The Basics of New York Medical Malpractice: Listing down the Causes

Imagine this scenario: you are in a hospital in New York, and your attending physician has diagnosed you with a certain illness. The physician gives you a prescription, which you take. After taking the medicine, however, your condition turns out for the worst and you experience even more severe complications. You continue to pay for the medical bills while enduring the adverse effects, but you aren’t getting any better. Such a scenario can be grounds for medical malpractice.

As much as medical professionals do their best to properly diagnose their patients, there are times when they mistakenly identify a patient’s sickness and cause unwanted health problems. That said, here are some of the more common types of medical malpractice that can be filed for a lawsuit.

Misdiagnosis

As mentioned above, misdiagnosis (or delayed diagnosis) is the first kind of negligence that can be grounds for medical malpractice suits. This is the most common malpractice complaint, but in order to actually have substantial basis for this kind of suit, you have to provide conclusive evidence that the doctor in question clearly made some mistakes with his or her diagnosis where other competent doctors placed in the same situation would have given the correct one.

Childbirth Negligence

This is where a newborn child suffers injury at the hands of a doctor. The injury sustained is usually a debilitating one, like brain or muscle damage like cerebral palsy, or during the child’s delivery.

Incorrect Dosage or Medication

Giving a patient the wrong dosage (or medication altogether) to treat a sickness is also grounds for malpractice. Experienced lawyers from firms like The Law Offices of Joseph Lichtenstein who specialize in New York medical malpractice say that just like other cases, substantial evidence will be needed to determine whether or not the attending medical practitioner had indeed neglected his or her duty.

As such, the same professionals are quick to point out that whenever someone experiences health problems after a visit from a doctor, they should immediately contact an attorney that is well-versed in medical malpractice in NYC so that they can be advised on what to do, should they decide to pursue legal action.

(Source: Medical Malpractice: Common Errors by Doctors and Hospitals, nolo.com)