Madison County Medical Malpractice

Madison County has its county seat at Wampsville. As of 2000, there were nearly 70,000 residents in the county, many of whom received health care from facilities such as Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton and Oneida Health Care Center. Medical malpractice can have serious consequences. In most cases, patients do not have enough saved up to address the losses that they may incur if a health care provider's departure from the professional standard of care causes catastrophic injuries. If you believe that you may have been a victim of a surgical error, a misdiagnosis, or another form of medical malpractice, it is critical to retain a Madison County medical malpractice lawyer who can pursue damages on your behalf. Medical malpractice cases can involve complicated pre-suit requirements and often hinge on expert credibility. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our skillful trial attorneys have experience pursuing and successfully recovering damages on behalf of injured patients.

Even before we bring a medical malpractice lawsuit on a plaintiff's behalf, we will need to consult with a health care expert who is knowledgeable. The health care expert will review records and evidence to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to sue for medical malpractice.

Under Rule 3012-a, a medical malpractice attorney in Madison County or elsewhere in New York will need to file a certificate alongside the initial complaint. The certificate needs to state that the attorney reviewed the case, consulted with a health care expert licensed to practice, and reasonably believes that the expert is knowledgeable about the medical issues relevant to the plaintiff's claims. Based on this, the attorney must have concluded that there is a reasonable basis for the lawsuit. If we cannot get this consultation in time to comply with the statute of limitations, we can file the certificate within 90 days after serving the complaint on the defendant health care provider, which may be an individual doctor or an entity like a hospital or clinic.

Sometimes there are multiple people or entities potentially responsible for the medical malpractice. However, we only need to prepare one certificate. Even so, it is important to have time for your Madison County medical malpractice attorney to consult with the expert and get a sense of how viable a claim is before filing it. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is usually 2½ years from the acts that constituted medical malpractice. However, if the malpractice involves a continuing course of treatment, the clock does not start running until the course of treatment ends. There is a special rule for cases in which a foreign object was left inside your body, such as through a surgical error. If this is the basis of your claim, you have just one year from the date that you discovered that a foreign object was left in your body or the discovery of facts that would reasonably lead to your learning that a foreign object had been left in your body.

Even though you may have some time before the statute of limitations runs out on your case, since we need to complete the pre-suit requirements, it is advisable to consult us as soon as possible after the events that you suspect were medical malpractice. It can take time to review records, locate a suitable expert, and determine whether there was malpractice. Additionally, over time, memories fade, and evidence can disappear. It is important to start investigating as soon as possible after the malpractice happens.

Once the complaint is filed, we will build your case through discovery. Many civil lawsuits settle, but others do need to be taken to trial. We can establish medical malpractice by showing that: (1) you were owed a professional standard of care by the defendant, (2) the defendant departed from the professional standard of care, (3) the departure actually and proximately caused your injuries, and (4) you sustained actual damages. Often, medical malpractice trials can become battles over whether the plaintiff or defendant's expert is more credible.

DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to help you recover damages from the parties who are responsible if your child or you suffered harm from medical malpractice. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.