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New York Medical Malpractice Attorneys in NYC
Good doctors make mistakes. Bad ones won’t admit it. If you suspect medical negligence you are probably right but let us prove it. Together let’s try and stop this from happening again. The time to do something is running fast don’t get left behind. Don’t lose your chance to hold them accountable.
We are ready to help. We know who to talk to, where to find the answers, and what steps are necessary for your success. Few firms can match the depth of medical malpractice experience and trial expertise offered by Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. Firmly rooted in the communities of New York and Long Island, its partners, associates and staff are dedicated medical malpractice plaintiff advocates with a commitment to defending patient safety.
Call us with your concerns now. We promise to be kind, helpful and informative. Consultation is free. Our New York medical malpractice lawyers can help you organize your thoughts and concerns and then answer any questions you may have about what has happened. We provide car service should you choose to meet with us at one of our offices, or we can come to the hospital or to your home.
We know when to try cases to verdict, when to settle, and when to appeal. Let our trial team relieve you of your worries and anxieties associated with having to sue. Our accident lawyers are available by phone or e-mail seven days a week.
Benefits of Our Firm
Over its more than 30-year history, Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. has prosecuted almost one thousand medical malpractice cases and argued nearly 100 matters before New York State’s Appellate Courts. In the process, the firm has acquired a breadth of experience in medical malpractice that sets it apart from other New York firms.
Experience counts. We can’t think of a type of medical malpractice claim that we haven’t successfully resolved for our clients. Our past achievements provide a secure foundation for each new client we represent. Senior partners Mr. Awad and Mr. Miklos are recognized leaders in their field. Both have been selected as the top trial lawyers in medical malpractice by virtually every peer-review organization.
Together, they lead an accomplished team that includes an:
Attorney-nurse
Attorney-pharmacist
Experienced trial attorneys
The firm also has access to the finest medical minds to support our clients’ cases.
Types of Malpractice Claims
Medical Malpractice cases include:
Pediatric problems
Inadequate or improper medication
Hospitalization
Plastic surgery
Infection
Radiology Misdiagnosis
and more…
New clients benefit from our firm’s success and past excellent results achieved. New clients receive the security of having New York medical malpractice lawyers who know how to exercise legal power to recover all of the money damages an injured person deserves. Reputation is built on quality, integrity, professionalism – and proven results. We are proud to rank among top state and national law firms.
Posting historic verdicts and landmark rulings, Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. has achieved record recoveries and has distinguished itself in more than 100 Appellate matters argued before the Appellate Division and cases before New York State’s highest Court, the Court of Appeals. Most importantly, our trial attorneys are experienced in litigating against hospitals, doctors. big business, powerful insurers and corporate defendants in every type of case within the personal injury field.
How do you know if you have a case for medical malpractice?
The opportunity for medical mistakes to be made are almost endless. If any of these examples of medical malpractice seem familiar then you may have a case for medical malpractice. Trust your instincts and get a consult from the best medical malpractice lawyer near you.
- Ignored complaints of symptoms
- Delayed or missed diagnosis
- Improper treatment after diagnosis
- Failing to recognize symptoms and diagnose a condition
- Administering the wrong amount of medication
- Administering too little or too much anesthesia
- Using unsterilized equipment
- Puncturing organs or cutting too deeply during surgery
- Not referring a patient to the appropriate specialist
- Discharging a patient too early
- Leaving an instrument inside a patient’s body
- Failure to timely diagnose
- Misdiagnosis of an illness or injury
- Failure to appropriately treat an illness or injury
- Treatment of a non-existent medical condition
- Failure to order appropriate tests
- Not referring patients to another doctor for specialized care
- Leaving an object in the body after surgery
- Using non-sterilized medical equipment
- Misreading a CT, MRI, X–Ray, ultrasound or other test results
- Misdiagnosing a disease or condition
- Operating on the wrong body part
- Leaving a foreign object in the body
- Complications from the prescription of unnecessary medicines and treatments
- Administering another patient’s treatment regimen to another patient
- Delaying emergency treatment
- Out-of-date equipment
All of these types of situations may be grounds for a medical malpractice claim. Individuals who believe they may be victims of medical malpractice should talk to an experienced New York medical malpractice attorney to see if they have a case.
The list of possible medical malpractice examples is almost infinite, which is why you need a top medical malpractice attorney near you. You need the most experienced malpractice lawyer you can find to sort through all of the complexities of medicine and law.
New clients benefit from our firm’s success and past excellent results achieved. New clients receive the security of having New York medical malpractice lawyers who know how to exercise legal power to recover all of the money damages an injured person deserves. Reputation is built on quality, integrity, professionalism – and proven results. We are proud to rank among top state and national law firms.
