Pittsburgh Medical Malpractice Law Blog

In diagnosing disease, physicians increasingly rely upon pathologists, medical doctors who specialize in the study of changes in cells, tissue and organs. A specimen taken from a patient, generally by biopsy, will be submitted to a laboratory for microscopic examination by a pathologist, who is asked to offer an opinion whether a disease, often cancer, may or may not be present. Treatment decisions are often made exclusively on the opinion of a pathologist. Pathology errors can constitute medical malpractice that lead to devastating patient injuries.

While the concept of medical malpractice normally connotes mistakes made by highly-trained medical professionals, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recently made clear that the failure to properly perform a normal, every day activity such as bathing a patient can be medical malpractice. In Strine v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a four-member majority of the court has ruled that the act of bathing a totally-dependent-elderly patient is a medical service under Pennsylvania law, thus triggering insurance coverage from Pennsylvania’s former Medical Professional Catastrophe Loss Fund (CAT Fund).