Spring Valley, Rockland County Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When we see a medical professional at a doctor’s office or hospital, we trust that we will be well cared for and will receive treatment consistent with the required standard of care; one that places value on the health of the patient with compassion, thoroughness and skill in the rendering of medical care.  When this circle of trust gets broken and you or a loved one gets injured or even dies, the patient and his or her representatives deserve answers and possibly money damages for the harm that was caused. In some cases the death or injury is a result of medical malpractice.  If so, and if the malpractice caused injury, the patient may be entitled to compensation. An experienced New York personal injury attorney can help guide you in this process.

What is medical malpractice?

Not every injury or death incurred during care of a medical professional is medical malpractice. For a case to classify as a medical malpractice, an injury and/or death needs to occur as a result of a medical professional’s (such as doctor’s, medical technician or a nurse) negligence, omission or failure to adhere to a required standard of medical care.  While a medical professional is not a guarantor of a good result, they are not permitted to negligently heighten the chance that one will occur.  Nor may a doctor ignore signs and symptoms of an urgent condition that is evolving.  Medical professionals are required to listen and use their knowledge and education, to understand what needs to be done (or not done).

What constitutes medical malpractice?

For death or an injury to qualify as being the result of medical malpractice, the case has to fulfill certain requirements:

  • Standard of care was violated and
  • Death or identifiable injury was caused by that negligence

Medical malpractice lawyer at Evan Goldberg Law – experience and results

Our law firm’s founder, Evan Goldberg, is an experienced NYC medical malpractice attorney and has practiced throughout the State of New York. As a third-generation attorney, his grandfather having been a lawyer and his father a Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Goldberg has continued his family’s tradition of service during his exclusive representation of negligence victims over the past 30 plus years. Mr. Goldberg founded and chaired a medical malpractice committee for the Trial Lawyers Section of the New York State Bar Association, and has represented victims of medical malpractice during his entire career.  In bar leadership roles, he is often asked to comment on rules and procedures affecting medical malpractice lawsuits.

Attorney Evan Goldberg of Evan Goldberg Law, a Spring Valley medical malpractice law firm, has secured many multi-million-dollar verdicts for his clients, including in medical malpractice cases. Some of his recent wins include:

  • $14.7 million jury verdict for child injured by obstetrical malpractice during childbirth.
  • $2.3 million jury verdict for patient prematurely discharged from hospital with a hip infection.
  • $1.5 million jury verdict for patient internally injured during appendectomy.

Examples of medical malpractice

There are many examples of cases that may constitute medical malpractice. Those include but are not limited to:

  • Misdiagnosis
  • Failure to diagnose/failure to recognize symptoms
  • Mishandling laboratory results – reading reports incorrectly or disregarding them
  • Surgical errors
  • Wrong medication
  • Wrong dose of medication
  • Patient history errors or omissions
  • Premature patient discharge

What is medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care professional or provider neglects to provide appropriate treatment, omits to take an appropriate action, misdiagnoses a disease or provides a substandard level of treatment that causes harm, injury, or leads to the death of a patient.

Studies show that close to 500,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors and other types of medical malpractice. At the same time many more citizens suffer injuries caused by doctors, nurses, hospitals, as well as other healthcare professionals and institutions. It is the responsibility of hospitals, doctors, nurses, and broadly speaking any other medical professional to provide all of their patients with a high standard of care. Sadly, there are still so many medical errors caused by negligent or even reckless behavior. The NYC medical malpractice can occur at any stage of providing medical care, from first aid, ambulance, through an emergency room to post operating care. 

The most common causes of medical errors in hospitals and other healthcare providers:

  • crowded emergency rooms
  • doctors fatigue
  • doctors and other stuff members under the influence of alcohol or drugs, often prescribed painkillers (opiates and opioids)
  • misreading the patient’s test results 
  • ignoring patient’s signs and symptoms
  • misdiagnosing symptoms of a different condition
  • lack of experience with some types of diseases and/or injuries
  • lack of medical equipment or its improper maintenance

The most common and dangerous medical malpractice cases:

  • surgical errors
  • cancer misdiagnosis
  • stroke misdiagnosis
  • delayed treatment
  • lack of treatment
  • unnecessary harmful treatment

The worst but very common medical malpractice consequences:

  • temporary or lifelong disabilities
  • amputations
  • infections
  • worsening untreated conditions
  • unnecessary and improper treatment doing more damage that outweighing their benefits
  • prescribed drug overdose or chemo overdose
  • infertility
  • unnecessary surgeries
  • brain injuries

How Medical Malpractice Settlements Work?

