When you are a pedestrian in New York City, you need to be as alert when you walk as when you drive. When a moving vehicle strikes a pedestrian, if that pedestrian survives, he or she could suffer head trauma, broken bones, internal injuries, or back and neck injuries – from even a “minor” accident.

If a motorist is texting, speeding, intoxicated, or driving negligently in any other way and harms a pedestrian, that motorist may be deemed liable if the injured pedestrian chooses to pursue an injury lawsuit.

Pedestrians and drivers both have a duty to be alert and to look out for each other. In New York City, always cross at a crosswalk when a crosswalk is available.

When a crosswalk has a pedestrian signal, you either push a button on the pole, or if there is no button, wait until a “WALK” signal comes up automatically.

While the rules and safety recommendations for pedestrians in New York City are fairly simple to understand, the laws are not.

A motorist who violates New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) and injures a pedestrian will usually be considered negligent in a civil action.

However, every case is different, and mitigating factors often emerge in personal injury cases that complicate the picture and make it difficult to reach a settlement.

Any pedestrian who is injured in New York City traffic by a negligent driver should discuss the available legal options with an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney.

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR PEDESTRIANS IN NEW YORK CITY?

New York police officers issue summonses and warnings to pedestrians as well as motorists who are careless or reckless. Generally speaking under the VTL, pedestrians have the right of way.

Pedestrians, as well as drivers, must be alert and avoid recklessness or negligence such as jaywalking or walking into moving traffic. VTL Section 1151 makes the “failure to yield to a pedestrian” illegal in New York.

Drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks with or without working traffic signals. No other vehicle may overtake or pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Failure to yield to a pedestrian is a moving violation. If you are convicted, the penalty is a fine of up to $150 and a mandatory $93 state surcharge, along with three points added to your driver’s license.

However, away from crosswalks, pedestrians must yield to moving vehicles under VTL Section 1152. In New York City, pedestrians may not cross in the middle of a block with traffic control signals at both ends of the block, but state law does not impose the same requirement outside of the five boroughs.

VTL Section 1156 sets forth the rules for pedestrians walking along roadways. Where sidewalks are provided – and safe to use – a pedestrian may not walk upon or along an adjacent street or roadway.

If there are no sidewalks, a pedestrian walking upon or along a street or roadway must walk on the left, facing traffic, provided it is safe to do so, and when a vehicle approaches, that pedestrian must shift as far to the left – and away from the vehicle – as is practical and necessary.

HOW IS JAYWALKING HANDLED IN NEW YORK?

VTL Section 155 defines jaywalking in New York as a traffic infraction. Traffic infractions are handled generally like misdemeanors, with two exceptions. The first is that in most cases, you may plead guilty to a traffic infraction by mail.

The second exception is that jury trials are never conducted for traffic infractions because they are not considered criminal charges. That doesn’t mean jaywalking is treated lightly.

A first offense is punishable by a $150 fine, fifteen days in jail, or both, and a second jaywalking conviction within 18 months of the first is punishable by a $300 fine, 45 days in jail, or both.

Sooner or later, we are all pedestrians. Pedestrians almost never wear any safety protection simply because they do not expect to be injured.

Thus, the pedestrians who are in fact injured by negligent drivers are likely to suffer catastrophic or disabling injuries.

Internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord and neck injuries, and amputations are among the tragic consequences of accidents that involve pedestrians.

The injuries sustained by pedestrians are almost all preventable, and vigilance is imperative for pedestrians in New York City.

As mentioned above, while the traffic laws in New York are complicated, adhering to some basic safety tips for pedestrians is easy.

Don’t become distracted while you’re walking – it’s genuinely hazardous. Cross only at crosswalks where possible and always look both ways.

Don’t jaywalk. Use the sidewalks if you can. Don’t talk or text while you’re walking. Wear bright clothing at night and bring a flashlight. If you are injured by a negligent driver despite taking safety measures, seek medical attention at once.

HOW EASY IS IT TO BE DISTRACTED AS A PEDESTRIAN?

Probably many people don’t realize how easily they are distracted as pedestrians. The BBC reports that one woman in Australia walked right off the end of a pier – and emergency rescuers were summoned – because she was checking Facebook.

Pedestrians have walked into buildings, parking meters, other pedestrians, and right into traffic while texting or surfing the internet. When our parents warned us to look where we’re going, it was good advice.

How can drivers help? Don’t text or talk on a cell phone while you drive. Don’t be distracted by an app, a GPS system, an audio system, pets, or children. Don’t eat, read, or groom while you drive.

