If a medical professional fails to adhere to established and accepted standards of care when treating a patient, and that failure leads to injury or death, the victim may be entitled to compensation under New York law. It is possible that more than one party could be liable in a malpractice case, and a Medical malpractice lawyer can help victims determine which parties to sue. Physicians are generally expected to carry malpractice insurance, and they are usually required to do so in order to obtain hospital privileges or employment with a group practice.
In the United States, there are a large number of lawsuits alleging malpractice by physicians. This has led to a substantial amount of litigation-related costs and has impacted the medical profession in many ways, including altering the behavior of physicians in the face of threatened litigation. Attempts at tort reform have been made at both the state and federal levels.
Malpractice claims can be incredibly complex and require a great deal of specialized knowledge in the fields of medicine, law, and the healthcare industry. Plaintiff’s attorneys are generally paid a contingency fee, which is a percentage of the client’s recovery. This arrangement encourages attorneys to take on cases that have a high probability of financial reward, but it can also result in fewer meritorious suits being filed.
To prove that a doctor committed malpractice, an attorney for the injured patient must establish the following elements:
1. A physician-patient relationship existed.
Patients have the right to expect that their doctors will adhere to certain medical standards of care. If a patient is injured because a physician did not follow those standards, then the patient may have grounds to file a malpractice claim.
2. The doctor breached his or her duty of care.
In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the injured patient must show that the physician owed a duty of care to the patient and that this duty was breached. This element of the case is typically based on expert witness testimony. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can gather and hire the appropriate experts to testify on behalf of the patient.
3. The breach of the duty of care caused actual injury to the patient.
A successful medical malpractice lawsuit will result in a financial award that compensates the injured patient for their losses. The award may include support for the future cost of medical treatment, lost income, loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and more. In addition to compensatory damages, the jury might choose to award punitive damages in some cases to send a message to the defendant that his or her actions were morally wrong.
If you believe that you or a loved one was the victim of medical malpractice, contact a Medical malpractice lawyer at Dalli & Marino. Our team of highly qualified New York attorneys has won countless cases for our clients, including a $2.75 million verdict for a man who suffered from advanced prostate cancer due to a delayed diagnosis, and a $1,300,000 settlement for a woman who developed sepsis and permanent disfigurement because of a missed or incorrect diagnosis. We serve clients in New York City, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk (Long Island), and Westchester County.