Most Common Medical Malpractice Claims

When a patient seeks out medical care, they trust doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to act with skill and professionalism. Unfortunately, medical mistakes happen far more often than many people realize. While some medical errors cause temporary, minor harm, others can lead to permanent injury, disability, or even death.

In New York, medical malpractice claims are among the most complex types of personal injury cases.  While medical malpractice can happen in many different ways, some of the most common claims involve misdiagnosis, surgical errors, birth injuries, medication errors, and failure to treat. If you have suffered a preventable injury due to medical negligence, our New York medical malpractice attorneys will fight to get you the money that you deserve for your injuries.

At the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, we offer high-quality legal representation for individuals and families who have been harmed by medical malpractice. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will never pay a fee unless we recover money for you. Reach out to our law firm today to schedule a free consultation with a member of our legal team.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

In New York, medical malpractice happens when a healthcare provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes injury or harm to a patient. The standard of care refers to the level of care that a reasonably competent medical professional would provide under similar circumstances.

To win a New York medical malpractice claim, the injured patient must prove the following:

1. A doctor-patient (or provider-patient) relationship existed.
2. The medical professional failed to meet the accepted standard of care.
3. That failure caused injury or death to the patient.
4. The injury resulted in damages, such as medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering.

Importantly, the accepted standard of care for a medical professional is related to the specific profession or specialty of the provider. In other words, what would medical professionals with similar education and training do in a similar situation? For example, a primary care physician would be held to the standard for other primary care physicians, not the standard for a cardiologist.

Not every poor medical outcome qualifies as malpractice under New York law. However, if a physician or other medical professional fails to meet the standard of care and someone is hurt as a result, then they can be held liable for whatever injuries they cause. 

Medical malpractice cases in New York are more complex than other types of personal injury cases. To file a lawsuit, you must have a certificate of merit, which is a document signed by a medical expert. This certificate must confirm that there is a reasonable basis for the lawsuit and that the medical provider failed to meet the standard of care, resulting in an injury to the patient.

There is also a strict statute of limitations for filing medical malpractice claims. Generally, you must bring a claim within 2-and-a-half years of being injured. The clock starts to run on this time limit when the malpractice occurred.  In cases involving foreign objects left in a person’s body or failure to diagnose cancer, the clock starts to run when the patient either knew or reasonably should have discovered the issue.

If you have been injured by a doctor or other medical professional, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. Our New York medical malpractice attorneys will work hard to get you the money that you deserve.

Common New York Medical Malpractice Claims

There are many different types of medical malpractice claims. Anytime that someone receives medical care, it is possible that their healthcare provider will deviate from the standard of care in some way, causing injury or death. However, some types of medical malpractice are more common than others. Below, we break down some of the types of medical malpractice claims we see most frequently. 

Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis

A misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose, happens when a doctor or other medical professional fails to correctly identify a medical condition. Alternatively, the medical provider may take too long to diagnose a medical problem, allowing it to worsen (known as a delayed diagnosis).

There are many different examples of misdiagnosis, such as:

• Failure to diagnose cancer
• Misdiagnosis of organ damage or internal bleeding
• Delayed diagnosis of infection or sepsis
• Misdiagnosis of a heart attack or stroke

In many cases, an early or on-time diagnosis would have significantly improved the patient’s outcome. Perhaps the best example of this is a missed or delayed diagnosis of cancer. If a doctor misses a cancer diagnosis, the cancer may metastasize and ultimately require much more intensive treatment. 

When a correct diagnosis is delayed, treatment is often less effective or may not be possible. In some cases, a misdiagnosis can even lead to death. This makes misdiagnosis one of the more serious types of medical malpractice. 

Misdiagnosis may occur for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Failure to order appropriate tests
• Ignoring patient symptoms
• Misreading test results
• Poor communication between providers
• Rushing appointments

An expert can offer their opinion to show that a competent medical doctor would have diagnosed the condition earlier. This is required and critical proof to win a misdiagnosis medical malpractice case.