Don’t drink any alcohol or use any intoxicating drug or substance before you drive. Keep your vehicle maintained, especially the brakes, lights, wipers, and tires. Comply at all times with all traffic laws and traffic regulations.

If you are injured by a negligent driver in or near New York City while you are a pedestrian, seek medical attention at once.

After you’ve been examined by a doctor or another healthcare professional, have a personal injury attorney review the details of your case and explain your options and legal rights as a victim of negligence.

In most cases, when a personal injury claim is successful, compensation is paid for all medical expenses, including future surgeries and therapy if needed, for all lost income and lost earning capacity, and for all related expenses and losses.

Medical malpractice is defined in the law as a violation of the “reasonable standard of care” offered by most healthcare providers – a violation that results in harm or injury to a patient.

When medical malpractice happens, a healthcare provider breaches the accepted professional standard of care by acting negligently, irresponsibly, or recklessly.

Doctors, however, are not the only healthcare providers who can be held accountable for violating an accepted professional standard of care. This is where our medical malpractice lawyers can help.

When a nurse fails to perform his or her professional duties competently and in a manner that a normally competent nurse in the same situation would perform those duties, and when that nurse’s failure brings injury or harm to a patient, the nurse may be responsible for nursing malpractice.

A negligent nurse can harm a patient in a number of ways. In some medical malpractice cases, the central issue will be determining who is genuinely and ultimately liable for a nurse’s malpractice – the nurse, the doctor, or in a hospital setting, the hospital itself.

Medical malpractice does not include every conceivable medical mistake that might happen. For any particular medical incident to meet the legal definition of medical malpractice, there must be negligence on the part of one or more healthcare providers, and that negligence must lead to demonstrable and quantifiable injury or harm to a patient.

If you believe that you or someone you love has been victimized by nursing malpractice – or in any incident of medical malpractice – in the Bronx or anywhere in or near New York City, promptly discuss your rights and legal options with a medical malpractice attorney.

WHAT CONSTITUTES NURSING MALPRACTICE?

Nurses at both private and public hospitals in New York, in clinics and doctors’ offices, and at all other healthcare facilities – as well as nurses who are employed by home healthcare agencies – owe a duty of care to every patient.

When a nurse’s negligence causes a patient’s injury or harm, victims and their families must obtain sound legal advice and candid, concise answers to their concerns and questions. What kinds of situations constitute nursing malpractice?

Nursing malpractice can include but is not limited to:

Failure to monitor a patient or to act on a patient’s behalf: Nurses are usually a patient’s on-site, frontline healthcare provider.

In unexpected emergencies, nurses may be liable if they do not immediately take appropriate measures, which could include providing medication, summoning a doctor, and/or other procedures.

If a nurse fails to monitor a patient responsibly, and harm or injury to the patient is the result, that monitoring lapse may also constitute nursing malpractice.

Equipment errors: Carelessly or inattentively injuring a patient with medical equipment almost always constitutes nursing malpractice.

Harm caused by dropping or knocking over medical equipment, burning a patient, or leaving something like a sponge, for example, inside a patient’s body after a surgery – all of these actions may constitute nursing malpractice.

Medication errors: If a nurse administers the wrong medicine – or the right medicine in the wrong way – the nurse may be liable for any injury.

WHO IS ULTIMATELY LIABLE?

Even when a victim of nursing malpractice and that victim’s attorney can prove that a nurse’s negligence caused injury or harm, the issue of legal responsibility for that nurse’s negligence still must be answered.

Many nurses, of course, are hospital employees, so hospitals are often named as defendants in nursing malpractice cases.

A public or private hospital may be held legally accountable for nursing malpractice if a negligent nurse is that hospital’s employee, if the patient was injured as the nurse performed a job duty, and/or if the nurse was under the supervision of a doctor employed by the hospital.

If an attending doctor is supervising the nurse, and if that doctor is independent and not a hospital employee, the hospital may not be liable for an incident of nursing malpractice even if the hospital is the nurse’s employer.

A doctor’s liability for a nursing malpractice incident hinges on whether the doctor was present and had the authority and ability to prevent the malpractice.

In such cases, whether final liability is assigned to the hospital or to the doctor does not alter the fact that malpractice occurred and that the victim is entitled to recover damages.

Thus, in any nursing malpractice case, the malpractice victim and that victim’s attorney must prove that:

– Nursing malpractice occurred.
– A particular party has legal liability for that nursing malpractice.
– The victim of the nursing malpractice suffered quantifiable damages.

