Rochester Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Medical Malpractice Claims for Sepsis in Rochester

Published on: January 22, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

If you or someone close to you suffered from sepsis that was not properly diagnosed and treated in time, you need to speak to a skilled Rochester medical malpractice attorney who can assess the merits of your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we have helped numerous victims seek justice in their sepsis and septic shock lawsuits, and we can do the same for you. With years of experience, you can rest assured that we understand how to navigate these challenging cases.

Sepsis, sometimes known as “blood poisoning,” is a severe illness in which bacteria and toxins overwhelm the bloodstream, generally through the infection of a wound. The condition can send the entire body to be in an inflammatory state, known as septic shock. If not diagnosed and treated properly, sepsis can lead to death. Severe sepsis can lead to other long-term damage in patients, such as organ damage. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sepsis is a medical emergency. It affects between 1 and 3 million individuals on an annual basis. The CDC also found that in the United States alone, sepsis accounts for more deaths than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and AIDS combined.

While anyone can get sepsis as a result of an infection, some patients are at a higher risk than others, specifically those with a compromised immune system, including cancer patients, persons suffering from kidney or liver disease, elderly patients, and newborns or infants. While there are not any simple diagnostic tests for sepsis, there are symptoms and warning signs that medical professionals are trained to recognize.

Spinal Epidural Abscess Malpractice in Rochester

Published on: January 19, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

An epidural abscess is a rare but often deadly condition that requires immediate medical attention. If you suffered harm because your physician caused your epidural abscess or failed to treat your condition properly, you need to contact a skilled Rochester medical malpractice lawyer who understands this area of law. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are committed to fighting for your rights at every step of the way. Time is of the essence in these cases, so it is important to act quickly.

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) disorder is caused by an infection in the area between the bones or discs of the spine, caused by bacteria or fungus. The bacteria or fungus multiplies, creating a large pocket of pus and fluid in the spinal column. The infection generally develops after a surgical procedure. The condition can lead to serious nerve damage. In the most severe cases, epidural abscess can lead to chronic back pain, loss of bladder control, pain at the surgery site, and even permanent paralysis. SEA is a neurosurgical emergency, since any delay in diagnosing SEA can lead to permanent neurologic deficits and even death. If a medical professional fails to identify signs and symptoms of an epidural abscess, the patient can suffer serious and long-term injuries. If the infection is caught, however, it can be contained and potentially prevented to some extent.

Under New York law, medical malpractice happens when a medical professional causes an injury or death by failing to use the level of care that another medical professional in the same specialty would have used under the same or similar circumstances. In malpractice cases, the judge will consider if an equally qualified and competent medical professional would have acted the same way or made the same decisions in the same situation. If the answer is no, the next question will be whether the patient’s injury was a direct result of the medical professional’s conduct. If the answer is yes, the medical professional will likely be liable for malpractice. In short, if a doctor’s substandard care caused a patient’s injury, the doctor will be liable.

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.

Ophthalmologist Negligence in Rochester and Across New York

Published on: January 5, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Any health issue relating to the eye can be extremely bothersome because our vision is an essential tool to navigate day-to-day life. When you visit an ophthalmologist, you expect competent care that will make your condition better, not worse. If you or a loved one has suffered an eye injury due to an ophthalmologist’s error, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. With years of experience in settling and litigating ophthalmology cases, our Rochester ophthalmology malpractice lawyers understand how to navigate these complex claims.

Ophthalmology is the specialty of medicine pertaining to the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of the eye. In other words, ophthalmologists are eye doctors who specialize in eye diseases. Errors by an ophthalmologist can have severe effects on a patient’s eye health. In the most serious cases, these mistakes could lead to irreparable loss of vision. Examples of ophthalmology mistakes that can lead to a malpractice claim include surgery errors, medication errors, failure to monitor the patient after surgery, Lasik errors, misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose an eye condition, and any careless conduct that causes an eye infection. These errors could lead to a variety of injuries, such as double vision, eye infection, corneal haze, blurry vision, blindness, eye flap-related injuries, and more.

Informed Consent Malpractice in Rochester and New York

Published on: December 28, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Before a physician performs a procedure on a patient, especially surgery, the doctor is required to relay some information about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the procedure so that the patient can make an informed decision about his or her medical treatment. If you or someone close to you has been a victim of medical malpractice caused by a lack of informed consent, our skilled Rochester medical malpractice attorneys can help. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are committed to helping our clients pursue the compensation they deserve for their harm.

In New York, it is a physician’s duty to explain the proposed medical treatment or procedure to a patient and advise the patient of any “material risks” that a reasonably prudent doctor would have disclosed. This typically means the doctor must highlight inherent dangers associated with the potential course of treatment. This law is designed to empower patients with all of the relevant information they would need to make an informed decision about their health. As a result, doctors must obtain informed consent for non-emergency treatments, diagnostic procedures involving invasion of the body, and participation in medical research.

If the doctor did not obtain informed consent prior to operating, the lack of informed consent may constitute medical malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional fails to adhere to the standard of care that another medical professional in the same specialty would have followed in the same or similar circumstances. It is important to note, however, that a lack of informed consent alone does not constitute medical malpractice. Instead, the lack of informed consent must have caused harm to the patient. The central question in a malpractice claim involving informed consent is as follows: would a reasonable person presented with the full and proper information have declined the procedure? This is a question that is typically answered by the jury, after evaluating the evidence in the case.

