Founded in 1893, Little Falls Hospital is a subsidiary of the Bassett Healthcare Network. It has a 24-hour ER and provides imaging services, same day surgeries, orthopedic services and rehabilitation. It is the only provider of 25-bed acute inpatient and emergency care, as well as other services, in Herkimer County. If you suspect you or a loved one was the victim of medical malpractice at a facility such as Little Falls Hospital, you may have a legal right to recover damages. The skillful Little Falls medical malpractice attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano fight for injured patients and their families.
Medical MalpracticeNot every mistake made by a health care provider or at a hospital counts as medical malpractice. In order to establish medical malpractice, you’ll need to establish: (1) a doctor-patient relationship, (2) deviation from the professional standard of care, (3) actual and legal causation, and (4) damages. The professional standard of care can vary depending on the circumstances under which a patient sought care.
If someone is a hospital employee, the hospital can usually be held responsible where the employee’s negligence results in harm to the patient. Often support staff, medical techs, and nurses are hospital employees. If any employee is in the course of employment at the time of his negligence, the patient can sue the hospital for their damages. For example, if an employee nurse supplies the wrong medication and the chart shows the patient is allergic to it, the hospital will likely be held liable for that mistake if the patient is seriously injured as a result.
Doctors are not always employees. Often, they’re independent contractors. This matters because the hospital may not be liable for a doctor’s mistake where the doctor is not an employee. However, in the ER, an error made by a doctor may constitute medical malpractice on the part of the hospital because the doctor is acting under the apparent authority of the hospital. To hold a hospital liable for a doctor’s malpractice, therefore, the injured patient must have had a reasonable belief the doctor was acting on behalf of the hospital. A seasoned medical malpractice lawyer in Little Falls can help you determine who the appropriate defendants may be in your case.
DamagesDamages that may be recovered if liability is established for injuries arising out of medical malpractice include both economic and noneconomic losses. Usually these damages are compensatory: they are meant to place you back in the position you would have occupied in had there been no malpractice. Economic losses may include lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, replacement services, and wage loss. Noneconomic losses may include pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment.
Wrongful DeathIf you have lost a loved one due to medical negligence, a Little Falls medical malpractice lawyer can help you pursue compensation. Wrongful death claims need to be filed within two years of the decedent’s death. In New York, wrongful death damages can include a wide range of losses such as burial and funeral expenses, reasonable health care and nursing expenses, lost wages and benefits, the value of services and support, the value of parental guidance and nurturing to surviving children, and the conscious pain and suffering that the decedent experienced because of the final illness or injury. New York courts do not provide surviving family members the ability to recover damages for pain and suffering or loss of companionship or mental anguish, even if the patient who died was just a child. Rather, parents are restricted to recovering lost value of services performed by a child less the reasonable cost of taking care of the child until adulthood.
Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney in Little FallsIf you think you were injured or lost a loved one as a result of medical malpractice at a facility like Little Falls Hospital, a skilled medical malpractice attorney can advise you regarding your legal rights and options. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano consults experienced and credible experts to determine whether there is a proper basis to sue health care providers for medical malpractice, and looks at all angles of a case in an effort to hold all culpable parties accountable. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to learn more about how we may be able to help you.