesses or for preventive medical examinations. People trust the medical professionals with their lives, especially if they are going to undergo surgery. There's no room for error when surgeons perform surgeries because a single error can result in dire consequences, including injuries and fatalities.

Surgical error is one form of medical malpractice. A contributing factor to surgical error, according to a recent study, is distractions. Noisy equipment, surgeons working with background music and colleagues talking to each other are common occurrences inside operating rooms. Some surgeons may even use their personal communication devices during surgical procedures.

Work-related deaths are a major concern for all workers across the country, including in Pennsylvania. Fatal accidents within the workplace could be a result of failure to maintain property where risk of injury is high. In some cases, workers acquire different illnesses, depending on their line of work, which may result in fatalities.

The AFL-CIO has recently released data pertaining to work-related deaths in the country. In 2011, an estimated 150 people succumbed to injuries and work-related illnesses per day, 137 of those died from workplace illnesses and 13 from workplace injuries. Work-related deaths decreased after the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 took effect; however, experts believe that efforts to improve workplace safety remained steady for years.