New York Medical Malpractice

When people go to see their doctor, they do so under the assumption that they are being cared for by an experienced and competent professional.

Similarly, when people are hospitalized either for treatment or surgery, they assume that all the doctors, surgeons, nurses, orderlies and staff that are caring for them are all operating under strict professional and ethical standards.

For the most part, those assumptions are correct. The great majority of doctors, surgeons and hospital staff are skilled professionals that are outstanding at their jobs.

But they aren’t perfect. No one is. Every person in every occupation, from gardener to chef to cop to computer programmer, makes mistakes.

The difference between a mistake made by a chef or computer programmer and a mistake made by a doctor is this: When a healthcare professional makes a mistake, people could have their conditions worsened, or they could be permanently adversely affected, or they could even die.

The available statistics are staggering. A study by Harvard University estimated that approximately 120,000 people die every year as the result of medical errors. This is higher than the number of people that die in car accidents.

What is even more concerning is that the majority of state medical boards in this country rarely take any serious disciplinary action against doctors that make these errors. Incompetent doctors are allowed to return to practice, where they are free to make mistakes again and again.

Despite these alarming numbers and incredibly lenient disciplinary standards, the phrase that has been beaten into our heads again and again is that there is a “lawsuit crisis” rather than a “competence crisis.” Insurance companies have raised their malpractice policy rates to such an extent that doctors in some states can no longer afford to stay in practice. Well-funded public relations groups like The American Tort Reform Association have claimed that the reason for this is due to the “explosion of frivolous lawsuits” and “outrageous and unfair judgments.” In fact, the number of judgments and settlements against doctors has remained consistently flat for the past decade. The amount of money paid out in settlements and judgments has also remained consistently flat. Yet insurance companies maintain the fiction that somehow all of this is the fault of frivolous lawyers instead of enormous conglomerates concerned only with their bottom line, and they do so while over a hundred people a day are being affected.

Examples of Medical Malpractice:

Wrong Diagnosis: Many hospitals are run by HMO’s, which place a high premium on cost cutting and maximizing profits. As a result, doctors who work at HMO-run facilities are officially discouraged from running expensive tests. This causes many doctors to go with the most obvious cause of the symptoms, which means that more serious problems get overlooked.

Incorrect Procedure: The inner workings of the human body are enormously complex. A minor mistake can result in enormous and life-changing damages, even in the simplest of surgeries.

Delay of Treatment: If a doctor fails to recognize a serious problem, or underestimates the urgency of a problem, the results could be disastrous. Misreading of an x-ray, MRI or lab results can be the difference between catching a condition in time or catching it when it is too late.

Medication Errors: A doctor that fails to properly ascertain the patient’s full medical history before writing out a prescription could be putting that patient’s life at risk. Some patients have allergies to certain medications, or some are taking medication that could prove harmful when used in combination with others. And some medications have specific instructions stating that they shouldn’t be used by people with certain pre-existing conditions. Lives have been lost because a doctor couldn’t be bothered to make sure that the medication they prescribed was safe for their patients.

Peter Panas: Don’t Get Hurt Again

Losing a loved one due to a mistake is an emotionally crippling event. Carrying the knowledge that a death was preventable is something that survivors will have with them for the rest of their lives.

Those that suffer lifelong physical ailments due to malpractice or incompetence also have lifelong obstacles. Many of them are unable to return to their jobs, or even return to work of any sort.

Peter Panas is an attorney with an unparalleled perspective on the suffering of victims of malpractice. Early in his career, he practiced in one of the top medical malpractice defense firms in the country. He saw how families and victims were treated as simple inconveniences to be either discredited or bought off. He saw how doctors were allowed to return to practice with a mere slap on the wrist after their horrendous mistakes caused enormous upheaval in the lives of their patients. And he saw how the insurance companies cared nothing about the welfare of those that were injured, and instead focused all of their efforts on making sure that they any financial responsibility would be minimized. He learned that insurers value their bottom line, and little else.

These experiences led to his decision to defend the rights of those that were truly being harmed by malpractice. Not the doctors, not the insurers, but the victims themselves.

Mr. Panas has since dedicated his career to helping those who have been injured through no fault of their own. He has successfully fought for the rights of the injured of New York by using his knowledge of both the law and the tactics of the insurance lawyers. He has authored a multi-volume series that has helped countless New Yorkers get positive results. And he has brought closure and piece of mind to victims that would otherwise faced possible financial ruin.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, you could be eligible for compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, lost future earnings, and medical expenses. Contact our offices for a free legal consultation today.

Library for New York Medical Malpractice:

• Do You Really Understand That Informed Consent Document You Signed?   
  Description: Do you understand that informed consent form that you signed the last time you had a medical procedure performed on you? If not, you’ll probably be glad to hear that some changes are in the works for those confusing forms. In an attempt to make informed consent documents more readable, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidelines last year challenging those in the medical profession to make their consent forms more patient-friendly.
• Medical Malpractice – Avoiding Surgical Errors   
  Description: Many patients suffer needlessly every year because of preventable medical mistakes and surgical errors. Learn about some common types of mistakes, what can be done to avoid them, and what questions you can ask before and after your surgery to avoid becoming a victim of a medical error.
• Consumer Guide: Choosing the Right Injury or Malpractice Attorney [PDF]   
  Description: Choosing the right attorney to represent you is a crucial part of having a succesful case.
  
  In this volume of The Consumer Guide, Peter explains the differences between a good attorney and a not-so-good one.

Web Resources for New York Medical Malpractice:

• New York Times