Those quantifiable damages may include the past and future medical bills necessitated by the malpractice incident, lost income and lost future earnings, and compensation for pain, suffering, and the loss of the “enjoyment of life.”

Usually, in nursing malpractice cases, both sides ask a medical authority to provide evidence regarding how a typical, competent nurse might have reacted in the same circumstances.

An experienced Bronx medical malpractice attorney may also ask financial analysts and/or medical consultants to testify or to offer a statement on a victim’s behalf and to help determine the amount of compensation that an injury victim will require.

IS THERE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON NURSING MALPRACTICE CLAIMS?

You must take action right away if you or someone you love is a victim of nursing malpractice. In most cases in the state of New York, a medical malpractice claim must be filed within two-and-a-half years from the date of the alleged malpractice incident that caused the patient’s injury.

However, an adult injured by nursing malpractice at a municipal hospital in New York City has only ninety days after the date of the incident to file a nursing malpractice claim, and a “Notice of Claim” must also be filed before a malpractice victim can sue a New York public hospital.

Don’t wait two-and-a-half years – or even ninety days. If you have been injured by a nurse’s negligence, speak at once with a medical malpractice attorney. Medical malpractice law is particularly complicated in this state.

Anyone in New York who is a victim of nursing malpractice must have advice and representation – as quickly as possible – from a Bronx personal injury attorney who has substantial experience representing the victims of medical malpractice in our state and fighting for justice on their behalf.

In New York City, if you are injured in a traffic accident, and if your injury was the result of another driver’s negligence, you will need to consult an experienced Bronx car accident attorney regarding your legal rights and options.

The victims of negligence are entitled to compensation in New York, but the New York law governing personal injuries in traffic collisions is a bit different from the law in most other states regarding fault, liability for damages, and compensation for pain and suffering.

No-fault auto insurance coverage is the coverage provided by the policy on the vehicle that you are in when a crash happens.

In some cases, that policy also covers you if you are a pedestrian struck by that vehicle. It’s coverage for quantifiable, monetary losses: lost wages, medical treatment, and other injury-related necessities.

It is imperative for an injury victim to obtain the proper medical treatment that is required for his or her injuries.

No-fault insurance in New York ensures that an injury victim’s lost wages and medical bills are reimbursed without having to prove anyone was at fault, file a personal injury claim against the other driver, or go to court.

At the same time, however, the no-fault system may make it more difficult in some cases to sue a negligent driver and to recover any damages for pain and suffering. The law in New York specifies that pain and suffering damages may only be paid when a “serious injury” has been sustained.

The law spells out nine categories of “serious injuries” including death, disfigurement, permanent disability, and the loss of a fetus. If a victim’s injuries do not meet the law’s narrow definition of “serious,” a lawsuit will be dismissed.

WHAT IS VICARIOUS LIABILITY?

If you are injured in traffic in New York and you file a personal injury claim – let’s say a claim for pain and suffering related to a catastrophic injury – you will need to understand “vicarious liability,” because that is the law in this state.

Vicarious liability makes a vehicle’s owner legally responsible for the behavior of anyone who is operating the vehicle with the owner’s permission and consent.

Most other states’ laws require a driver to be working for the owner – or specify some other restriction – before liability falls on a vehicle’s owner when that owner is not the driver.

In the state of New York, provided that the driver has the owner’s permission and consent to use the vehicle – for any reason – the owner is legally responsible for the driver’s negligence.

Vehicle owners may offer the defense that a driver did not have permission and consent at the time of an accident, but vicarious liability means that the law presumes a driver had permission, and the burden falls to the vehicle’s owner to prove that the driver did not have permission.

WHAT ABOUT CRASHES THAT INVOLVE WRONGFUL DEATHS?

In wrongful death cases arising from traffic crashes, a number of factors must be considered. No-fault auto insurance policies in New York provide a $2,000 benefit toward the cost of a funeral.

Family members can also recover damages – with no damage cap – for the conscious pain and suffering of their deceased loved one as well as for the financial loss of their deceased loved one’s future earnings and earning capacity.

Survivors cannot recover damages for their own emotional grief after a wrongful death, but there is a provision for the recovery of damages for “loss of parental guidance” that applies to adult survivors as well as younger children.

If you sustain a personal injury in a traffic accident in New York City, and if you file a personal injury lawsuit, your case must be handled by an experienced Bronx car accident attorney who focuses on personal injury law and routinely handles similar cases for his or her clients on a regular basis.

