White Plains, New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Sometimes, when you get medical treatment, you aren’t happy with the outcome. Not every disappointing medical outcome is considered malpractice. Medicine is complex, and even skilled healthcare professionals cannot guarantee successful treatment in every situation.

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, nurse, or another healthcare provider fails to provide treatment that meets the accepted standard of medical care. This failure must directly cause injury, illness, or death. 

To establish a successful medical malpractice claim in New York, the injured patient (plaintiff) has the burden of proving that the healthcare provider (defendant) was negligent in some way. This requires proof of the following elements:

• A doctor-patient or healthcare provider-patient relationship existed.
• The provider owed the plaintiff a duty to provide competent medical care.
• The provider breached the accepted standard of care.
• This violation caused the plaintiff’s injury.
• You suffered measurable damages as a result, such as medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, or disability.

Because these cases often involve highly technical medical issues, expert testimony is usually required. An expert will analyze the case to determine what competent medical care should have looked like under the circumstances and how the provider’s actions fell short.

What Is the Standard of Care?

The “standard of care” refers to the level of skill, knowledge, and treatment that a reasonably competent healthcare professional with similar training would have provided under the circumstances. The standard of care is specific to a particular speciality (i.e., a nurse’s adherence to the standard of care would be analyzed based on what a nurse with similar training and education would have done in similar circumstances).

For example, an emergency room physician evaluating a patient with symptoms of a stroke should recognize warning signs, order appropriate diagnostic testing, and begin timely treatment. If the physician ignores obvious symptoms or delays treatment without justification, resulting in permanent brain damage, that failure may constitute medical malpractice. The ER doctor’s actions will be analyzed based on what a physician with similar training would have done in similar circumstances.

Determining whether the standard of care was violated often requires an in-depth review of medical records, diagnostic imaging, laboratory results, hospital policies, and testimony from qualified medical specialists. Our law firm works with medical experts who can help determine whether the standard of care was violated and help build a strong case for compensation.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle

Medical negligence can occur in virtually any healthcare setting, including hospitals, emergency rooms, outpatient surgical centers, physician offices, urgent care clinics, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, and pharmacies. Some of the most common medical malpractice claims involve:

Failure to Diagnose or Delayed Diagnosis

One of the leading causes of medical malpractice lawsuits involves providers who fail to diagnose or significantly delay diagnosing a serious medical condition. This may include conditions such as:

• Cancer
• Stroke or Heart attack
• Sepsis
• Internal bleeding
• Blood clots
• Meningitis 
• Appendicities

When a condition is not diagnosed promptly, patients often lose valuable treatment opportunities, allowing illnesses to worsen unnecessarily.

Misdiagnosis

A patient may receive treatment for the wrong illness while the actual condition continues to progress. Misdiagnosis can result in:

• Unnecessary surgeries
• Dangerous medications
• Delayed life-saving treatment
• Permanent disability
• Death

Healthcare providers are expected to perform appropriate examinations, order necessary testing, interpret results correctly, and consider reasonable alternative diagnoses before reaching conclusions.

Surgical Errors

Even routine procedures carry risks, but preventable surgical mistakes should never occur. Examples include:

• Operating on the wrong body part
• Wrong-site surgery
• Wrong-patient surgery
• Leaving surgical instruments inside the body
• Damaging nearby organs or nerves
• Preventable infections
• Failure to monitor patients during surgery
• Improper postoperative care

These errors can require additional surgeries, lengthy hospital stays, permanent disabilities, or lifelong complications.

Birth Injuries

Parents trust obstetricians, labor and delivery nurses, and hospitals to safely care for both mother and baby during pregnancy and childbirth. Medical negligence during labor and delivery can lead to devastating birth injuries, including:

• Cerebral palsy
• Brain injuries caused by oxygen deprivation
• Brachial plexus injuries
• Shoulder dystocia complications
• Fractures
• Erb’s palsy

Birth injury cases often involve failures to recognize fetal distress, delays in performing a necessary cesarean section, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, medication errors during labor, or inadequate monitoring throughout delivery. The financial impact of these injuries can be overwhelming, particularly when a child requires lifelong medical treatment, rehabilitation, therapy, and specialized care.

Medication Errors

Prescription and medication mistakes can occur at several stages of treatment. Healthcare providers may be liable for:

• Prescribing the wrong medication
• Administering the wrong dosage
• Dangerous drug interactions
• Allergic reaction failures
• Pharmacy dispensing errors
• Incorrect IV medication administration

Even a single medication error can result in organ damage, permanent disability, or death.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia requires careful planning, monitoring, and communication among healthcare professionals. Mistakes involving anesthesia can include:

• Administering too much or too little anesthesia
• Failure to monitor oxygen levels
• Failure to recognize respiratory distress
• Medication interactions
• Delayed response to complications

These mistakes may result in brain damage, cardiac arrest, permanent neurological injury, or fatal complications.

Emergency Room Negligence

Emergency departments often operate under significant pressure, but busy conditions do not excuse preventable medical mistakes. Emergency room malpractice may involve:

• Failure to recognize life-threatening conditions
• Delayed treatment
• Improper patient discharge
• Failure to order appropriate imaging
• Misreading X-rays or CT scans
• Medication mistakes
• Communication failures between providers

Prompt diagnosis and treatment are often critical in emergency medicine. Even brief delays can dramatically affect a patient’s outcome.

Hospital Negligence

Hospitals have responsibilities beyond the actions of individual physicians. A hospital’s negligence may involve:

• Inadequate staffing
• Poor infection control
• Failure to maintain medical equipment
• Hiring unqualified personnel
• Lack of proper patient supervision
• Poor communication between departments
• Failure to implement appropriate safety procedures

When systemic failures contribute to patient injuries, the hospital itself may share legal responsibility.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Negligence?

