New York City Failure to Provide Proper Care Lawyer
At its core, the duty doctors owe to their patients is a duty to provide competent care. Doctors must perform their services with knowledge and skill on the one hand while not causing harm through negligence on the other. A doctor who negligently fails to properly care for a patient has committed medical malpractice, and the patient has a right to recover compensation for any physical and emotional harm caused by that medical negligence. New York City medical malpractice attorney Michael Gunzburg holds doctors and hospitals accountable for their negligent failure to provide proper care and strives to recover the maximum compensation for his clients. If you have been harmed by the failure to get proper care from a doctor or hospital in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens, call our New York City failure to provide proper care lawyer Michael Gunzburg, P.C. to discuss your claim in a free initial consultation.
What Must a Doctor Do to Provide Proper Medical Care?
From the very first visit and the start of the doctor-patient relationship, the doctor owes a duty to provide proper care. This duty continues throughout the relationship and can be found at every step of the way. A doctor’s obligations include all of the following, for example:
- Take a complete patient history. Find out the patient’s health history, current medications, drug allergies, and other information necessary for treatment.
- Make a correct diagnosis. Listen to the patient’s symptoms, perform a physical exam, order any diagnostic tests that are indicated, and consult with specialists as necessary. Perform a differential diagnosis to rule out any life-threatening or time-sensitive conditions and arrive at a working diagnosis.
- Develop a treatment plan that is safe and effective in light of the diagnosis.
- Obtain the patient’s informed consent before conducting an invasive diagnostic test or beginning treatment. Explain the risks and benefits of the treatment and the risks and benefits of viable alternatives, including the consequences of doing nothing.
- If surgery is required, perform it competently. Don’t make surgical errors, such as incorrect incisions, puncturing or perforating an organ, performing surgery on the wrong side, or leaving medical instruments inside the patient. Don’t perform unnecessary surgery, and don’t delay or prolong necessary surgery. Make sure surgical and diagnostic tools are sanitary before use.
- Engage in proper follow-up care using best practices to prevent post-operative infections and bedsores.
A New York man was injured in an automobile accident in 2007. New York was held liable to the man due to hazardous conditions on the icy road that the DOT knew about yet failed to fix in a reasonable time. The man required 28 surgeries and skin grafts, leaving his left (dominant) arm severely injured. Due to receiving negligent care in the hospital, he suffered four recurrences of a MRSA infection even after the insertion of PICC lines to deliver heavy-duty antibiotics to his heart. The consequences of negligent failure to provide proper care can range from severe to life-threatening and fatal.
Hold New York City Doctors and Hospitals Accountable for Their Negligent Failure to Provide Proper Care
If you’ve been the subject of a negligent failure to provide proper care by a New York City doctor or hospital, call Michael Gunzburg, P.C. for a free consultation at 212-725-8500. We take on the most serious cases for clients throughout Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.
