Queens Medical Malpractice

When you seek treatment from a medical professional, you expect the professional to properly diagnose your ailment and treat it. No one expects the doctor or other medical professional to cause harm. Unfortunately, preventable medical mistakes happen far too often. In some case such errors cause devastating injuries to the victim and even death. For example, an anesthesiologist's mistake can cause a patient to suffer a brain injury, a stroke, paralysis, a heart attack, a birth injury or death. Sadly, in many cases the patient does not survive. Medical professionals make mistakes for a number of reasons such as lack of experience, fatigue, poor communication, incompetence, and substance abuse. However, the law allows victims of preventable medical mistakes to hold the negligent doctor, dentist, anesthesiologist, chiropractor, nurse or other healthcare professional accountable for the harm caused. If you are in need of a personal injury lawyer because you or a loved one has been injured due to medical malpractice it is important to speak with an experienced Queens medical malpractice Lawyer who will review the facts of your case and explain to you your legal options for pursuing a personal injury claim or a wrongful death claim.

Types of medical mistakes

The most common types of medical malpractice cases involve surgical mistakes, anesthesia mistakes and misdiagnosis.

• Surgical mistakes. Surgical malpractice occurs when a surgeon, anesthesiologist or other medical professional makes a preventable mistake during surgery that harms the patient. Examples of surgical errors include leaving medical equipment in the patient, administering the wrong amount of anesthesia, damaging a nerve, and performing the surgery on the wrong body part or wrong patient.
• Anesthesia mistakes. Whenever a patient needs a surgical procedure, some type of anesthesia is required. The anesthesiologist administers the anesthesia based on a number of factors including the patient's medical history. If the anesthesiologist makes a the wrong decision about dosage or fails to monitor the patient's vital signs, the patient could suffer a medical crisis such as a stroke, collapsed lung, or heart attack.
• Misdiagnosis. A misdiagnosis occurs when a doctor makes the wrong diagnosis or delays a diagnosis and as a result the patient suffers harm. For example, in the case of Catanese v. Furman, 27 A.D.3d 1050, 811 N.Y.S.2d 260 (N.Y. App. Div., 2006), plaintiff Teresa Catanese sued Dr. Donald Furman for medical malpractice arguing that Dr. Furman misdiagnosed Catanese. Catanese had a rare form of cancer called liposarcoma. The plaintiff contends that because of Dr. Furman's misdiagnosis Catanese suffered nerve damage.

Pursuing a medical malpractice claim

Whether the case involves a medical mistake, car accident, construction accident, or slip and fall accident, if a victim is injured because another person was careless then the victim has the right to sue the careless person and demand payment of damages. The types of damages that you can demand include economic damages such as your medical expenses and your lost wages. In order to be awarded damages for your medical expenses or your lost wages, you must prove these expenses. To prove your medical expenses you must show bills and receipts from your doctors, the hospitals, labs, pharmacists and other healthcare providers. To prove lost wages you must show your paystubs and other evidence from your employer that shows how much you would have earned had you been able to work.

You can also demand non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. Physical pain and emotional suffering are a little more difficult to quantify. However, an experienced attorney will review your medical records and interview family and friends to show how deeply the medical mistake affected the victim.

If a family member died as a result of a medical mistake, the law allows the personal representative of the deceased to file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover compensation. The law does not allow every family member to sue. Only the deceased's personal representative had the right to a wrongful death lawsuit.

Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates

Medical malpractice cases are quite complicated. It is necessary for the attorney to not only understand personal injury law, but to also understand how to interpret complex medical records. Trying to settle a medical malpractice case on your own without experienced representation is not recommended. The staff at the Law offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates has years of experience representing clients who have been injured due to a mistake made by a healthcare professional. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.

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