What Is the Difference Between Medical Malpractice and Negligence?

What Is Negligence?

Negligence occurs when someone fails to act with the level of care a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances, causing harm to another. This legal concept applies broadly to personal injury and civil cases where someone’s careless act—or failure to act—results in injury. In New York, negligence requires proof of four key elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. A person may be negligent through action (doing something carelessly) or omission (failing to do something required by a duty). 

What Is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence happens when a healthcare provider makes a preventable mistake or fails to act with the care expected of a competent medical professional, potentially putting a patient at risk. This may include a delayed diagnosis, surgical error, or medication mistake that falls below accepted medical standards. The focus here is on the error itself, not yet the legal consequences. In New York, these failures can form the basis of a malpractice claim if the patient can prove that the provider’s actions directly caused harm or injury.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient suffers harm because a healthcare provider’s negligence meets the legal definition of malpractice under New York law. It goes beyond a simple medical mistake—requiring proof that the provider owed a professional duty, breached that duty, caused injury, and produced measurable damages. 

Under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR 214-a), most malpractice claims must be filed within two years and six months of the negligent act or the end of continuous treatment. However, certain circumstances may extend or shorten these timelines. These cases typically rely on expert testimony to demonstrate how the provider’s conduct deviated from accepted medical practice.

Medical Malpractice Cases Can Be Harder to Prove as They Require Specific Information

Part of the reason why medical malpractice cases are harder to prove is that you must provide specific evidence and documentation that show malpractice took place. In short, you will need to:

• Submit your claim to a malpractice review panel to have these experts determine if malpractice took place
• Submit a special notice to the medical professional before filing your claim or lawsuit
• Get expert testimony from another medical professional to prove the liable party did not administer proper medical care.

Who Could Be Liable?

In medical malpractice cases, the following parties may be held liable if their actions or neglect led to a patient’s injury:

• A physician or practitioner, including surgeons
• A nurse or medical staff member
• A medical tech specialist
• A pharmacist
• The hospital or clinic where the malpractice took place, including the owners

Statute of Limitations

According to CVP § 214-A, you generally have two years and six months from the date of injury to file your medical malpractice lawsuit. You may receive an additional year to file if you discovered the injury past this window period.

Keep in mind that you must act quickly, as evidence can be time sensitive. If you do not file your case on time, it may be dismissed. This means you would not be able to recover compensation through litigation.

Cases Involving General Negligence Fall Under Personal Injury Law

If your case does not involve a medical professional, it may fall under personal injury law, which is less strict about the kind of evidence plaintiffs need to present. However, in some medical malpractice cases, we might find an additional liable party that is outside of the medical field but works with it. An example would be pharmaceutical drug manufacturers.

If your case involves being prescribed a dangerous drug that should have been recalled to avoid causing harm to patients, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit or work with other injured victims to file a mass tort.

Your Case Argument on Negligence

A personal injury lawyer from our team can help you build your case argument, which may vary based on the circumstances around how your injury happened. Still, most case arguments on negligence follow four general elements:

• The negligent party owed you a duty of care to keep you safe from harm.
• However, the negligent party breached their duty of care through their actions or inactions, whether they intended to cause you harm or not.
• Because of this breach, an accident or harmful consequence occurred.
• You were injured in the accident or as a result of the negligent party’s harm and suffered damages.

Statute of Limitations

According to CVP § 214, you generally have three years from the date of injury to file your personal injury lawsuit. Certain factors might make the statutory window period shorter, such as whether you are filing against a government entity, or longer, such as whether a minor is involved in your case.

Our team can review your case to determine how long you have to file, but the same urgency to act quickly remains the same for personal injury cases.

Legal Implications of Negligence vs. Malpractice

Negligence and malpractice share similar foundations but differ in their scope and the evidence required to prove them. Negligence is a broad legal term describing a person’s failure to act with reasonable care under the circumstances, such as a driver causing an accident or a property owner ignoring hazards. Malpractice, however, is a form of professional negligence that arises when a trained professional fails to meet the accepted standard of care within their field, resulting in harm. These claims require the same four elements as negligence but often demand expert testimony to establish that a professional duty was breached.

Contact a Long Island Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today

At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe – Long Island Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle both medical malpractice and personal injury cases. Our legal team understands the distinction between medical malpractice and negligence, allowing us to determine which area of law your case falls under after a free consultation.

Call 516-358-6900 to hire a medical malpractice or personal injury lawyer from our team. We serve various communities in New York, including New Hyde Park. We look forward to helping you begin your legal journey.