The settlement process in a medical malpractice case often looks a little different from that of a typical personal injury-related claim. 

Economic damages, meaning quantifiable, provable expenditures or losses, like the cost of additional treatment, medical devices, nursing home, additional surgeries made necessary by the healthcare professional’s medical negligence can be relatively easy to calculate. The victim of medical error and the family members are entitled to get the compensation for non-economic loss as well but the insurance companies underestimate valuations of such difficulties as pain, suffering, mental issues, fear and anxiety. It is hard to prove the doctor’s failed or negligent action. Some of the medical treatments like surgeries have unpredictable outcomes, some of the medicines have harsh side effects. The victim of New York Medical Malpractice injury has to investigate the whole healthcare providing process and find the cause – an error or a reckless action. 

Four conditions required to prove the occurrence of a medical error:

The injured patient must show that the physician acted negligently in rendering care, and that such negligence resulted in injury. To do so, four legal elements must be proven: 

  • a professional duty owed to the patient
  • breach of such duty
  • injury caused by the breach
  • resulting damages. This includes doing nothing when they should have done something. This may be considered an act of omission or negligence.

 The medical malpractice and further injuries and pain already have a huge impact on the victim’s life. It only provides additional stress and suffering to have to deal with the legal options by oneself. That is a very good reason to hire professional help and call an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Experienced personal injury attorney knows how to prove delay of treatment or misdiagnosis and knows all the legal options and the best solution.

Rockland County Misdiagnosis

A medical misdiagnosis case involves an incorrect diagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or a failure to diagnose medical conditions or complications that result in patient injury. As a result of medical negligence caused by misdiagnosis, pre-existing conditions are made worse or new medical conditions and injuries happen. Some of the most common occurrences of misdiagnosis in NY hospitals include strokes, cardiac injury and cancer

New York Stroke Misdiagnosis

According to the National Institute of Health statistics, over ten percent of all stroke patients are misdiagnosed. Hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes’ symptoms vary from patient to patient but early signs almost always include severe headaches. Misdiagnosed patients who are sent home with prescribed painkillers often suffer more severe signs and symptoms and come back to the hospital when it is too late for proper treatment. This results in a substantial loss of the chance for a good recovery and a restoration of function. Doctors are obligated to provide stroke treatment in a timely manner because failing to do so results in a death of brain cells death due to hypoxia. Missing a short window of time for treatment and preventing further brain cortex damage may lead to irreversible brain damage, temporary or permanent disabilities or even death. Patients who suffer injuries due to misdiagnosed strokes may file a New York medical malpractice claim and seek compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, long and painful recovery, loss of independence, loss of employment and resulting disabilities

Rockland County Cancer Misdiagnosis

Cancers are conditions of various levels of severity and fatality rate. Early detection of cancer sometimes could prevent patients from life-threatening damages and issues. Cancer is a medical condition which leaves doctors a short window of time to administer treatment. Misdiagnosis leads to lack of life-saving treatment, delayed treatment, improper treatment or even unnecessary harmful treatment. Being diagnosed with cancer is always a devastating experience, even if done in a timely manner. It is even more tragic when it is too late for any treatment and the condition worsened while it could have been treated. Misdiagnosed cancer patients may be entitled to seek New York medical malpractice compensation for their losses due to improper treatment or delayed treatment. Doctors who neglected to run tests, misread test results or carelessly sent patients home may be held liable in New York medical malpractice claims.

Contact a Spring Valley Medical Malpractice Attorney

Have you or a loved one been injured as a result of your medical professional’s negligence in New York? If so, please contact an experienced New York medical malpractice lawyer from Evan Goldberg Law. To schedule your free confidential consultation with a New York personal injury lawyer, please call us at 1 845-545-0448 or visit our contact page.