New York City Medical Malpractice Attorney

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Health care providers have a professional duty to properly care for patients. They must adhere to certain standards set by the medical industry. Unfortunately, not all doctors and medical professionals fulfill this duty of care to patients.

If you or a loved one has been hurt due to a violation of the medical standards of care, you may be overwhelmed and confused about who to hold responsible. To learn about your legal rights from a compassionate New York City medical malpractice attorney, contact Torgan Cooper + Aaron about a potential lawsuit.

Our medical malpractice lawyers can help you understand your rights and pursue the financial compensation that you deserve for a medical error. We will review your case for free and with no obligation to hire us. Do not hesitate to call our local law office at (212) 232-2500 to speak to one of our experienced attorneys today. We accept clients in all five boroughs of New York City and beyond.

Why Choose Torgan Cooper + Aaron for Your Medical Malpractice Case?

We are one of the nation’s leading personal injury law firms, with a specific focus on medical malpractice that has served our clients well since our law firm’s foundation in 1987.
Our medical malpractice attorneys devote individual attention to each case for the best possible results. Our past settlements and verdicts have been life-changing for clients.
We can go up against any party on your behalf, including a major hospital. Our courtroom strength and trial experience give us a strong position to go up against corporate giants.

How Can a New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer Help?

Medical malpractice lawsuits are difficult and more complex than typical personal injury claims. They involve unique laws and statutes, as well as special requirements involving medical experts. A medical malpractice attorney can help you successfully navigate all of these laws for better odds of securing the monetary recovery that you need to move forward.

A New York City personal injury lawyer experienced in handling medical malpractice claims can take care of the legal side of your case while you concentrate on healing. Tasks that a qualified attorney can complete for you include filling out claims paperwork, filing your lawsuit, gathering evidence of your injury or illness, hiring qualified medical experts, negotiating with an insurance company, and taking your case to trial. Hiring an attorney can allow you to focus on your recovery while an experienced professional fights for maximum financial compensation.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice in NY?

Medical malpractice is a mistake or lapse in judgment that a reasonable and prudent health care provider would not have committed in the same or similar circumstances. If a doctor, nurse, surgeon, hospital or another medical provider made a serious error that someone else would not have made, and this causes a patient to be injured, the provider may be liable – financially responsible – for the patient’s losses.

A medical malpractice claim is a type of civil lawsuit that is brought against a person or party (known as the defendant) in the health care industry for violating the industry’s rules or standards of care. It allows an injured patient (plaintiff) to file a claim in pursuit of financial compensation for the act of malpractice and the injuries and losses suffered. If a defendant is found liable for medical malpractice, the defendant or his or her insurance company will have to pay for financial damages.

How To Prove Medical Malpractice

You will have grounds to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York if you were injured by something that a health care practitioner did or did not do that a prudent practitioner would not have done in the same or similar circumstances. During a medical malpractice lawsuit, it is your or your attorney’s responsibility to establish four main elements as more likely to be true than not true based on clear and convincing evidence. This burden of proof is called a preponderance of the evidence, and it applies to every personal injury claim.

The four elements of a medical malpractice claim are:

Existence of a legal duty to the patient. The defendant must have had a doctor-patient relationship with the injured party at the time of the alleged malpractice. This will give the defendant a legal duty to act within the standards set by the medical industry.
A breach or violation of the duty of care. The defendant must have failed to meet his or her duty of care to the plaintiff, either carelessly (medical negligence) or knowingly (medical malpractice).
A causal link between the violation and the patient injury/death. There must be a provable connection between the defendant’s breach of duty and the injury in question. In other words, the injury would not have happened but for the defendant’s act or omission.
Compensable losses (damages) from the injury. The plaintiff must have proof of real and compensable losses due to the defendant’s lapse in care, such as injuries, medical bills or lost wages.

A medical malpractice lawyer in New York City can help you gather enough evidence to prove these elements during your lawsuit. The evidence available to support a medical malpractice claim may include eyewitness statements, medical records, expert witness testimony, and photographs and videos.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice

A lapse in the required standard of patient care can lead to many issues and mistakes made by a health care professional. Certain types of medical malpractice are behind injury and wrongful death claims more often than others in New York, however. The most common forms of medical malpractice experienced by patients in NYC include:

Failure to diagnose
Misdiagnosis
Delayed diagnosis
Medication mistakes
Surgical errors
Wrong-site, wrong-patient, wrong-procedure errors
Surgical tools left inside of the body cavity
Anesthesia errors
Birth injuries

If you are not sure whether you are the victim of medical malpractice, a New York City medical malpractice lawyer can help you understand your rights. Our attorneys have experience handling many different types of medical malpractice cases, including those that involve catastrophic injuries and wrongful death.

