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Albany Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Without modern medicine, we would still be enduring plagues that kill off a third of a continent’s population. Modern medicine saves lives every single day with medications, safe surgeries, vaccines, tests, scans, and more. Unfortunately, modern medicine isn’t perfect, and it has taken a lot of lives too. In fact, thousands of Americans suffer serious injuries and even death due to medical errors. In order to make the medical industry a safer place for all Americans, it’s important to call a medical malpractice lawyer at Bailey, Johnson & Peck, especially when your health suffers from negligent healthcare professionals or medical facilities.
Bailey, Johnson & Peck is an Albany personal injury law firm that prioritizes every medical malpractice case. Our Albany medical negligence lawyers hire the best medical experts in the New York City area to carefully analyze our medical malpractice cases so that we can pursue financial compensation on your behalf. We do all this while protecting your legal rights. For a free consultation with a New York medical malpractice lawyer, call 518-456-0082 today.
What is Medical Malpractice?
In short, medical malpractice is a medical mistake made by a negligent doctor, nurse, hospital, etc. These mistakes can result in serious injury or even wrongful death.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases Our Albany Medical Negligence Lawyers Handle
There are so many types of medical errors that can cause a patient to endure unnecessary pain and suffering. The most common types of medical malpractice claims are listed below.
- Diagnostic errors such as failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis, or misdiagnosis
- Surgical errors such as leaving a surgical tool in the body, operating on the wrong body part, or recommending the wrong surgery for a health condition
- Prescribing the wrong medication or the wrong dose of a medication
- Discharging a patient too soon after a procedure or medical emergency
- Not ordering the right tests or scans
- Failure to act on test or scan results
- A patient develops a dangerous infection from the medical facility
- Failure to follow up with a patient after a procedure or a medical emergency
- A patient develops bedsores while at the hospital
- Birth injuries
- Anesthesia errors, such as too much or too little anesthesia during a procedure
- A patient has constant, debilitating pain following a procedure or course of treatment
- Emergency room errors
A 2013 study concludes that the most common types of medical malpractice claims in the U.S. are those based on diagnostic errors. Medication errors are also a common form of medical negligence. In fact, a 2013 report claims that 7% of all medication errors among hospital patients involve blood thinners. High doses of these anticoagulants can cause bleeding and other life-threatening complications.
What is Informed Consent?
Lack of informed consent is another common type of medical negligence. Basically, if a doctor only tells a patient about the benefits associated with a specific treatment and not the risks before the patient agrees to the treatment, the medical professional could face a lawsuit.
For example, let’s say a patient needs brain surgery to remove a tumor. Let’s also say that there’s a 30% chance that the patient could lose their sight from the surgery, but their doctor doesn’t tell them that. If the brain surgery is successful but the patient wakes up without their sight, they have grounds to file a medical negligence lawsuit. This is because if their doctor had informed them beforehand that they could lose their sight from the brain surgery, they may have decided against it.
How Often Does Medical Malpractice Occur in the U.S.?
Tragically, medical mistakes are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. according to Johns Hopkins medical experts. More specifically, they estimate that more than 250,000 Americans die annually at the hands of negligent doctors. That means that medical negligence deaths rank behind cancer and heart disease. To put that number in perspective, the CDC estimates that about 600,000 Americans die from cancer every year while nearly 700,000 Americans die from heart disease every year.
How Our Albany Medical Malpractice Lawyers Prove Medical Negligence
Medical malpractice lawsuits are based on the legal theory of negligence. So in order to sue a negligent medical professional, you must prove the following elements of negligence.
- Duty of Care: Every healthcare provider owes their patients a specific duty of care.
- Breached Duty of Care: The medical provider breached this duty of care either through a simple mistake or deliberate negligence.
- Causation: The doctor’s breached duty of care directly caused injury or death to their patient.
- Damages: The patient or their loved ones suffered numerous damages that they could recover compensation for.
If this sounds daunting to you, no need to fear. Medical malpractice attorneys at Bailey, Johnson & Peck have ample experience in handling lawsuits based on negligence. We know exactly how to prove that medical negligence occurred and caused you significant harm.
