What Factors Determine If I Have a Medical Malpractice Case in NY?

It is not always medical malpractice when something goes wrong during the surgery, childbirth, or another medical treatment and the patient is injured. For that reason, we usually cannot answer right away when a client asks, “Do I have a medical malpractice case?” The factual answer is, “It depends.”

Medical malpractice cases are complex. At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, we work with medical professionals to review a client’s medical records and weigh what happened against the legal standard of what a prudent doctor would reasonably have done in a similar situation. If the doctor in question failed to follow the recognized standard of care and caused an injury, then you may have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit.

Unfortunately, neither the doctor nor the hospital is likely to be forthcoming with you if you were harmed by a preventable medical error. You will need to enlist the help of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to stand up for you and hold them liable.

New York has a statute of limitations of two and a half years from the date of injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in most cases. Because of the time it takes to investigate a potential medical malpractice claim, we urge anyone with concerns about an unexplained adverse medical outcome to contact the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe’s medical malpractice lawyers as soon as possible for a free case review.

Malpractice Cases Can Be Difficult to Prove

Not all cases qualify as medical negligence. Therefore, it is necessary that we carefully review your medical history, applicable laws, and the circumstances that caused your injury or illness.

The evidence required to prove a malpractice case can be complex medically and legally, making it difficult to interpret. When we pursue compensation for our clients, it is our responsibility to gather the appropriate evidence, build a solid case, and present our findings in an understandable way to all involved parties.

Factors That Can Affect Your Medical Malpractice Case

At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, we work with medical professionals who can review your medical records and provide expert testimony supporting your case. If the doctor, hospital, or other health care professional failed to follow the accepted standard of care and caused harm, we can pursue compensation for the damages you suffered.

Along with the volume and complexity of the evidence required to prove a malpractice case, other issues can affect the legal process, for example: 

• It may take time for the harm you suffered to manifest, making it difficult to link the injury or illness to the health care provider responsible for your treatment.
• Disclosure of errors by the medical provider
• Determining whether a bad outcome was the result of an avoidable mistake or not
• Accurately assessing the financial extent of your injuries or illness, especially in cases involving complex long-term injuries
• The health care provider will likely have strong legal representation to defend against any medical malpractice claims brought against them.

Possible Types of Compensation Awarded in Medical Negligence Cases

Financial damages in malpractice cases are determined on a case-by-case basis. However, as a general guide, compensation may be awarded in lieu of:

• Lost wages and compensation if your ability to work is affected in the future
• Current and ongoing medical bills and rehabilitation costs
• Pain and suffering for the impact of the injury or illness and how it affects your life
• Disability or disfigurement
• Diminished quality of life
• The cost of any adaptations required in your home to accommodate your care needs
• Other related expenses

Our malpractice attorneys can review your case at no charge to determine if you have grounds to pursue the matter further. Where we can prove you suffered harm due to an avoidable medical error caused negligently, we will pursue your claim aggressively.

Requirements Necessary to File a Successful Medical Malpractice Claim

Medical malpractice is an error on the part of one or more health care providers – a physician, surgeon, nurse, technician, pharmacist, hospital, or others – whose performance falls short of the accepted standard of care and results in harm to a patient.

Pursuing a medical malpractice claim requires being able to demonstrate the following:

• A physician-patient relationship existed.You must be able to show that the medical professional you are accusing of malpractice was treating you as a patient. This is sometimes called establishing a “duty of care.” Medical records and/ or medical bills with the presiding physician’s name on them should suffice.
• The medical professional was negligent.All medical care carries a certain amount of risk. The facts must show that the medical provider was negligent – failed to do something that a reasonably skilled and careful doctor in the same situation would have done. In other words, you must prove that the doctor  did not provide the standard of medical care that the public has a right to expect.
• Medical negligence or error caused you harm. There must be a connection between the medical care provider’s negligence or error and the injury you suffered. In addition, your injury must be compensable or something that can be made better with a monetary payment. For example, if you required additional treatment and hospitalization, a monetary award could pay your additional medical bills and for your lost wages. If you suffered significant physical pain or mental anguish, New York medical malpractice law considers this to be a compensable injury.
• Your case merits damages. Your loss must be significant. Medical malpractice claims are extremely expensive to pursue. There must be a strong likelihood that a jury will award damages that will cover the tens of thousands of dollars required to pursue a claim, including attorneys’ fees, and provide money to you. Not all medical errors and health care provider negligence meets this test.

