Long Island Medical Malpractice Lawyer

A claim generally needs four things: a doctor, nurse or hospital that was treating you; care that departed from accepted medical practice; proof that the departure, not the illness itself, caused harm; and real injury, such as added treatment, disability, lost earnings or death. Whether care fell below the standard is a medical question that a qualified medical expert usually has to answer from the records. When care was spread across several Long Island providers, the review looks at each one separately.

Against a private doctor, practice or hospital in Nassau or Suffolk, generally two years and six months from the malpractice, or from the last treatment where the same provider was still treating the same condition (CPLR 214-a). Public providers are different for a personal-injury claim: Nassau University Medical Center needs a notice of claim on the Nassau Health Care Corporation, generally within 90 days; a claim against the State must be filed in the Court of Claims and served on the Attorney General within 90 days, unless a notice of intention is served on the Attorney General within that time; a VA claim must first go to the agency in writing, generally within two years, and suit is possible only after a denial or six months without a decision. Death claims have their own rules. Infancy can extend the time, but not beyond ten years after the claim accrues. The deadlines section on this page sets out each branch.

We review claims involving delayed or missed diagnosis, including cancer; surgical and anesthesia errors; medication and pharmacy errors; emergency department care and discharges; failures to monitor a patient, a labor or a newborn; informed-consent failures before non-emergency procedures; and care in nursing homes that involves medical treatment. Each claim needs records and an expert review before we can say whether the care fell below accepted practice.

The first review is free and we work on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery. In New York malpractice cases the fee is capped by a sliding statutory schedule (Judiciary Law 474-a) unless a court approves otherwise. How case expenses are handled is set out in the written retainer, which we go over with you before you sign.

Damages can include past and future medical and care costs, lost earnings and earning capacity, and pain and suffering, including loss of enjoyment of life. A spouse may have a separate claim for loss of services. When a patient dies, the estate can bring wrongful death and survival claims. The amount depends on the injury, the proof of causation and the records, so we do not quote figures before a review. Past results do not predict the outcome of another case.

Yes, but you do not do it alone. The claim has to show that the care departed from accepted medical practice and that the departure caused the injury, and that proof usually comes from expert medical testimony based on the records. Before filing, the attorney usually signs a certificate of merit after consulting an appropriately licensed practitioner (CPLR 3012-a). Your part is to tell us what happened and which providers you saw.

A known risk is not malpractice when it happens despite care that met accepted standards. It can still be malpractice if the procedure was performed carelessly, if the complication was not recognized and treated in time, or if you were not told the reasonably foreseeable risks and alternatives before a non-emergency procedure (Public Health Law 2805-d). Disclosure of a risk never excuses negligent performance. An expert review of the chart answers which of these happened.

We review care at any hospital, clinic or practice in Nassau and Suffolk, and at New York City hospitals when part of the care happened there. What changes the rules is who runs the facility: most Long Island hospitals belong to private systems, Nassau University Medical Center is run by the Nassau Health Care Corporation, State-run facilities answer in the Court of Claims, and the VA Northport medical center is federal. Naming a facility is not a suggestion that anything went wrong there.

The malpractice law is the same statewide. The difference is which public providers are involved. The New York City public-hospital notice applies to NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, none of which is in Nassau or Suffolk. In Nassau and Suffolk the public examples are Nassau University Medical Center, under the Nassau Health Care Corporation statute, State-run facilities and the VA. Private hospitals in either place carry no municipal notice. Claims against private providers and the Nassau Health Care Corporation are filed in Supreme Court in the right county; claims against the State go to the Court of Claims, and claims against the VA go to federal court only after the administrative claim. We confirm the forum at the review.

Signing a consent form does not give anyone permission to be careless. A consent form records that risks were discussed; it does not excuse a procedure performed below accepted standards or a complication that was ignored. A consent claim of its own also exists when the reasonably foreseeable risks and alternatives were not disclosed and a reasonably prudent person, fully informed, would have declined (Public Health Law 2805-d). We read the form against the chart.

It depends on the number of providers, how quickly records arrive, the expert review, depositions of the treating staff and the court calendar in Nassau or Suffolk. Some cases resolve before trial and some do not. We do not promise a timeline, but we explain what is driving the schedule in your case as it moves.