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Medical Malpractice

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New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer

New York City Medical Malpractice LawyerHave you suffered an injury due to medical error in New York City? Some medical mistakes happen when a provider’s acts fall short of the standard of care or violate the duty of care owed to patients. In these situations, injured patients may be entitled to compensation.

If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you could recover financial compensation for your losses. Our New York City medical malpractice lawyers at the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers, are ready to help you get the compensation you deserve. Call (212) 564-2800  or contact us online for a free consultation.

How Our New York City Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help Victims of Medical Negligence

Our experienced New York City personal injury lawyers are ready to get to work fighting for you to get the compensation you deserve. For over 5 years, we have been representing victims of medical negligence like you. We have recovered millions in compensation for our clients to put them on the road to financial and physical recovery.

We know you can choose from thousands of lawyers in New York, but when you trust our legal team to handle your case, here’s what you can expect us to:

  • Deliver personal, full-service representation throughout the life of your case
  • Obtain extensive documentation of your injuries and the financial losses you have incurred as a result of your injuries
  • Work with leading experts to evaluate your claim and establish that the medical professional who hurt you violated the standard of care and duty of care owed to patients
  • Vigorously negotiate with the insurance companies to maximize your recovery

We know that victims of medical malpractice can feel as if their trust and their body were both violated. You deserve a law office that will do everything in its power to get you the compensation you deserve.

It is always recommended that an injury victim establish an attorney-client relationship as soon as possible following an injury. Reach out to our law office today to get started with your free consultation.

Is Medical Malpractice Common in New York City?

Is Medical Malpractice Common in New York City?

The incidence of medical malpractice in New York City can be hard to pin down.  However, in 2016, a study by Johns Hopkins found that medical errors cause more than 250,000 deaths each year, making medical errors the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Each year from 2012 to 2018, New York saw an average of over 1,600 medical malpractice cases per year. Since many, if not most, medical malpractice incidents are unreported, the true incidence of medical malpractice in New York is likely much higher than this.

Overview of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can be harder to establish than other personal injury cases, such as car accidents or workplace accidents. At the Law Offices of Jay Knispel, LLC, our attorneys know what it takes to prove medical malpractice and successfully recover compensation on behalf of our clients.

To establish a medical malpractice claim, you must show:

  • The existence of a doctor-patient relationship
  • The medical professional breached the duty of care
  • The patient suffered an actual injury
  • The medical professional’s act is causally connected to the patient’s injury

It can be a challenge to prove all of the facts needed to support a medical malpractice claim. When you have such a challenging case, you need personal injury attorneys with the grit and determination required to meet the challenge.

What is the Doctor-Patient Relationship?

The existence of a doctor-patient relationship can be the easiest element to prove in a medical malpractice case. Doctors are not the only medical professionals subject to medical malpractice claims.

The following types of medical professionals also owe a duty of care:

  • Physician’s assistants
  • Pharmacists
  • Nurses
  • Anesthesiologists

Regardless of the type of medical professional who failed to act appropriately, the existence of a doctor-patient relationship must be proven. To establish the relationship, proper evidence must be introduced.

In What Ways Do Medical Providers Breach the Duty of Care?

Under the duty of care, medical professionals have to act in a way that protects their patients from unreasonable risk. How a medical professional must act depends on how a prudent medical professional would act in the same situation.

A surgeon, for example, must act the way that a careful surgeon would act in performing the same procedure. A careful surgeon would not implant a device known to be dangerous. In the event an implanted device is later determined to be dangerous, a patient may have a product liability claim rather than a medical malpractice claim.

How Can Medical Malpractice Happen?

Medical professionals can fall short of the prudent standard of care in many ways.

Here are a few of the most common:

Medication Error

Medical professionals are required to take between 30 and 40 distinct steps to administer a single medication. With each step, the risk for error increases.

Medication errors are some of the most common medical errors in hospital settings.

Medication errors include:

  • Prescribing or administering a wrong dosage
  • Failing to identify adverse drug interactions between medications
  • Storing drugs improperly
  • Failing to prescribe a specific medication known to improve a certain condition.