A good New York personal injury lawyer will review every detail of the case, protect your legal rights, advocate aggressively on your behalf for the maximum available compensation, and will not settle for anything less.

After any traffic accident in New York, seek medical attention immediately – even if you do not feel like you’ve been injured. If you have, your Bronx personal injury attorney should ensure that you receive proper medical testing to determine the full severity and extent of your injury or injuries.

Your attorney will gather and examine evidence, question witnesses, and if necessary, consult with crash experts and medical authorities to develop an aggressive, effective legal strategy on your behalf.

Especially when an injury is catastrophic or results in a permanent disability, your attorney must insist on the maximum possible compensation.

If you have suffered a severe spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury, for instance, you can’t go back to the court in ten or twenty years and ask for more money – even if the costs of medical care are skyrocketing.

If the case cannot be settled through negotiations outside of the courtroom, a jury will have to estimate your future medical expenses, but in this state, there is no cap on the amount that can be recovered for future medical care or for future pain and suffering.

WHY IS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION IMPERATIVE AFTER A CRASH?

The injuries sustained in traffic collisions can be life-changing and sometimes deadly. While some injuries might at first seem trivial, they can later develop into serious medical conditions.

Medical attention is imperative immediately after any traffic accident because if a medical problem emerges later, and if you need to file a personal injury claim, you must be able to prove that your injury actually happened in the traffic collision and not in some other way.

Finally, if you are injured in a traffic accident in or near New York City, do not sign any document, accept any settlement, or make any statement to an insurance company before speaking to a Bronx car accident lawyer.

You might unknowingly sign away your right to file a lawsuit, or you might unknowingly accept a settlement that worth far less than what you need and deserve.

A good personal injury attorney will protect your rights and make certain that any settlement or verdict is fair, just, and sufficient.

Laws called statutes of limitations establish a time limit after an event so that any legal action concerning that event must begin in a reasonable period of time.

In the criminal system, a statute of limitation specifies the amount of time a prosecutor has to bring criminal charges against a suspect after a crime has been committed.

A statute of limitations in civil law limits the amount of time that a victim of negligence, for example, has to begin seeking compensation.

Generally speaking, when a civil statute of limitations expires, the legal claim is no longer valid, and an injured victim of negligence has no further legal recourse.

The exact length of a civil statute of limitations depends on which state has jurisdiction and on precisely what type of claim is being pursued.

Most states have also established several exceptions to their civil statutes of limitations. For example, in some states, including New York, a victim of medical malpractice is given more time to take legal action if he or she was a minor when the incident of medical malpractice took place.

In the state of New York, the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims gives an injured person three years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit against the person or persons allegedly responsible for the injury or injuries.

Included in this category are injuries suffered in traffic collisions, premises liability cases that involve slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall injuries, cases that involve dog bite injuries or swimming pool injuries, and product liability cases where a person is injured while using a defective or flawed consumer item – anything from a can opener to a prescription drug.

In the New York City area, if you are injured or become injured because someone else – someone such as another driver, a property owner, or a product manufacturer – was negligent, you need to put a personal injury attorney on the case at once. Don’t wait three years.

Evidence can deteriorate or even disappear over time, and the memories of witnesses can rapidly fade. The sooner your Bronx personal injury attorney can go to work on your personal injury claim, the more likely it is that your claim will prevail.

WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?

The statute of limitations is slightly shorter – by six months – for medical malpractice cases in New York.

For most New York medical malpractice claims, the statute of limitations is two years and six months from the date of the medical malpractice incident or the end of long-term treatment that entailed medical malpractice.

There are several important exceptions, however, to that two-and-a-half year statutory limit:

If a patient is injured by a foreign object left inside his or her body during surgery, the medical malpractice claim must be filed within one year of the date the object was or should have been discovered, whichever comes first.

When a minor has been injured by medical malpractice in New York, the minor has three years from his or her 18th birthday to file a medical malpractice claim, but the maximum limit for any medical malpractice claim in this state is ten years from the date of the actual malpractice incident.

Statutes of limitations are complicated in New York. A number of exceptions are spelled out in state law, so calculating exactly when the statute of limitations expires on any specific personal injury claim may not be easy and may require an attorney’s help.

Victims of negligence who have questions or concerns about the statutes of limitations should have those questions answered by an experienced New York personal injury lawyer.

WHAT ABOUT INJURY CLAIMS AGAINST GOVERNMENT AGENCIES?

The New York Court of Claims Act waives the state of New York’s right to “sovereign immunity” and allows the state to be sued in almost any circumstance that a private individual could be sued for negligence.

