New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Here we look at medical malpractice, the types of medical negligence that take place, and how to proceed with medical malpractice litigation.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
According to the Medical Malpractice Center, in the United States there are between 15,000 and 19,000 medical malpractice suits filed against doctors every year.
Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other healthcare professional injures a patient due to a negligent act or omission. It involves a healthcare professional providing substandard treatment, either due to poor judgment or error, that causes harm, injury, or death to the patient.
Misdiagnosis and patient case are two of the most common forms of medical negligence. Consult a medical malpractice lawyer for your options to hold the medical practitioner and/or institution liable.
The Most Common Reasons Behind a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Medical malpractice claims are typically filed due to the following:
Misdiagnosis: A common medical error is failing to properly diagnose an illness. Heart attacks and cancer are the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions. Failure to diagnose potentially fatal diseases can have devastating consequences and result in catastrophic injuries. Failure to diagnose cancer is a typical example of misdiagnosis.
Surgical errors: Includes the surgical team leaving a foreign object (tools or sponges) inside the body during surgery, operating on the wrong side or site, or even operating on the wrong patient.
Failure to treat: An error occurs when a doctor correctly diagnoses a condition but fails to treat it according to the acceptable standard of care for that condition. Discharging a patient too soon, or failing to provide follow-up care, can worsen conditions and lead to injury.
Birth trauma: Many medical malpractice claims are filed against OBGYNs for medical errors during childbirth. Common birth injuries that medical errors could have caused include Erb’s palsy or other nerve damage, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, and cephalohematoma.
Prescription drug errors: Physicians make mistakes when prescribing the incorrect medication, dosing, and administering prescription drugs. Other drug errors include prescribing drugs that, when combined, can be harmful to the patient.
Proving Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice cases result in hundreds of thousands of injuries and deaths in New York City each year. To have a medical malpractice claim, the following factors should exist for a medical malpractice attorney to consider:
- Failure to provide a proper standard of care: The law requires healthcare professionals to follow specific standards or risk being accused of negligence.
- The injury is due to negligence: The patient must demonstrate that negligence caused the injury or harm and that it would not have occurred if the negligence had not occurred.
- The injury must have serious consequences: The patient must demonstrate that the injury or harm caused by medical negligence resulted in significant financial loss.
Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations
Each state differs in its statute of limitations to file a medical malpractice claim. New York law stipulates that claimants have 30 months to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the alleged negligent action or omission that caused the patient’s injury.
In cases where a foreign object was left inside the body and caused injury, the patient must file a medical malpractice claim within one year of the date the object was or should have been discovered, whichever comes first.
When a minor is injured due to medical malpractice, they have three years from their eighteenth birthday to file a medical malpractice claim; however, the negligent action or omission must have occurred within the previous ten years.
Discovery Rule
In some cases, a patient cannot reasonably discover or know that an injury has occurred until after a significant amount of time has passed. The New York statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice claim would not be considered expired in these cases.
Contact an Experienced Attorney in Medical Malpractice Cases
A knowledgeable medical malpractice lawyer will review your medical malpractice case to determine negligence on the part of healthcare providers, locate and review your medical records and the type of personal injuries you sustained as a result of the negligent medical treatment, and determine the kind of fair compensation to which you may be entitled. This can include medical expenses, ongoing treatment, loss of wages, and pain and suffering.
In a wrongful death claim, recovered damages for a patient’s loved ones may include loss of the deceased’s future income and financial support; loss of emotional support from the deceased; loss of companionship; the cost of medical care to treat the deceased’s malpractice-related injuries before death; and funeral costs.
Ronemus & Vilensky: New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Individuals impacted by medical malpractice in New York can rely on the attorneys at Ronemus & Vilensky to get compensated for their injuries. At the Ronemus & Vilensky law firm, our experienced New York City personal injury and malpractice attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in damages to cover financial losses such as the past and future medical bills, loss of earnings, pain, suffering, and more.
For example, we obtained a $5 million settlement for a client who suffered a stroke and was left unattended in the hospital. A scan showed he had a blood clot; however, the patient died after six months in a nursing home because of the delayed treatment. In another case, we obtained a $4.48 million settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a childbirth case.
View more of our New York medical malpractice cases. Please contact us for a free consultation to review your medical malpractice case. We can help you protect your legal rights and maximize compensation for medical negligence or malpractice claims.