Posting historic verdicts and landmark rulings, Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. has achieved record recoveries and has distinguished itself in more than 100 Appellate matters, argued before the Appellate Division and argued cases before New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Most importantly, our trial attorneys are experienced in litigating against hospitals, doctors. big business, powerful insurers and corporate defendants in every type of case within the personal injury field.
What kind of lawyer do I need to sue a doctor?
In a medical malpractice case you want a lawyer who is more accustomed to dealing with complex medical issues. Second, you need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in order for that lawyer to get anywhere in settlement discussions with the doctors, insurance companies or the defense attorneys.
What are the four D’s of medical negligence
“The four D’s of medical malpractice are duty, dereliction (negligence or deviation from the standard of care), damages and direct cause. Each of these four elements must be proved to have been present, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, for malpractice to be found.” (This quote is taken from a psyciatric medical journal but is true for all medical malpractice. J Psychiatr Practa. 2014 Sep;20(5):363-8. doi: 10.1097/01.pra.0000454781.67482.ad.)
What is the most common reason for malpractice?
Failure to diagnose a medical condition is a leading cause of medical malpractice lawsuits. A malpractice lawsuit is something physicians dread, but one that most experience over the course of their career.
Common or frequently asked questions(FAQ) about a malpractice lawsuit:
How common is medical negligence?
Every year hundreds of thousands of Americans are impacted by medical malpractice. A study conducted by Johns Hopkins experts published in 2016 concluded that more than 250,000 people lose their lives each year because of medical error. According to the study, medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. It is responsible for 9.5% of all deaths in the United States every year.
What is the most common reason for malpractice?
Incompetence, lack of caring and ignorance, rarely form the basis for malpractice occurring. In our experience, it is more likely due to a failure to follow accepted protocols and practices established by the medical community.
How do you tell if you have been misdiagnosed?
It is extremely hard for a average patient to tell if they have been misdiagnosed. Usually, it starts with a nagging feeling that something is wrong. Sometimes the patient is told a complication arose or that an unexpected complication developed. Often times it’s another physician that will tell you that you never had a condition or that there was a failure to diagnose your condition. We find that one of the more common signs is that there is a delay in diagnosis in the sense that your condition has been diagnosed at a late stage. To be on the safe side when the first nagging suspicion claws at your stomach, you should consult with a top medical malpractice attorney who should be able to tell you if you’ve been misdiagnosed.
Is Medical Malpractice a crime?
In spite of what a lot of wrong medical malpractice patients feel when medical malpractice occurs it is not a crime. A crime implies an intent to harm someone. Medical professionals rarely intend to harm their patients. At worst they can be guilty of negligence or gross negligence.
Do doctors lie to patients?
I am sad to say that while most doctors don’t lie to patients, there are those that do. That usually comes up in the context of informed consent. The medical provider will swear that they told their patient of the risks and benefits of a procedure or treatment and the patient will deny it. They will often point to an informed consent form which the patient signed without ever reading it.
Another form of lying is when doctors and clinics submit fraudulent claims to insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare. These acts can rise to the level of a crime involving jail time.
Another insidious form of lying by the medical profession involves patient’s records. We’ve had cases where we were able to prove that parts of the medical record of the doctor were rewritten or that the entire record was rewritten. This kind of nonsense is not limited to doctors office records but also applies to the medical records made at a hospital. Even in the advent of electronic medical records the practice still goes on.
What happens if a doctor makes a mistake?
There’s a bad joke that says bad doctors bury their mistakes. That happens nowadays, but not always. It takes an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to understand and explain that mistakes don’t always form the basis for a lawsuit. You need more than that. The mistake must have caused injury to the patient. Lots of mistakes don’t harm the patient or don’t harm the patient significantly enough to warrant bringing a lawsuit.
If a doctor makes a mistake and is sued for medical malpractice and loses the case he does not go to jail, lose his license or get run out of town. Doctors who have lots and lots of claims and verdicts against them may have their hospital privileges limited or suspended. Most do not.
Statute of Limitations or Deadlines to File a Claim
How long do you have to make a medical negligence claim?
Potential medical malpractice plaintiffs should act quickly to file by the deadline for making personal injury claims. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 214-a states that a case must be filed in court no more than two and a half years from the date of injury. In some instances, this time may not begin until the plaintiff discovers the harm. If a death is involved there may be two statute of limitations that apply. For a death the statute of limitations is two years from the date of death. While pain-and-suffering associated with that death may have a two and a half year statue of limitations. Please bear in mind that if a death is involved, a Surrogate’s Court procedure will have to take place to name an estate representative either by a will or intestate if there is no will.
