Oneida Healthcare Center

Oneida Healthcare was established in 1894 to treat victims of railroad accidents. It is a 101-bed acute care hospital. It also provides extended care and short-term rehabilitation to patients. When you go to Oneida Healthcare or any other hospital, you trust that your medical condition will be properly addressed. However, even trusted and well-respected health care providers sometimes make mistakes. Mistakes made in diagnosing, treating, or performing a procedure on a patient can be devastating. If you were harmed by hospital malpractice at a facility such as Oneida Healthcare Center, the experienced Oneida medical malpractice attorneys of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to help you.

If you suspect you’ve been the victim of hospital or medical malpractice, it’s advisable to talk to an experienced attorney right away. There is a short window of time, known as a statute of limitations, within which you can bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. You only have 2 ½ years from the occurrence of medical malpractice, in most cases, to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. If a doctor’s mistake is part of a course of treatment, the clock would not start until the completion of the course. However, the statute of limitations can be more complicated than this. Under the discovery rule, you may have more time. For example, if a surgeon at the healthcare center leaves a sponge inside your abdomen during abdominal surgery, you’d have within a year of the date you discovered there was a sponge inside you or one year from the discovery of facts that would reasonably cause you to discover there was a sponge left inside you. The earlier of these dates will apply. Those who don’t sue for medical malpractice before the statute of limitations runs can be barred from suing a health care provider at all, except where an exception applies. A medical malpractice attorney serving Oneida can help you navigate these rules.

In addition to complying with the statute of limitations for medical malpractice to make sure your case gets heard, you would also need to obtain and file with your complaint a written certificate of merit. The certificate of merit should state that you talked to a licensed doctor and determined based on that consultation there were reasonable grounds to sue. Alternatively, you would have to show you couldn’t comply with the certificate of merit requirement after trying in good faith to get a consultation with three different doctors. A seasoned malpractice lawyer can assist you in this process.

To establish a medical malpractice lawsuit, you will need to show it’s more likely than not: (1) there was a doctor patient relationship that produced a professional obligation of care, (2) failure to abide by the professional standard of care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages. Where the health care provider who committed medical malpractice is an employee of the health care center, it should be possible to hold the health care center liable under a theory of respondeat superior. Alternatively, it might be possible to hold the healthcare center directly accountable for negligence in hiring or retaining the at-fault healthcare provider. To prove this sort of liability, you’ll need to show: (1) an employee-employer relationship, (2) the employer knew or should have known about the employee’s propensity for medical malpractice that could cause the injuries and (3) the medical malpractice was committed at the health care center or with the chattels of the health care center. A knowledgeable Oneida medical malpractice lawyer can help you bring a claim of this nature.

Damages can include both noneconomic and economic losses. Noneconomic damages may include pain and suffering, loss of consortium, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment. Economic damages you may be able to recover are usually more concrete and can be established with reference to documents. Where a loved one was killed by medical malpractice, you may be able to recover wrongful death damages.

If you were harmed or a loved one died as a result of hospital malpractice at a facility such as Oneida Healthcare Center, it is wise to talk to a skillful trial attorney. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents hospital malpractice victims and their families in their efforts to seek justice and compensation following incidents of professional negligence. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.