Your Rights Under New York Medical Malpractice Laws: Three Types of Medical Malpractice Cases that New York City Patients Should Know About
Most New York City patients are undoubtedly familiar with the fact that if they are injured by their trusted doctor or medical team while undergoing medical treatment, they may have claims for money compensation against the negligent doctor or medical team that injured them. When we think of these types of medical malpractice cases, however, we often think of something akin to a “freak accident” caused by a doctor, such as leaving a sponge in a patient’s body, operating on the left foot instead of the right, or operating on the wrong patient. However, medical malpractice acts do not have to be incredibly catastrophic in nature, or even obvious. In fact, the bulk of medical malpractice injuries are likely caused by much less apparent mistakes on behalf of negligent doctors. But what are some of the common types of medical malpractice cases that happen in New York City, and where can injured New York City patients go for legal help to get justice against the negligent doctors that injured them? We answer those questions here.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases that Arise in New York City: Failure to Diagnose a Condition and Misdiagnosing
One of the main, or more common, types of medical malpractice cases that occur in New York City is a doctor’s failure to diagnose a patient’s condition or illness, or their misdiagnosis of the condition. As one can imagine, failing to diagnose a patient correctly, or misdiagnosing a patient can have extremely dangerous consequences. Failure to diagnose a condition may cause a New York City medical patient to miss the window of opportunity for treatment. Similarly, a patient may be seriously injured by being treated for the wrong diagnosis. Such failures typically arise in the context of breast cancer, vulva cancer, lung cancer and other forms of cancer.
Prescribing the Wrong Medication in New York City
Another type of medical malpractice case that happens all-too-often is when a doctor prescribes a patient the wrong type of medication for their condition. If a doctor prescribes the wrong medication, the wrong dose, or a medication that might conflict with a patient’s other underlying conditions or medical history, the results can be seriously life-threatening.
Negligent Errors in Surgery or Other Medical Treatment
Of course, a negligent doctor can seriously injure a New York City medical patient if they make a negligent error during surgery or other treatment of the patient. Causing damage to internal organs or tissue during the patient’s surgery can be fatal, and New York City patients who have been subject to negligent surgical errors may be permanently disabled or even killed. Other surgical errors include those situations where a doctor goes into surgery with a plan to do one thing, and comes out doing something completely different. In one case, a doctor was supposed to remove a patient’s tumor, when he couldn’t find the tumor, he decided to castrate the patient and he removed her healthy ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The patient went to another doctor who found the tumor, which had grown substantially, and surgically removed it. The first doctor was negligent because he performed a completely unnecessary surgery and permanently castrated the patient.
Legal Help for Victims of Medical Malpractice in New York City
If you were injured by your trusted doctor or medical team in New York City, and you need legal help, contact the experienced New York City medical malpractice lawyers at the law firm of Michael Gunzburg, P.C. The experienced New York City medical malpractice lawyers at the law firm of Michael Gunzburg, P.C are here to help New York City medical patients get justice for their injuries caused by negligent doctors. Call Michael Gunzburg, P.C. today and speak with a lawyer about your options now.
