Rome Memorial Hospital is a community health care facility in Rome, New York. It provides a wide range of medical services, including 24-hour emergency care, routine testing, a family-centered Maternity Department, and a skilled nursing facility. Rome Memorial Hospital has received recognition from the American Heart Association and the Department of Health and Human Services. But this does not mean that health care providers at the hospital are infallible. Errors can arise in the context of a misdiagnosis, a failure to diagnose, a delay in diagnosing, treatment errors, surgical errors, prescribing inappropriate medications, a failure to obtain informed consent, or errors during labor and delivery that result in injuries to a baby. If you were injured at Rome Memorial Hospital and suspect that you were a victim of medical malpractice, it is important to consult an experienced Rome medical malpractice lawyer. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, we have represented many patients injured by health care providers.
Seeking Compensation for Negligence at Rome Memorial HospitalNot every mistake made by a doctor or a nurse constitutes medical malpractice. To establish medical malpractice, your lawyer will need to prove that there was a doctor-patient relationship and that it is more likely than not that the defendant breached the professional standard of care, which caused your injuries.
The professional standard of care is based on the accepted standards and practices of the medical community under the particular circumstances. This means that the professional standard of care can vary based on the individual characteristics of the patient, as well as the symptoms and factual situation that are presented to a health care provider. Different health care providers follow different practices. A family practice physician may be required to do different things from an oncologist when faced with a set of symptoms, for example. Sometimes, a family practice physician must refer a patient to the appropriate specialist. The specialist may then need to perform other tests and take other steps, such as determining what the appropriate treatment is.
Sometimes a defendant in a medical malpractice case adopts the strategy of bringing a summary judgment motion in order to seek the dismissal of the lawsuit prior to trial. In order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit on a summary judgment motion, a defendant needs to show that there was not a departure from accepted medical practice or that the departure was not a legal cause of the injuries. The defendant must usually retain an expert to provide the opinion that the defendant's treatment of the plaintiff did not depart from accepted standards or practices or that the departure did not cause injuries. In response, your attorney will need to raise what is called a triable issue of fact, usually with another expert's testimony or affidavit.
Medical malpractice lawsuits can turn into a battle of experts. Medical experts do not need to be a specialist in a specific field, but they often are board-certified in the area in which the defendant practiced. To qualify, they need to have the requisite training, skill, education, experience, or knowledge from which it can be assumed that the opinion provided is reliable.
If we can establish that the defendant is liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit, it may be possible to recover your economic and noneconomic losses arising from the malpractice. Economic losses may include medical expenses, wage loss, replacement services (household services), and out-of-pocket costs. Noneconomic losses may include lost earning capacity, loss of consortium, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. The amount of damages depends on the nature of the injuries. For example, if a spine surgeon makes a surgical error that results in spinal cord injuries and a permanent loss of function, the losses are likely to be different than if a patient suffers temporary but not permanent injuries as a result of a failure to diagnose a heart attack.
Discuss Your Potential Claim with a Medical Malpractice Attorney in RomeIf you suffer injuries from medical malpractice at Rome Memorial Hospital, you should consult the experienced attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. We also represent patients in Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, Auburn, Elmira, Norwich, Cortland, Delhi, Herkimer, Watertown, Lowville, Oneida, Wampsville, Utica, Canandaigua, Oswego, Cooperstown, Ithaca, and Lyons. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.