Surgical Errors

Surgical errors are another leading category of New York medical malpractice claims. Although surgery always carries some degree of risk, many surgical errors are entirely preventable. If a surgeon is negligent in causing an injury during an operation, it is considered medical malpractice.

Common categories of surgical errors include:

• Operating on the wrong body part
• Leaving foreign objects inside the patient
• Performing the wrong procedure
• Post-surgical infections 
• Damaging nerves
• Failing to control bleeding

In particular, wrong-site and wrong-procedure surgeries are considered “never events.” This means that it should never happen when proper protocols are followed. These mistakes can often stem from improper charting, failure to follow surgical safety checklists, or improper charting.

Any type of surgical error can seriously harm or even kill a patient. In these situations, the patient and/or their loved ones may decide to pursue a medical malpractice claim.

Medication Errors

A medication error can occur when a healthcare professional prescribes, dispenses, or administers medication. The wrong type of medication, the wrong dose, or the wrong method of administration can all injure or even kill a patient.

Common medication errors include:

• Prescribing the wrong medication
• Failure to account for drug interactions
• Prescribing, dispensing, or administering an incorrect dosage
• Administering medication to the wrong patient
• Failure to monitor for adverse reactions.

Vulnerable populations, such as people with disabilities, children, and older people, are particularly vulnerable to medication errors. Any type of medication-related mistake can cause severe side effects, allergic reactions, organ damage, or even fatal overdoses. A skilled New York medical malpractice lawyer can help you understand your rights when it comes to a medication error claim.  

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are fortunately relatively rare when compared to the number of healthy births that occur in the United States each year. However, birth injuries are still a common type of medical malpractice claim. They involve injuries to a baby or mother that are caused by negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery.

There are many different types of birth injuries. Most commonly, lawsuits are brought for birth injuries such as:

• Cerebral palsy
• Brain damage due to oxygen deprivation
• Brachial plexus injuries (Erb’s palsy)
• Fractures or nerve damage
• Injuries to the mother during labor and delivery

Birth injuries have many different possible causes, such as failure to properly monitor the fetus during labor and delivery for signs of distress. Improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction and delays in performing an emergency cesarean section can also cause birth injuries. Improper neonatal care, such as managing maternal infections and medical conditions, can also cause birth injuries.

A birth injury can result in permanent disability, with the child needing lifelong medical care, therapy, and other types of specialized care. Because of this long-term impact, it is especially important to work with a seasoned New York birth injury attorney to handle your case.

Failure to Treat

Even when a condition is properly diagnosed, medical malpractice may still occur if a medical provider fails to treat it appropriately or follow up as required. Examples of failure to treat include:

• Failure to refer a patient to a specialist
• Discharging a patient too soon
• Failure to schedule follow-up appointments
• Overlooking abnormal test results

Any of these failures can allow a health problem to worsen unnecessarily. This can cause serious injury or even death.

For example, a primary care doctor orders routine blood tests as a part of a patient’s annual physical. The results show that the patient has high cholesterol. Despite making a diagnosis of high cholesterol, the doctor does not counsel the patient on their options for reducing their risk, refer them to a specialist, or otherwise address the condition. The patient doesn’t do anything to reduce their risk and has a heart attack. In this situation, the patient and/or their family might have a claim for failure to treat. 

Help for Victims of Medical Malpractice in New York 

Whether you were injured by a common or rare type of medical malpractice, you deserve compensation for any injuries that you suffered. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are responsible for meeting the standard of care for their profession. If they fail to do so and you are hurt, you can pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan represents clients throughout the state of New York in a range of medical malpractice claims, including birth injuries, medication errors, and failure to diagnose. We offer free initial consultations and handle all cases on a contingency fee basis.  To learn more, call us at 914-220-1086 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a New York medical malpractice attorney.