Medical Malpractice Cases Manhattan, New York

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When people go to the hospital or doctor's office, they expect that their condition will possibly improve, and certainly not be made worse by the negligence of medical professionals. There is a bond of trust between healthcare workers and the patients that they serve. When this bond is broken due to the negligent or deliberately wrongful behavior of a medical professional, and a patient suffers a serious injury as a result, that patient and his or her family may be eligible to recover compensation under the legal doctrine of medical malpractice.

Medical malpractice can take many forms. The most common include misdiagnosis of, or failure to diagnose in a timely manner, a serious illness. Other common forms of medical malpractice include surgical errors, prescription errors, anesthesia errors, the failure to monitor vital signs during surgery, the failure to perform the correct surgery on the correct patient, and preventable birth injuries. In each of these cases, the conduct of medical professionals is measured against the behavior that would be expected of their competent peers. For example, if a doctor fails to diagnose cancer that is later discovered, it must be proven that another physician, exercising a reasonable standard of care, should and would have detected the cancer at that stage. Medical professionals are not held to a standard of perfection; a demonstrable act of negligence that directly contributes to a serious injury or death that otherwise could have been prevented must be present in order for a medical malpractice case to be viable.

Whenever medical professionals work with patients, they are obligated to be able to conduct their work with clear minds unobstructed by alcohol, drugs, sleeplessness, and other factors that may negatively affect their performance. If an injury results from a medical professional's inebriated or otherwise impaired state, he or she may also be liable for damages under medical malpractice law.

If you or someone you love has been injured due to the negligence of a healthcare professional, you should discuss your potential case with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible.