Malpractice is a challenging form of personal injury due to the medical expertise involved. Even though you may clearly be hurting from your doctor’s actions, proving negligence requires understanding complex procedures and malpractice laws.
If you’re hurting in Babylon, leave the legal and medical jargon to a medical malpractice lawyer from our team. We compile evidence, translate technical terms, and utilize experts. You focus on healing.
Compensation Available in Med Mal Cases
When you are injured by anyone, whether it’s a doctor in the operating room or a drunk driver on the road, your injury claim or lawsuit seeks recompense in the form of monetary compensation, sometimes called damages. When we seek damages for your case, we want to find an amount that reflects the struggles you’ve suffered. That could include:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning ability
Many of these are non-economic damages — they compensate you for something that is not easily put into numbers, such as pain or the loss of spousal intimacy. Others are economic compensation, like providing wages you would have earned if you hadn’t been hurt.
The amount of your non-economic damages will vary. For instance, New York does not limit pain and suffering damages, so we can pursue an amount that reflects the level of physical and emotional trauma you sustained. Likewise, your economic damages will depend on what you would have earned and what you already paid for your treatment.
Compensation for Your Medical Expenses
In a medical malpractice case, you not only must recover from a malpractice-related injury, but you may still require treatment for an unaddressed ailment. For instance, if your doctor misdiagnosed you, you can pursue damages for both the money you paid to treat the wrong ailment and for costs to receive the correct treatment.
Depending on your situation, you could be reimbursed for:
- Hospital bills
- Doctor visits
- Diagnostic testing
- Prescription medication
- Corrective surgery
- Physical therapy
- Counseling
In some cases, returning to health after malpractice requires unique medical intervention or procedures to right the wrong. Because your damages are personalized, you can receive compensation for:
- Cosmetic surgery
- Prosthetics
- Walking aids
- Aggressive treatments or therapies
- Occupational therapy
- Job training
- Lifelong complications
Gathering Evidence to Help You Pursue a Stronger Case
The specialized information required to pursue medical malpractice is not the only hurdle. Many people lack awareness of the prevalence of medical errors. Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that medical mistakes are the U.S.’s third leading cause of death, but errors often don’t receive as much attention as other causes of death. Victims may not realize when they have a right to sue.
In building your suit, our medical malpractice lawyers gather evidence to show you suffered from negligence by a Babylon doctor. This involves proving that:
- You and the healthcare provider had a doctor/patient relationship.
- That relationship means the healthcare provider owed you a standard of care.
- The healthcare provider did not meet that standard of care.
- Their failure to uphold that standard caused your injury.
- Your injury entitles you to compensation from the healthcare provider.
For instance, if you were diagnosed with a life-threatening condition due to a doctor’s error in reading your test results, and then you underwent surgery to treat this condition, your situation entitles you to damages. The doctor owed you a duty of care, their misreading of your test did not meet that duty, and the unnecessary surgery injured you.
Demonstrating Negligence
Part of our job in supporting your case is connecting the dots between these points with evidence, such as:
- Photos and CCTV video
- Testimony from nurses and staff
- Medical records and imaging tests
- Research into past malpractice
- Exploration of additional negligent parties
- Second opinions or specialist consultations
You don’t need to compile this information on your own. We invest the time and energy to research and investigate your case so that you can invest in your recovery.
Using Expert Analysis to Validate Your Story
Some cases are more straightforward than others. Amputating the wrong limb, for instance, is an example of a medical “never” event, which the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) defines as medical errors that are unambiguous, serious, and usually preventable.
However, many cases are less straightforward. You know what you experienced and how you were hurt, but a doctor or other staff member may claim what happened to you was a known risk or not preventable. This is where experts become our secret weapon.
Expert witnesses provide evidence to insurance companies and juries by explaining things in layman’s terms. For example, they could offer insight into:
- Complex procedures
- Standard protocol
- Physiology and chemistry
- Drug metabolization
- Underlying health conditions
- Diagnostic techniques
In other words, they can help emphasize where your doctor went wrong, showcasing that your physician deviated from what another doctor in similar circumstances would have done.
We can help You Comply with Deadlines and Paperwork
New York requires you to file an official document called a certificate of merit when you file for medical malpractice. This document includes testimony from an attorney and a qualified doctor that you have grounds for your suit. We can help fill out this paperwork as well as connect you to a reputable doctor who can evaluate your case and agree it has merit.
In addition to this paperwork, be mindful of how long you have to file your malpractice suit. You have two and a half years from the date of the injury or the discovery of the injury, per CVP §214-A.
Get Answers Now for Free from one of our Skilled Attorneys
If a Babylon doctor, nurse, or other healthcare staff injured you, one of our medical malpractice lawyers can support you as you pursue damages.
Call the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP today to learn if you qualify for compensation. The consultation is free, and we have a no-fee promise — we only receive payment when you do.
For a free legal consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer serving Babylon, call 516-358-6900
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information and may not be applicable in your jurisdiction.