Evidence Required to Prove Negligent Medical Care in New York
Medical malpractice cases are incredibly complex because the human body is complex. It’s easy for negligent medical professionals to explain away their mistakes, even if they are in the wrong. That’s why you need to arm yourself with the best legal team and the strongest evidence possible. New York medical malpractice lawyers at Bailey, Johnson & Peck will help you gather the following pieces of evidence to best prove your claim.
- Medical Records are the strongest pieces of evidence you can include in your case. These records will generally describe your health issue at hand and the treatment (or lack thereof) that you received.
- Medical Bills are also a crucial piece of evidence. If you endured the wrong treatment, these documents will clearly show that you still have to pay for it.
- Health Insurance Company Information also provides a record of the medications and treatments you’ve received from your healthcare providers.
- Death Certificate/Autopsy Report is important evidence if the patient in question died from their doctor’s medical error. These documents will help prove the causation element of negligence. In other words, these documents will help our attorneys link the cause of death directly to the medical professional’s negligence.
- Documents That Show Lost Income: In many cases, medical malpractice victims are unable to work due to their injuries. As a result, these patients often lose weeks or months of paychecks or they lose their job altogether. Make sure to gather the documents proving that you’re suffering financially.
- Pictures of Your Injuries or Symptoms: If you have before and after pictures related to your negligent medical care, be sure to include these in your stack of evidence.
Certificate of Merit in New York
When you file a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York, you must also submit a certificate of merit. Basically, a certificate of merit is designed to reduce the number of medical negligence lawsuits filed, especially those that aren’t strong cases. In order to determine whether a medical malpractice claim is strong enough for litigation, the attorney must provide proof from the injured victim before the lawsuit even begins. An attorney will do this through a certificate of merit. According to New York law, a certificate of merit must state the following:
- That your medical malpractice lawyer has carefully reviewed the facts of your case and has presented your case to at least one licensed healthcare professional. Based on your lawyer’s case analysis, they believe that you have a valid reason to file this lawsuit.
- If your lawyer is unable to have a licensed doctor review your case, they must state that they made three attempts to consult with three separate doctors.
Damages for Medical Malpractice
If you win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you could receive financial compensation for the following damages:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Past and future physical therapy bills
- Lost wages, if your injuries caused you to miss work or lose your job entirely
- Loss of earning capacity at work due to your injury
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of life enjoyment
- Funeral and burial expenses, if wrongful death occurred
Is There a Cap on Medical Malpractice Damages in New York?
Some states limit the amount of compensation that victims of medical negligence can receive. In New York, there is no cap on compensation. So if your case is worth millions, you could receive millions.
New York Statute of Limitations for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
According to New York law, victims of medical negligence have 2.5 years to sue their doctor or other medical professionals. The clock starts ticking on the day of your medical mistake or on the day your treatment ended with the negligent doctor. If you wait too long to file your medical malpractice case, a judge could dismiss it altogether. That’s why it’s so important to act fast and hire medical malpractice lawyers at Bailey, Johnson & Peck.
Is There a Limit on Medical Malpractice Attorney Fees in New York?
Something important to remember before you hire legal representation in the New York City area is that the state has a limit on attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. Many attorneys, though not all, represent clients under a contingency fee. This basically means that you don’t pay them unless you win fair compensation or a settlement. In most cases, your attorney is paid through a small portion of your compensation.
New York law (NY Section 474-A) has a cap on the amount of money your attorney receives from your settlement. This is how it works:
- The attorney can receive 30% of the first $250,000 the victim wins.
- For the next $250,000, the attorney can take 25%.
- For the next $500,000, the attorney can take 20%.
- The attorney can receive 15% of the next $250,000 the victim wins.
- And lastly, if the victim wins anything more than $1.25 million, the attorney can receive up to 10%.
Albany Medical Malpractice Attorney
The legal team at Bailey, Johnson & Peck understands that no amount of fair compensation will erase the damage done to your body and mind due to medical malpractice. However, we believe that justice can bring closure to you and your loved ones. Call our law firm today at 518-456-0082 for a free consultation with an experienced Albany medical malpractice lawyer.
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Our attorneys have extensive experience in personal injury law, including car accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. If you have questions about insurance coverage and how to get the financial compensation you need, contact us today to see how we can help.
We have represented many clients on both sides of personal injury and insurance disputes. Let us use our depth of knowledge and experience to help you and your family get the medical care and financial compensation you need and deserve.
