Patients trust healthcare professionals with their well-being, but mistakes that fall below accepted medical standards can cause serious harm and long-term consequences. For those wondering what is medical malpractice?, the answer lies in whether negligence by a doctor, nurse, or hospital directly led to an injury that could have been prevented with proper care.
At the Law Office Of Cohen & Jaffe – Long Island Personal Injury Lawyers, we guide New Yorkers through this complex area of law with clarity, compassion, and a focus on protecting their rights.
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What Medical Malpractice Means in New York
According to the New York City Bar, medical malpractice refers to situations where a healthcare provider’s actions, or failure to act, fall short of the accepted standards of care and cause harm to the patient. Put simply, it describes circumstances in which a medical professional’s negligence or deviation from accepted standards leads to an injury that otherwise could have been avoided. Under New York law, both the patient’s injury and the provider’s conduct must be proven carefully before a malpractice case can move forward.
Building a claim often involves a detailed review of medical records, analysis of professional guidelines, and testimony from qualified experts who can explain why the care was inadequate. This process helps courts and juries distinguish between preventable mistakes and negative outcomes that happened despite appropriate treatment.
Key Elements of Medical Negligence
Courts in New York require several elements to be present before a malpractice case can move forward. Each piece must connect to the next, creating a full picture of negligence:
- Duty of Care: A healthcare provider must have been responsible for treating the patient.
- Breach of Duty: The provider failed to uphold the accepted medical standard of care, meaning the skill and caution that a reasonably careful provider would use in the same situation.
- Causation: The provider’s negligence must be directly linked to the patient’s injury.
- Damages: The patient must have experienced real harm, such as physical pain, emotional suffering, added medical costs, or lost income.
One practical way to explain what is medical malpractice within this framework is to reduce it to four guiding questions. Did a provider agree to treat the patient, did the care fall below accepted standards, did that shortfall cause the harm, and did measurable losses follow? When the answer is yes to all four, supported by credible evidence, a valid malpractice claim may move forward.
“I had an understanding that everyday people had accidents through no fault of their own,” he recalls. “I think that’s what pushed me into becoming a lawyer.”
Stephen M. Cohen
Types of Medical Negligence
The types of medical negligence usually refer to concrete situations that may amount to malpractice. In New York, these cases generally fall into several categories recognized by the courts as possible grounds for a claim.
- Diagnostic errors are among the most common. They include failing to recognize a serious illness, delaying a diagnosis until the disease has progressed, or confusing one condition for another.
- Surgical mistakes are another major category. Leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, operating on the wrong body part, or causing avoidable internal damage are all examples of negligence that can lead to lasting injury.
- Medication errors occur when the wrong drug or the wrong dosage is given. Sometimes the prescription itself is incorrect, while in other cases the pharmacy or hospital staff fail to administer it safely.
- Lack of informed consent also falls under medical negligence. Patients have a right to be told about the known risks of a procedure or treatment so they can make an informed choice.
- Improper or inappropriate treatment can also form the basis of a claim. This happens when a provider offers care that does not match the patient’s actual condition, leading to complications or worsening health.
What is medical malpractice in real-world terms? It may involve a missed stroke in the emergency room, a surgical sponge left inside a patient, or a prescription error that delivers a dangerous overdose. Other examples include failing to order a necessary test, charting mistakes that cause the wrong treatment, or ignoring critical lab results.
It is important to understand that not every medical mistake will qualify as malpractice. For a case to be valid, all four elements of negligence, duty, breach, causation, and damages must be shown.
Contact a Long Island Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
Dealing with a medical injury can feel overwhelming, and many people want clear answers about what is medical malpractice? The Law Office Of Cohen & Jaffe – Long Island Personal Injury Lawyers works with individuals and families across Long Island to explain rights and outline available legal options. Contact us today at 516-358-6900 for a free consultation.