In the case of a lawsuit for medical malpractice against a government entity, municipality, N.Y. State, the Federal Government, county government, New York City or a state or federally funded clinic or the veterans administration, there different very limited times to file a notice of claim. The filing of a timely notice of claim is a prerequisite to starting a lawsuit against them.
Like most things, in the law there are things commonly called loopholes. Loopholes or tolls may extend the time file a notice of claim or a lawsuit. There are tolls for certain types of cases like foreign objects, cancer and for certain circumstances like continuous treatment and for certain types of people like children, mental impairments and others things. In order to know the full list of tolls, you need to speak to a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as you think you might have a case.
Mechanics of a Malpractice Lawsuit
Do I need a lawyer to start a medical malpractice suit?
The short answer is no, but you really should hire the best medical malpractice lawyer near you. People who start lawsuits by themselves usually wind up in trouble and over their heads. Suing a doctor or hospital is not for the faint of heart. There are a great deal of legal requirements and technicalities that can get your case thrown out of court.
Knowing who to sue is not always as simple as it appears. There may be players in the malpractice lawsuit that you are unaware of and who should have been sued. Not doing so can really hurt your case, both on liability and on the amount of compensation you can recover.
The statue of limitations is extremely tricky and usually requires an expert medical malpractice attorney. There may be exceptions to the time to sue that you are unaware of. This is particularly true when you are dealing with governmental agencies and their employees. You would be surprised at what constitutes a governmental agency and the time prerequisites to bringing a lawsuit varies so much. An example of possible pitfalls and unexpected circumstances would be a case against one of the hospitals run by the City of New York. The City of New York would be an improper entity to sue and the Health and Hospitals Corporation must be sued according to their rules but not before given them statutory notice of your claim. If you fail to name the correct entity in your lawsuit or to follow procedure regarding notice most likely you will wind up with your lawsuit being dismissed regardless of how meritorious it is.
Another area that pro se litigants (those without a lawyer) run into trouble is in discovery. Defense attorneys are notorious for requesting discovery of your personal information that they are not entitled to and you may be unaware of how to and when to resist such demands. Being aware of your rights can hurt your chances of winning the malpractice lawsuit.
There are pleading requirements and expert disclosure requirements that most people are unaware of. There are so many traps to get caught in during the case which we cannot recommend strongly enough that you hire the best malpractice lawyer you can find.
How do I start medical malpractice suit?
All malpractice cases start the same way. You need to obtain your medical records both before during and after the alleged malpractice. Those records need to be carefully evaluated and an expert physician needs to be consulted about the findings.
The single BEST TIP that you can get about starting a medical malpractice lawsuit is to try and get your medical records yourself. Your lawyer can do it for you, but it can take anywhere from several weeks to several months for that to happen. Under federal law you are entitled to an electronic copy of your medical records for very little or no money. Lawyers typically pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for the same records that you can get for under $10 or for free. If you are concerned about time and want the fastest answer to your possible case, you should definitely get your own medical records. Clients usually get the medical records within a few days and sometimes within a week from doctors and hospitals.
Where do I file a medical negligence case?
We recommend that you start all medical malpractice cases in the Supreme Court of the state of New York. There are choice of venue considerations which require the experience of a medical malpractice lawyer. The venue is the place for the county in which the lawsuit is started. Certain counties have a higher rate of winning a lawsuit for the patient than others. Unless you are in the business of law, you have no way of evaluating this important part of the case.
How do I get a malpractice attorney to take my case?
You cannot get medical malpractice attorney to take your case. However, there are two things that you can do to increase the odds of that happening as fast as possible. The first is to obtain all of your medical records that are relevant to the case. The second is to prepare a chronology of your medical treatment with the names and addresses of all hospitals and doctors and second opinion consults that you had. It also helps if you write down what you think went wrong. That is helpful even if you say that you have no idea.
How hard is it to prove medical malpractice?
Generally speaking, it is hard to prove medical malpractice but not impossible. The success rate for patients resulting in a favorable verdict or settlement varies greatly by the venue or County in which the lawsuit was commenced. Counties like Suffolk County and Nassau County have a lower win rate at trial for plaintiffs then do Bronx and Brooklyn. The experience of your attorney is also a significant factor, as well as the size of the team working on your case.
Who can you sue for medical malpractice?
The list of professionals and organizations that can be liable for medical malpractice is long. The most common are doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical groups, medical clinics, walk-in clinics, nursing homes, therapists, and pharmacists. This list is not meant to be exclusive, but is a good starting point for most people.
How do you prove that medical malpractice occurred ?
