LIBRARY > MEDICAL MALPRACTICE | Choosing The Right Lawyer > What is Medical Malpractice?

Topics Covered

When Is The Doctor Responsible?
Common Circumstances For Medical Malpractice
Your Legal Rights To Compensation

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When Is The Doctor Responsible?

Your doctor owes you the best possible care. Nothing less is expected whenever you consult your physician, whether you've suffered an injury, have a chronic illness or undergo a surgical procedure.

If your doctor doesn't treat you according to widely accepted standards and your condition needlessly deteriorates or you are injured, then you are the victim of medical malpractice.

Doctors are not the only medical providers who can be held responsible should something go wrong. Chiropractors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, nursing home staff and hospital technicians must also care for their patients in keeping with the dictates of their professions.

It's important to remember that medical malpractice has not occurred if you are merely unsatisfied with your treatment or the outcome. Illness and disease are unpredictable; not every cure benefits every patient. Some remedies are known to produce imperfect results.

Common Circumstances for Medical Malpractice

It's impossible to list all the circumstances surrounding incidents of medical malpractice. It usually takes a careful review of medical and hospital records by a team of medical experts and an attorney skilled in medical malpractice to recognize when negligence has played a role in a patient's injury or death.

Nevertheless, here are the types of errors that are routinely identified in malpractice cases:

Surgical errors
Obstetrical mismanagement, such as failing to perform a Caesarean Section in the event of fetal or maternal distress.
Injury or death due to bariatric surgery (gastric bypass).
Failing to diagnose a problem. Appendicitis is routinely overlooked.
Failing to detect a bone fracture or setting the break improperly.
Subjecting a patient to unnecessary procedures.
Failing to detect and treat a hemorrhage.
Failure to perform necessary diagnostic tests - pap smears, CT scans, MRIs.
Failure to diagnose cancer.
Prescribing the wrong medicine or prescribing medicines that have adverse effects when taken together.
Dispensing the wrong medicine. The prescription may have been illegible.
Delaying surgery.
Using the wrong antidote in the event of poisoning.
Failing to control diabetes, leading to coma, amputations, blindness.
Not following up when medical tests warrant closer inspection.
Radiology mistakes.
Equipment failures.
Neglect of nursing home residents so that patients are vulnerable to falls or bedsores.
Unsanitary conditions, leading to contraction of infections.

Your Legal Rights To Compensation

According to New York State Law, to recover monetary damages in a malpractice lawsuit, the injured party must:

Prove the existence of a physician-patient relationship. No contract need exist nor were fees to have been paid. This relationship begins with the start of treatment or the duration of the illness and ends by mutual agreement or if the patient leaves her doctor.
Prove the physician violated his duty to provide reasonable care to the patient.
Prove the doctor's negligence is what harmed the patient.

You should contact an attorney experienced in handling malpractice cases to determine if there is a possibility of legal action against your physician or any other medical practitioner involved in your care.

Do not delay! There are strict time limits when a claim can be filed to start a lawsuit. Doing nothing over a period of time may be enough to defeat your case, even if it has merit and you deserve compensation for your injury and pain and suffering.