Hospital Malpractice

Premature Discharge from Hospitals in Rochester and Across New York

Published on: January 25, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

An early discharge from a hospital can cause as much harm as any other medical mistake. If you or someone close to you has been injured due to a premature discharge from a hospital, it is imperative to reach out to a skilled Rochester hospital malpractice attorney who can help. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are committed to helping our clients pursue the compensation they need to move on with their life. Malpractice claims can be complicated and stressful, but we want to make the process as seamless as possible for you.

When a patient is discharged from a hospital too soon, he or she is put at risk to manage problems at home that should have been managed at the hospital. In some cases, this is simply not possible, and the patient ends up suffering serious harm and needs to be readmitted to the hospital. Patients are rushed out of hospitals for a number of reasons. Often, hospitals are overcrowded, and busy staff is trying to get patients home as soon as possible. In other cases, sending a patient home too early is simply an error in judgment. Lastly, the sad reality is that hospitals are a business, and they often try to maximize profits by seeing as many patients as possible.

Not every error by a medical professional will rise to the level of medical malpractice. In other words, not every patient who was released too early will have a malpractice claim. Instead, malpractice takes place when a medical professional causes harm by failing to adhere to the standard of care that another medical professional would have used in the same or similar circumstances. Essentially, the medical professional’s conduct must have deviated from what a reasonably prudent medical professional in the same specialty would have done in the same situation, and that deviation must have been a direct cause of injury to the patient. It is important to note that the patient must also prove that the doctor’s actions caused foreseeable harm.

Hospital Falls in Rochester

Published on: January 12, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Hospitals must follow certain protocols to make sure patients do not get hurt in preventable falls. If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury due to a fall in a hospital, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit for your harm. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our Rochester hospital malpractice attorneys have handled numerous medical malpractice cases throughout New York and can handle your claim as well. You can trust that we will work diligently to help you pursue full and fair compensation for the losses you have suffered.

Falls that take place in hospitals are a widespread and serious threat to patient safety. Accidental falls are among the most common incidents reported in hospitals and a complication of about 2 percent of hospital stays. According to one study, rates of falls in the United States range from 3.3 to 11.5 falls per 1,000 patient days. The same study finds that between July 1, 2006 and September 30, 2008, there were a total of 315,817 falls in U.S. hospitals, out of which 82,332 resulted in an injury.

Hospital falls can happen for a variety of reasons, including:

Failure to monitor patients;
Improper transfer from a gurney or a wheelchair;
Allowing at-risk patients to walk unsupervised;
Falls on a wet or slippery floor;
Malfunctioning bed rails;
Poor lighting or clutter on the floor causing a trip hazard; and
Medication errors, leading to dizzy or disoriented patients.

Nurse Negligence in Hospitals in New York

Published on: December 26, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

When you visit a hospital, clinic, or health care facility, you rightfully expect competent care. Unfortunately, the reality is that patients are injured in New York and throughout the United States due to nursing errors. If you or someone close to you has suffered a injury caused by malpractice by a nurse, you need to reach out to a skilled Rochester hospital malpractice attorney who can assess the merits of your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are committed to holding negligent medical professionals accountable for the harm that they cause so that you can move on with your life.

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, more than 8 percent of nurses and nursing-related practitioners in the country have had a medical negligence claim made against them. There are many factors that can cause nursing errors and a resulting malpractice claim, including:

Administering the wrong dosage of a drug;