Best and Worst Hospitals in New York City

Not all hospitals in New York City are created equal. Some have better reputations for proper patient care than others. The latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade ratings (2021), gave the following grades to several major hospitals in NYC, organized here from best to worst:

NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan (A)
NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn (A)
NYC Health + Hospitals in Metropolitan Manhattan (B)
The Brooklyn Hospital Center (B)
BronxCare Health System (C)
New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan (C)
Mount Sinai Hospital in Brooklyn (D)
NYC Health + Hospitals in Elmhurst, Queens (D)
New York Community Hospital (F)

Only two hospitals in all of New York City received A ratings. All around, New York hospitals are rated by experts as some of the worst in the country, placing New York 46th in the nation for patient safety.

How To File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in NYC

If you or a loved one was injured by a negligent health care professional, you may be able to recover financial compensation for your related losses by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York City. Start your claim by gathering evidence and information. The more documents and records you can collect regarding the malpractice, the better. This includes your relevant medical records, hospital bills, eyewitness statements, and photographs of your injuries.

Keep everything you have related to your claim in an organized injury folder. Then, bring this file to a New York City medical malpractice attorney for a free consultation. A lawyer will have the experience and resources you need to fill out confusing claims paperwork and file your lawsuit by New York’s deadline. Your lawyer can file the lawsuit with the correct civil court in your county, along with the additional required paperwork and affidavits.

Is an Expert Required To File a Lawsuit in a New York Medical Malpractice Case?

Yes. According to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules section 3012-A, a certificate of merit is a requirement in all legal actions for damages arising out of alleged medical malpractice. The certificate of merit is a document that states that the plaintiff’s attorney has consulted with a relevant expert, such as a physician in the same field as the defendant, and that the expert confirmed that there were grounds for a medical malpractice suit.

Compensation for Victims of Medical Malpractice in New York City

A financial award, no matter how large, can only go so far to make up for your injury or a loved one’s death due to medical malpractice in New York City. However, our NYC medical malpractice attorneys have seen firsthand how important a fair financial recovery is for a victim and his or her family. A positive settlement or judgment award can give a victim the compensation that he or she deserves for present and future losses, including:

Medical bills and ongoing required care
Losses of income
Disability accommodations
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Lost quality of life
Loss of consortium
Wrongful death damages
Punitive damages

There is no damage cap on New York medical malpractice claims. This means there is no limit on the amount of economic and noneconomic damages that you and your family can receive for medical malpractice or negligence. The value of your claim is based on factors such as the seriousness of your injuries, whether you have a permanent disability, your age and income, the amount of insurance available from the defendant, and more.

We Have Obtained Some of the Largest Medical Malpractice Settlements & Verdicts in the Industry

Torgan Cooper + Aaron has a track record of securing groundbreaking settlements and jury verdicts for injured clients. We have a reputation for taking complicated cases to trial and winning. We are proud of our consistent record of results above seven and eight figures. Some of our top results have been on medical malpractice and birth injury cases:

$90.3 million verdict for an infant with brain damage caused by negligent neonatal care
$64 million verdict for an infant with brain damage caused by obstetrical malpractice
$56 million verdict for a woman who was paralyzed during spinal surgery
$45.6 million verdict for wrongful death caused by a surgeon at NY Presbyterian
$19.5 million settlement for a victim who was paralyzed after spinal column surgery
$14 million settlement for an infant with brain damage caused by obstetrical malpractice
$12 million verdict for a victim who suffered traumatic brain injury after being struck by a truck

While we know that money isn’t everything, we hope that a fair monetary award can hold a negligent party accountable and give you and your family what you need to move forward. Our New York City medical malpractice lawyers will work relentlessly to secure top results for your family.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice in New York?

A statute of limitations is a state law that restricts the amount of time that an injured victim has to bring a cause of action with the civil courts. In general, if you miss the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York, the courts will bar you from financial recovery. This makes it critical to speak to an NYC medical malpractice lawyer near you as soon as possible if you suspect that a medical practitioner’s negligence caused your injury.

In New York, the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice claim is 30 months (2 1/2 years) from the date of the alleged malpractice or from the final treatment received by the party that you are holding responsible. If you are suing for wrongful death, however, you will only have two years from the date of your loved one’s passing to file a lawsuit.

There is an exception if the injured victim is a minor under the age of 18 years old. In this case, the statute of limitations is tolled – extended – to 30 months from the date of the minor’s 18th birthday. Finally, if you do not discover your injury until later for a foreign object left behind inside of the body, New York’s Discovery Rule gives you one year of the date of the discovery of the object to file a claim.

Free Consultation With a Medical Malpractice Attorney in NYC

Realizing that a health care professional that you trusted with your life made a medical mistake that has harmed you is traumatic. Working with a New York City medical malpractice lawyer can give you the legal and financial assistance that you need during this difficult time.

At Torgan Cooper + Aaron, we can work closely with you and your family to look for signs of medical malpractice, gather evidence and fight for justice on your behalf. We are passionate about bringing negligent health care providers in New York City to justice.

Find out how we can help you today. Request a free consultation with one of our medical malpractice attorneys by calling our law firm at (212) 232-2500 or contact us online anytime.