Any claim alleging malpractice requires substantive research and the aid of a medical expert. Even attorneys who have pursued medical malpractice claims in the past must work with a qualified professional to present evidence of a doctor’s negligent behavior to a judge or jury. Medical malpractice attorneys in Nassau County could connect plaintiffs with a trustworthy physician who has expertise in the medical field in which the malpractice occurred.
In fact, state law requires medical malpractice lawyers to present a Certificate of Merit, which must show that they consulted with at least one licensed physician prior to filing the complaint. Additionally, the attorney must state they have a good faith belief that there is a reasonable basis for the lawsuit.
THE REQUIREMENT OF EXPERT TESTIMONY
In all cases involving allegations of medical malpractice, malpractice must generally be proven through the testimony of an expert medical witness. Much of the evidence presented at trial will be given by a doctor who has reviewed the case and made an independent determination as to whether malpractice occurred.
A plaintiff’s case is unlikely to be successful without this testimony. In fact, New York law places a responsibility on plaintiffs’ attorneys to certify that they have consulted with an expert prior to filing their claim and that there is a legal justification for the complaint. Someone seeking to hold a negligent physician or hospital accountable should reach out to a skilled New York medical malpractice lawyer. They should review the factors concerning the case and advocate on an injured person’s behalf.
Lets Talk about DAMAGES
Social media and surveillance
No discussion of damages would be complete without a discussion of social media and surveillance. The insurance companies and defense counsel will scrutinize your social media accounts for anything that will be helpful to the defense. They will also scrutinize your family and friends social media accounts for comments about you and pictures of you smiling and having a good time. The argument being that anyone who was smiling, laughing and having a good time obviously can’t be as hurt as they claim. They look for pictures of you doing activities which you claim in the lawsuit that you cannot do. The antidote for this activity on the part of the defense is to keep all social media accounts set to private and did not post material that can be interpreted in the wrong way. Do not let your friends and family post material that can sink your lawsuit and ask them to set their accounts to private.
In cases where the ability to walk or walk with a limp or some restriction and activity is alleged that defendants will hire a surveillance team to stick around without your knowledge and videotape you performing daily activities. The hope is that they can catch you doing something that you have claimed in the lawsuit is a problem.
How do you prove pain and suffering?
To prove pain-and-suffering, sometimes lawyers use your testimony, medical records, expert opinion, treating physicians, family and friends and photographs and video. There are other types of evidence that can be used to demonstrate your injuries, including charts and graphs and illustrations. The list is as rich as your lawyer’s imagination. Almost anything that can demonstrate your injuries to a jury can be used.
How much money can you get for a medical malpractice suit?
People injured by medical error often wonder about the amount of compensation they can recover from a medical malpractice claim. Because each case is different, the extent of the injuries suffered will vary and, therefore, so do the damages and potential compensation. However, those injured by medical malpractice may receive compensation for damages including but not limited to:
- Loss of income
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Emotional suffering
- Physical pain
- Cost of medical and rehabilitative services (past and ongoing care)
- Cost of medical equipment now needed due to the injury
- Many victims of medical malpractice may not initially recognize their experience or treatment amounts to a claim. That’s where we can help
- Damages Available to Patients
There are various types of damages that may be available to injured patients in medical malpractice cases. Some of these damages are economic or compensatory in nature, such as lost wages due to an inability to work, medical bills, hospital expenses, and the costs of rehabilitation. Other damages are non-economic or general damages that may be more difficult to evaluate, such as pain and suffering and emotional anguish.
An individual who sustained more extensive or debilitating injuries could recover significant compensation. No matter how extensive your injuries may be, speaking with a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney may help you understand the potential compensation you may be awarded for your injury or loss.
Punitive damages may be available in extreme cases of medical malpractice. This might be the case if a doctor or medical provider acted recklessly or with malice in causing injuries to a patient. A skilled Long Island medical malpractice lawyer could help an injured patient recover damages.
You need to call our New York medical malpractice attorneys because the earlier the investigation the better. We try cases throughout New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Binghamton. If you have a lawyer friend you’d like to be involved, we welcome the idea. Currently, we have almost 40 law firms referring clients with medical malpractice matters.
Visit our Medical Malpractice FAQ page for more answers to your questions and don’t forget to download our medical malpractice ebooklet.
Other areas of practice include:
Inadequate security or supervision
Child safety: Lead poisoning, poor school supervision
You need to call our New York medical malpractice attorney because of the earlier the investigation the better. We try cases throughout New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Binghamton. If you have a lawyer friend you’d like to be involved, we welcome the idea. Currently, we have almost 40 law firms referring clients with medical malpractice matters.