Many people assume that only a physician can be sued for medical malpractice. In reality, any healthcare provider or medical facility whose negligence contributed to a patient’s injuries may be held legally responsible. 

Depending on the circumstances, liable parties may include:

• Physicians
• Surgeons
• Emergency room doctors
• Primary care physicians
• Specialists
• Nurses and nurse practitioners
• Physician assistants
• Anesthesiologists
• Radiologists
• Pathologists
• Obstetricians and gynecologists
• Pharmacists
• Medical laboratories
• Hospitals
• Outpatient surgery centers
• Urgent care facilities

In some cases, more than one provider shares responsibility for a patient’s injuries. For example, a surgeon may make a preventable mistake during an operation while the hospital fails to properly monitor the patient afterward. Likewise, a radiologist may misread an imaging study while another physician fails to investigate symptoms despite clear warning signs.

Identifying every responsible party is critical because it helps ensure all available insurance coverage and sources of compensation are pursued in a claim. Our New York medical malpractice lawyers are skilled at analyzing evidence to determine all parties that may be liable for your injuries.

Proving a Medical Malpractice Claim in New York

Medical malpractice cases are among the most evidence-intensive types of personal injury claims. Unlike many accident cases, proving negligence usually requires far more than simply showing that a patient suffered harm. At the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, we conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine whether a healthcare provider’s actions deviated from accepted medical standards.

We will gather and analyze a wide range of evidence, including:

• Complete medical records
• Hospital records
• Physician notes
• Diagnostic imaging
• Laboratory results
• Medication records
• Surgical reports
• Nursing documentation
• Witness statements
• Hospital policies and procedures
• Expert medical opinions

Our legal team carefully reconstructs the timeline of events to determine exactly where the breakdown in care occurred. We then work with qualified medical professionals who can explain how competent treatment should have been provided and how the provider’s negligence caused your injuries. This thorough preparation helps to strengthen our clients’ positions during settlement negotiations.

Unlike many personal injury cases, medical malpractice lawsuits require testimony from qualified medical experts. In fact, in most cases, New York law requires that a Certificate of Merit be filed alongside the medical malpractice complaint. In the Certificate of Merit, your attorney will certify that they have consulted with a licensed physician who confirmed that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with the action.

Beyond the Certificate of Merit, medical experts help to establish:

• The accepted standard of care
• How the healthcare provider departed from that standard
• Whether those failures directly caused the patient’s injuries
• The extent of permanent impairment
• Future medical needs
• Long-term prognosis

Expert witnesses are typically physicians who practice in the same or a similar speciality as the defendant. Their opinions provide juries with the technical medical information needed to evaluate complex issues that fall outside the knowledge of most people.

Compensation Available in a Medical Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice often results in significant financial, physical, and emotional losses. A successful claim seeks compensation for both the economic and non-economic consequences of a healthcare provider’s negligence.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to recover compensation for:

• Medical expenses, including emergency treatment, hospitalization, additional surgeries, rehabilitation, physical therapy, prescription medications, home healthcare, medical equipment, and future medical treatment. Future medical expenses can be especially substantial when malpractice results in permanent disabilities or lifelong care needs.
• Lost income, including lost wages, lost employment benefits, reduced earning capacity, and future lost income. Serious injuries frequently prevent victims from returning to work for weeks, months, or even permanently. 
• Pain and suffering, including money for your physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability, disfigurement, and loss of independence. New York law allows injured patients to seek compensation for the physical pain and emotional suffering caused by medical negligence, recognizing that not every loss has a dollar amount attached to it. Unlike some states, New York does not cap damages in most medical malpractice cases.
• Wrongful death damages may be available if medical negligence results in the death of a loved one. Recoverable damages may include funeral and burial expenses, medical expenses incurred before death, loss of financial support, loss of parental guidance and services, and other damages permitted under New York law. While no amount of money can replace a lost loved one, holding negligent medical providers accountable may provide financial stability and a sense of justice for surviving family members.

Why Are People Hesitant to Bring Medical Malpractice Claims Against a Medical Professional?

People are hesitant when making a claim against most healthcare professionals. We want to trust our healthcare professionals and when they do something wrong we are hurt. Many times people will hesitate and say, “Well, it must not have been something that the doctor did; it must be something from an outside force, or something that I did. Maybe I made a bad choice”. I think that is just because we, as a society, want to believe that doctors and nurses and everyone in the healthcare profession has our best interests at heart, and most do. Nevertheless, when you are harmed because of a healthcare professional’s malpractice, there should be no hesitation about pursuing a claim.

Why Choose the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan

Medical malpractice cases require experience, resources, and a willingness to challenge large hospitals, insurance companies, and healthcare systems. When you choose the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, you benefit from a legal team that understands the complexity of these claims and is committed to protecting your interests.

Clients trust our firm because we offer:

• Decades of litigation experience
• Thorough investigation of every claim
• Access to highly qualified medical experts
• Personalized attention throughout your case
• Strategic negotiation with insurance companies
• Aggressive courtroom advocacy when litigation becomes necessary

We recognize that a medical mistake can leave families facing mounting medical bills, lost income, uncertainty about the future, and profound emotional hardship. Our goal is to relieve as much of that burden as possible by pursuing full and fair compensation for you.

Help for New Yorkers Injured By Medical Negligence

A preventable medical error can have lifelong consequences, affecting your health, finances, career, and family. If you believe that a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider failed to provide appropriate care, you do not have to face the legal process alone. Our law firm is here to help.

The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan has extensive experience handling all types of medical malpractice cases in New York. We offer free consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. 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.