Medical Malpractice FAQs

Most people trust their doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. Unfortunately, health care providers do make mistakes, and when they do, a patient may suffer serious harm. If you were injured by a doctor, you may be able to recover damages by bringing a lawsuit. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys have years of experience representing patients harmed by medical negligence, and can answer your questions regarding your legal rights.

Common types of medical malpractice include surgical errors, failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, failure to treat, and prescription drug errors. Failure to diagnose a disease or illness is very common, with the most common diseases that are misdiagnosed being cancer and heart attacks. When a doctor fails to diagnose a life-threatening condition, catastrophic injuries or death may result. Similarly, there are surgical errors that can be life threatening. Sometimes these involve leaving sponges or tools inside a body cavity, while sometimes the wrong site is operated upon. Sometimes a surgical technique is not performed correctly. In other cases, there is a failure to obtain informed consent to perform the surgery. There are also situations in which a doctor arrives at the correct diagnosis but doesn’t treat the illness according to the accepted professional standard of care, or fails to follow up. Many medical malpractice lawsuits are brought against OB-GYNs for birth injuries. These birth injuries may be the result of a failure to perform a C-section or a failure to provide proper monitoring during the pregnancy. Doctors may make actionable mistakes by prescribing an incorrect medication, prescribing a medication that has an adverse interaction with another medication taken by the patient, or through incorrect dosing.

Most doctors strive to provide quality care during a patient’s pregnancy or labor and delivery. Unfortunately, mistakes happen. When newborns suffer birth injuries due to medical malpractice, their lives may be changed forever. Birth injury lawsuits need to be filed within 2 years and 6 months from the time of injury. Wrongful death lawsuits based on birth injury need to be filed within 2 years from the date of the baby’s death.

Differential diagnosis is a process used by doctors to determine which disease or condition explains a patient’s symptoms. Usually the information needed to diagnose the patient is gathered by taking a medical history and performing a physical exam. However, diagnostic procedures may also be performed for diagnosis. Failure to promptly diagnose a condition can cause the condition to worsen or progress. Certain illnesses can be harder to treat the further they progress. For example, if certain kinds of cancer are allowed to progress undiagnosed for a period of time, they may progress to a stage where they are no longer treatable and the patient will die. A dedicated medical malpractice attorney serving Syracuse can review the facts of your case to determine whether you may have a viable claim related to a failure to diagnose.

Permanent injuries such as brain injuries and spinal cord injuries can result in substantial damages if victims can prove liability. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, you may be able to recover economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages for permanent injuries may include amounts to cover medical bills, medical equipment, prescription drugs, rehabilitation, therapy, replacement services, and alterations to one’s home. For example, if you can’t perform the housekeeping you previously performed, it may be possible to seek and recover costs for replacement housekeeping services. Likewise, if you can no longer get around your home without building wheelchair ramps, you may be able to obtain the costs to install these. Noneconomic damages may include amounts for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment, and loss of consortium. For example, sometimes a spouse is no longer able to be sexually intimate or emotionally close with a spouse who has permanent traumatic brain injuries, and in that case they may be able to recover for loss of consortium.

If you are trying to obtain damages for medical malpractice, it is wise to retain an experienced Syracuse medical malpractice attorney. There are complex rules related to expert testimony in medical malpractice lawsuits. Often the issues are technical and difficult to understand. Medical malpractice lawyers have experience considering these issues. They can figure out technical problems like how to cross-examine and attack the health care provider’s expert witness who claims you shouldn’t recover damages.

You can sue for medical malpractice if you or a loved one were a patient harmed by a doctor who failed to competently perform medical duties. The parties you may be able to sue include any health care providers who provided you with care, or with whom a doctor-patient relationship arose. It may also be possible to recover damages from parties including a pharmacist, a laboratory, nurses, or a hospital.

If you were injured or a loved one was harmed by medical malpractice, you can talk to a skillful trial attorney regarding your legal rights and options. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents patients in Syracuse, Rochester, and throughout Upstate New York, including in communities such as Binghamton, Canandaigua, Lyons, Ithaca, Auburn, Oswego, Lowville, Cooperstown, Wampsville, Elmira, Herkimer, Oneida, Utica, and Watertown. Call our firm at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.