St. Elizabeth Medical Center has two campuses and 201 acute care beds. It’s located in Utica and New Hartford. It also includes the Sister Rose Vincent Elizabeth Family Medicine Center, which is both a care and teaching facility for new doctors. One of its locations includes an area trauma center, an ambulatory surgical center, cardiac services, and services for sleep disorders. If you believe you were the victim of medical malpractice at a facility such as St. Elizabeth Medical Center, you may be able to recover damages. An experienced Utica medical malpractice attorney can evaluate the facts of your case and advise you regarding your legal options.
Medical MalpracticeHealth care providers can make serious errors that cause catastrophic injuries. Your life can be altered by a doctor or nurse’s error, and sometimes these injuries are fatal. Even so, you may not be sure whether what you experienced was malpractice. It is advisable to consult with a malpractice lawyer in Utica as soon as possible if you suspect you were harmed by medical malpractice. In New York, you have a limited window of time within which to file your medical malpractice lawsuit.
Medical malpractice can be based on a failure to diagnose, a misdiagnosis, a failure to treat appropriately, birth injuries, or surgical errors. For example, if a surgeon reads the chart wrong and amputates the wrong limb, this is medical malpractice. For another example, if your family physician fails to refer you to an oncologist when you show signs of cancer, this is likely medical malpractice. However, in most cases, medical malpractice is not as clear as amputating the wrong body part. Rather, it may involve technical information and judgment calls.
Health Care Provider LiabilityIn order to establish medical malpractice, you’ll need to prove: (1) you had a doctor-patient relationship giving rise to a professional standard of care, (2) breach of the professional standard of care, (3) causation, and (4) damages. The professional standard of care includes the accepted standards and practices of the medical community given a certain patient or set of facts. When a doctor deviates from those accepted practices and standards and causes injuries to or the death of a patient, it may be possible to hold the doctor (or other health care provider) accountable.
Often medical malpractice lawsuits are battles between experts. Each side will need to hire experts to testify on what the professional standard of care was, what actions constitute (or didn’t constitute) a breach of care, and causation. Sometimes a case boils down to which expert is more persuasive, which is why it’s best to work with experienced Utica medical malpractice attorneys who know which experts are more credible and persuasive on the stand.
Damages for Medical MalpracticeDoctors and nurses have a lot of power. Medical malpractice can change a patient’s life forever, and can result in an untimely death. When a patient or their family members can establish liability for medical malpractice, it may be possible to recover all economic and noneconomic losses arising out of the malpractice. This can include economic losses such as lost wages, medical bills, replacement services, and out-of-pocket costs. It can also include intangible harms like pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, loss of consortium, and lost enjoyment of life.
If your loved one lost his or her life due to medical malpractice, it may be possible to file a lawsuit for wrongful death. In a wrongful death lawsuit it may be possible to recover funeral and burial expenses, health care expenses, lost wages and benefits, the value of the decedent’s support and services to family members, the decedent’ conscious pain and suffering, and lost inheritance to surviving children.
Consult a Medical Malpractice Attorney in UticaIf you believe you were injured or your loved one died due to medical malpractice at a medical facility such as St. Elizabeth Medical Center, a seasoned medical malpractice attorney can help you determine your next steps. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano works with experienced, credible experts so that patients and their families can pursue the damages to which they are entitled. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.