Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania

I wanted to know if it is possible to still pursue a lawsuit when your family doctor "lost " your medical records. My daughter was recently diagnosed with Tardive Dyskinesia and the attorney had me request her records and I was told they lost them. Her doctor was supposed to monitor her while she was taking Risperdal and Prozac and obviously failed to do so. In researching this disorder, I found that Prozac increases the side effects of Risperdal but we were never informed of any of the side effects. The attorney declined to take her case due to her lost records. I find it so hard to believe that that would be all it took to be off the hook for negligence, I mean why pay such a high price for medical malpractice insurance when all you have to do is "lose" the medical records. If that were the case wouldn't all physicians lose their records. My daughter suffers daily from this horrible disorder and I find it disgusting that the people you trust with your medical care make you far worse off that before they treated you. Please let me know if there is anything that we can do.....Thank you so very much for your time


Asked on 9/20/10, 7:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arthur Newmark Arthur Newmark, M.D.. Esq

First, please accept my sympathies for everything you and your daughter going through.

Pennsylvania law recognizes the principle of spoliation of records, whereby, when there is a duty to retain records, the person who did not retain them should not be permitted to escape liability by �losing� records.

You should seek a second legal opinion as soon as possible, if you are considering legal action regarding this matter. I am a doctor and a lawyer and would be happy to speak to you about your situation.

One of the things you can do for yourself is to request records from the pharmacy which filled the prescriptions. Often, this can be accomplished I just going to the pharmacy with appropriate identification and making a request over the counter.

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Answered on 9/25/10, 5:04 pm


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