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;

Medical Malpractice due to Misdiagnosis in New York

Published on: December 19, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Unfortunately, misdiagnosis is a more common problem than you may realize. Every year, approximately 12 million adults, which is five percent of adults who seek outpatient medical care, are misdiagnosed, according to the National Academy of Medicine. If you have been injured as a result of a misdiagnosis, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our Rochester misdiagnosis attorneys can examine the facts of your case and help you understand your legal rights and options. We are committed to holding negligent medical professionals accountable for the harm that they cause.Many malpractice lawsuits stem from a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a medical condition, disease, or injury. Misdiagnosis can take many forms, but it typically involves diagnosing a disease that a patient does not have or failing to diagnose a disease that the patient has. Delayed diagnosis occurs when the doctor does not diagnose the patient in a timely manner. An overlooked diagnosis, also sometimes known as a failure to diagnose, refers to a condition that is entirely missed. When a medical professional makes a mistake regarding a diagnosis that leads to the wrong treatment, delayed treatment, or even no treatment at all, a patient’s condition can significantly worsen.

Proving malpractice due to misdiagnosis requires the same conditions to be met as with any other New York malpractice case. First, a doctor-patient relationship must have existed at the time of the incident, which would show the existence of a duty owed to the patient by the doctor. Second, the doctor must have breached the duty owed to the patient. This means the doctor’s conduct deviated from the generally accepted standard of care. The standard of care refers to the level of care that a reasonably prudent doctor would have used in the same or similar circumstances. Lastly, the plaintiff must show that the doctor’s breach was a direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury. This means that not every case of misdiagnosis is malpractice. Instead, the patient has to suffer an injury in order to have a viable malpractice claim.

If medical malpractice is established, the plaintiff can recover a variety of economic and non-economic damages, including medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and any other losses arising from the malpractice. Each case is different, and the amount of compensation a plaintiff will be entitled to obtain will depend on the specific facts of the case.

Statute of Limitations in New York Medical Malpractice Cases

Published on: December 12, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Medical mistakes can lead to serious and long-term injuries for patients. If you or a loved one has been hurt due to a medical error, you should contact a skilled Rochester medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we can thoroughly examine the facts of your case and determine whether you may be eligible for compensation. While no amount of money can undo the pain and stress of a medical injury, the money can help cover the bills that often pile up after such an incident. Time is of the essence in these cases, so it is important to act quickly.

Injured patients can hold negligent or reckless medical providers accountable through a medical malpractice claim. Each state has a specific deadline for filing medical malpractice claims, known as the statute of limitations, and New York is no exception. Failing to file your lawsuit in civil court within the appropriate time frame could mean losing your right to compensation altogether. In other words, if you do not file your medical malpractice case within the statute of limitations, you will be barred from filing a claim and pursuing damages.

Patients injured by medical malpractice in New York have two years and six months after the alleged malpractice to file a lawsuit in civil court. This is the general statute of limitations in New York, although there may be limited exceptions that apply in your case.

The Basic Elements of a Rochester Medical Malpractice Claim

Published on: December 5, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

When you go see a doctor or another medical professional, you expect competent care. When medical professionals are careless or make a mistake, the consequences can be devastating for the patient. If you or someone close to you has been harmed by medical malpractice, it is important to reach out to a Rochester medical malpractice attorney who can assess the merits of your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we are committed to helping our clients pursue the compensation they deserve for their harm.

Unfortunately, medical malpractice is common in New York and throughout the United States. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that medical mistakes are the third-leading cause of deaths in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer. Moreover, JAMA found that medical mistakes cause 250,000 deaths annually across the country.

Medical malpractice is a broad term that may encompass a wide range of actions or omissions by a medical provider. In other words, medical malpractice occurs through any act or omission by a medical professional during the treatment of a patient that deviates from the accepted norms of practice in the medical community and causes an injury to the patient. In order to establish medical malpractice, the injured patient must prove the following elements:

New York Appeals Court Rules that Psychiatric Malpractice Claim Cannot be Dismissed Because of Procedural Technicality

Published on: November 28, 2017 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

New York medical malpractice lawsuits are subject to the same civil procedure rules as other litigation in New York courts. These rules guide all phases of the litigation and are comprised of deadlines, requests, and filings made to the court. Sometimes lawsuits are dismissed because of procedural lapses, instead of being dismissed on the merits of the malpractice claim. In one case, the New York Appellate Division, Fourth Department ruled on whether the plaintiff’s lawsuit should have been dismissed pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, Rule 3404.

The facts of the case are as follows. A patient was admitted to a Niagara Falls hospital’s psychiatric wing. While under the psychiatrist’s care, the patient leaped from the top of the hospital’s roof and suffered serious injuries. The guardian of the patient filed a psychiatric malpractice lawsuit against the patient’s psychiatrist. The pre-trial litigation phase of discovery commenced, and the plaintiff filed a note of issue. In response, the defendant moved to vacate the note of issue because discovery was incomplete, the defendant alleged. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion and ordered additional discovery.

The plaintiff did not file a new note of issue for another year. Thus, the defendant moved to dismiss the psychiatric malpractice claim pursuant to Rule 3404. This procedural rule allows for the judicial dismissal of inactive cases under certain prescribed situations. The plaintiff opposed the motion, arguing that 3404 did not apply when the note of issue has been vacated. The court denied the defendant’s motion and noted that this very issue was subject to inconsistent rulings at the trial court level.