Medication errors can cause serious consequences to a patient or even cause their wrongful death. In order to meet the duty of care relating to medications, medical professionals must understand a patient’s medical history, allergies, and current medications.

Mistakes in Diagnoses

Diagnostic error is another common medical error. A diagnostic error occurs when there is a failure to timely and accurately determine the cause of a patient’s problem or a failure to communicate such a determination to the patient. This happens when a diagnosis is late, wrong, or missed entirely.

Patients most commonly report diagnostic errors, which usually fall into one of the following categories:

  • Delayed diagnosis
  • Missed diagnosis
  • Misdiagnosis

A delayed diagnosis, as its name suggests, should have been made sooner. A missed diagnosis describes a provider’s failure to ever come to a diagnosis.

Misdiagnosis, or the failure to make an accurate determination as to the cause of a patient’s problem, is often discovered when the correct diagnosis is later reached.

Lack of Informed Consent

Medical professionals bear the burden of obtaining a patient’s informed consent prior to treatment. What does this look like?

To get a patient’s informed consent, the medical provider has a duty to make sure a patient understands:

  • The nature of the treatment, usually explained through a description of the procedure or medication that will be administered
  • Any potential outcomes of the treatment, whether positive or negative, including risks
  • Any unintended impacts or consequences that might occur due to the treatment

If a medical provider fails to properly complete any step of the informed consent process, it can form the basis for a medical malpractice claim if an injury is sustained.

What is My Medical Malpractice Case Worth?

The value of a medical malpractice claim, like most personal injury claims, depends on several factors. Some factors that influence the value of a claim include:

  • The severity of the patient’s injuries
  • The certainty of the medical professional’s liability
  • Whether the case reaches a settlement or goes to trial and the costs of litigation

Here’s how each factor might influence the value of a case:

Severity of Injuries

The severity of injuries, including how many appointments needed to correct or improve the injuries caused by medical malpractice, whether specialty medical treatment is needed, and the likelihood of full recovery, can all increase the value of a claim. Injuries requiring long-term treatment, intensive care like surgery, and injuries that are permanently disabling or disfiguring can be some of the highest-value claims.

Birth injuries, and particularly brain injuries, caused by a medical provider’s negligence can also be high-value claims. Although no one wishes for severe injuries, those who suffer them can be reassured that they will be compensated for their pain and suffering.

Certainty of Liability

When the circumstances indicate that a medical provider is likely or very likely to be held responsible for an injury, higher-value settlements may be reached. Research shows that insurance companies are more likely to desire settlement when their internal review determines the provider breached the standard of care. If a medical professional’s liability is doubtful or unclear, the settlement offers may be lower in value or not extended at all.

Whether a Case Settles or Goes to Trial

If a case settles, the value of the settlement may be lower than what would have been awarded at trial. In some cases, jury verdicts for medical malpractice injures exceed $1 million.

If an insurance company determines that it will likely be held responsible for a claim, it is more likely to consider the costs of litigation in making settlement offers. The Law Offices of Jay Knispel, LLC, has the financial security to take on the insurance companies if needed.

How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Case in New York?

A person typically has two years and six months from the date of a malpractice incident to file a lawsuit under New York’s statute of limitations. For wrongful death claims, claimants have only two (2) years to file suit. There are exceptions and nuances that may make your deadline longer or shorter than the general statute of limitations. Therefore, you should always consult a lawyer for help calculating your deadline to file a claim.

Reach Out to Our New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today

If you have suffered an injury at the hands of a careless medical professional, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Our attorneys at the Law Offices of Jay Knispel, LLC, are ready and waiting to extend you a free consultation and get started on your case. Reach out to our New York City medical malpractice attorneys today.


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(212) 564-2800
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450 7th Ave Suite 1605
New York, NY 10123
(212) 564 2800

Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury-New York City Office

 

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26 Court St., Suite 2511
Brooklyn, NY 11242
(718) 802-1600

Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury - Brooklyn Office

 

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