New York Medical Malpractice Attorney

If you have been injured due to a doctor’s  negligence, you may have a legitimate medical malpractice claim.  In order to have a successful medical malpractice claim, it is necessary to prove the following three elements:  Substantial Deviation from accepted standards of care, Proximate Cause and Injury.

Substantial Deviation

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical provider such as a doctor breaches, or violates, the accepted standard of care in that field, which then results in injury to a patient.  This standard of care will vary depending on a number of factors, including the patient’s age, the specific ailment etc.   Just because there is a bad outcome or the treatment/surgery isn’t successful doesn’t automatically mean that malpractice has occurred.

Proximate Cause

In addition to showing that a medical provider breached his or her standard of care, you will have to prove that this breach directly caused your injury.  Often it is difficult to prove that the resulting condition is a direct result of the medical provider’s actions or inactions.  Typically we would need to retain an “expert witness” to give their opinion on this issue and possibly testify in court on the client’s behalf.

Injury

If the medical provider did commit medical malpractice, the claimant will not have a successful claim unless he or she sustained an injury.  Since medical malpractice actions are very costly and take many years to work their way through the courts, most attorneys will only consider cases with sizeable injuries.  Such injuries include those that last a lifetime and cannot be repaired, those that result in death and those with substantial and permanent consequences to the claimant. Often we get calls from potential clients that are outraged that their doctors made huge mistakes that “almost” killed them, but that they luckily made fast and complete recoveries.  In situations such as those, although the negligence may be substantial, the fast and complete recovery almost negates the claim, as there is little pain and suffering.