Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania

No, Pennsylvania does not have a law that determines exactly what procedures are to be performed for the treatment of a patient. In medical malpractice cases, a doctor must act in a manner that is consistent with a reasonably prudent doctor in treating a patient. This means that a doctor must perform tests that are reasonable to diagnose the symptoms that have been presented to the doctor, then provide medical treatment in a competent manner.

The term trauma patient can be connected to a number of different patients. So, it would likely not be appropriate to hold a doctor liable for not performing an x-ray of the whole body of a gun shot victim suffering from a single gun shot.