Examples of Medical Malpractice Cases

You may have the basis of a medical malpractice claim if medical error or neglect caused:

• Permanent injury, disability, or death
• Inability to work for a significant period of time
• Surgery to correct the error
• Surgery that was unnecessary
• Invasive or injurious treatment that might have been avoided

New York is considered a state in which a medical malpractice claim is most likely to be resolved in the injured party’s favor. There was $685.3 million in claims paid out in New York in 2018, according to the Buffalo Law Journal. While every medical malpractice case stands on its own, here are some examples of the results that Cohen & Jaffe has secured for our clients, showing our experience with these complex cases:

• $500,000 settlement for the parents of a baby who died from bacterial meningitis after treatment was delayed when a Bronx hospital initially failed to run bloodwork or other tests.
• Six-figure settlement for the family of a Brooklyn woman who died from a brain bleed after hospital doctors failed to spot the issue on a CT scan.

The most common causes of medical malpractice claims are:

• Surgical error, including wrong-site surgery, foreign objects left in the body, post-op infections
• Birth injury, including cerebral palsy and other brain damage from lack of oxygen, physical injury from a rough delivery
• Diagnostic error, including failure to diagnose or late diagnosis of heart attack, stroke, cancer, or infection
• Medication error, including injury from wrong medications or wrong dosages, adverse reactions, or pharmacy errors
• Hospital / institutional error, including hospital-acquired infection (HAI), fall injuries and other neglect, and/or failure to enforce protocols to prevent other errors or neglect
• Lack of informed consent, or the failure to disclose reasonably foreseeable risks of treatment or alternative treatments as a reasonable provider would have under similar circumstances to permit the patient to make a knowledgeable evaluation

How Can I File a Medical Malpractice Claim?

The doctor will have experienced lawyers employed by the medical malpractice liability insurer defending his or her reputation and interests. You will need an experienced personal injury attorney from a law firm with the resources to develop a strong medical malpractice claim.

Leave It to Our Lawyers to Handle Your NY Case

At the Law Offices of Cohen & Jaffe, we will meet with you at no charge to discuss your case. If we see merit in your complaint, we will obtain your medical records and have them reviewed by a medical professional. If the medical professional has concerns and questions about the treatment that you received, we will ask additional practitioners to review your files, such as a doctor, a surgeon, or a specialist.

If our medical professionals believe that you have a valid malpractice claim, we will pursue it aggressively on your behalf. We will press the medical care provider to settle for an amount that is appropriate and agreed to by you. 

An institution’s risk management officer will try to minimize the organization’s legal liability and may want to head off a potential lawsuit by making a settlement or forgiving your medical expenses. If a fair settlement cannot be made, we will file a lawsuit and be prepared to present a persuasive case in court.

Why Choose the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe?

You may want to consider hiring our firm because:

• Our goals are the same as yours. We have a genuine desire to help our clients to reclaim their lives after suffering from medical negligence.
• Our personal injury attorneys have more than a century of collective experience to bring to the table.
• We have secured millions of dollars for our clients in negotiation settlements and court verdicts.
• We will help you manage day-to-day issues such as finding doctors, managing administration, and handling communication with insurance adjusters or their legal representation.
• As a trained EMT, personal injury attorney Richard Jaffe has a true understanding of serious and traumatic injuries.

Talk to an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney in New York

You should contact the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe’s medical malpractice attorneys if you have concerns about questionable medical care that left you or your loved one dealing with unexpected complications. We can help get answers to questions. If your experience is a case of medical malpractice, we will aggressively press a claim for maximum compensation to you.

Call our experienced attorneys now or fill out our online contact form for a prompt response. We do not charge fees in medical malpractice cases unless we recover compensation for you. For a free legal consultation, call (516) 358-6900.

For a free legal consultation, call 516-358-6900