However, if your injury was caused by the negligence of a state or local government agency or employee in New York, before you can file a lawsuit, you must first file a formal Notice of Claim with the government agency in question, and the agency must have time to answer your claim.

You have ninety days from the date of your injury to file a Notice of Claim against the state of New York, any New York county or city, or any state or local government agency. Upon receiving your Notice of Claim, the governmental body or agency may extend a settlement offer.

Don’t accept the settlement unless your personal injury attorney agrees that the offer is sufficient and just. Have a skilled Bronx personal injury attorney help you file your Notice of Claim and help you consider any response.

Understand also that if you are injured by the negligence of a government employee or agency in New York, you must act right away. With only ninety days to file your Notice of Claim with the government agency in question, you’ll need to obtain the help of a good personal injury lawyer at once.

If no settlement is offered or if the offer is insufficient, you have only one year from the date of the injury – instead of three – to file a lawsuit against a New York governmental body or agency.

IS THERE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS?

New York’s statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years. Wrongful death cases may arise from traffic collisions, construction accidents, medical malpractice incidents, and product liability cases involving dangerous consumer products.

Only the personal representative of a deceased person as appointed by Surrogate’s Court can file a wrongful death claim in New York. (Surrogate’s Court is the court that deals with estate and probate matters in New York.) The personal representative is usually the executor of the deceased person’s will or the administrator of the deceased person’s estate.

Anyone who is injured in New York by the negligence of another person or persons should speak to an experienced personal injury attorney regarding his or her legal rights, legal alternatives, and the amount of time remaining to take legal action.

Personal injury victims in this state are entitled under the law to full compensation for their medical expenses, lost wages, and all other accident and injury-related losses and expenses.

If you are injured by another driver’s negligence in or near New York City, a good auto accident attorney can investigate the collision, scrutinize the medical and police reports, interview any eyewitnesses, and tell you if you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit.

If you do, you will probably want to know what your case is worth. While your Bronx personal injury attorney may be able to give you a ballpark estimate based on your documentable economic losses – your medical expenses and your days missed from work – determining the value of your non-economic damages (that is, your pain and suffering) is somewhat more difficult.

Damages are not always available in New York courts for all types of pain and suffering that might be endured after a traffic injury, but damages for any past, present, or future physical pain arising from the traffic injury can usually be awarded.

Psychological and emotional damages, however, can be much more difficult to prove. Juries in personal injury trials in this state have the discretion to apply their own common sense and reason when it comes to determining non-economic damages.

Since personal injury juries in New York typically receive only minimal directions from a judge, damage awards in this state vary substantially.

When determining an award for pain and suffering, jurors may consider the age of the victim, the type of injury, and the victim’s prospects for pain and injury in the future.

New York is one of the few states that does not limit or “cap” pain and suffering awards, so theoretically there is no limit on the amount of such awards. That does not, however, mean that pain and suffering awards are easy to obtain.

HOW ARE PAIN AND SUFFERING DAMAGES DETERMINED?

“Pain and suffering” is a legal term for injuries that include not only physical pain but also emotional and mental damages such as distress, grief, and “the loss of the enjoyment of life.”

Fears and anxieties – even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – are also injuries, and a physically injured victim may be able to recover damages for these injuries as well.

An insurance company, however, may offer you very little – if anything – for your pain and suffering after a traffic crash. How does an insurance company calculate pain and suffering damages after a traffic accident? There are no laws, strict rules, or even guidelines for determining pain and suffering damages.

Many insurance companies today use computer programs that tell them what amount should be offered for pain and suffering.

These computer programs consider the accident victim’s age, the type of injury or injuries, and also the type of treatment that the victim sought. Why is the “type” of treatment a consideration?

An insurance company will typically presume that treatment by an M.D. represents a more serious injury than treatment from a chiropractor, for example, or from an acupuncturist. Insurance companies also consider the duration of the treatment.

If the insurance company believes that a victim’s treatment was excessive or unnecessary, the company will not include that part of the treatment in its own pain and suffering calculations.

Personal injury attorneys use different methods – primarily two different methods – to arrive at what they believe is a just amount for pain and suffering damages.

The first method is simply multiplying the victim’s economic damages (medical costs and lost income) by a number between one and five, hinging on the severity of the injury.

For example, if a victim’s broken leg costs $3000 in medical expenses, an attorney might rank the injury as “a three” and thus insist that $9,000 is a just amount for a pain and suffering award.

Other attorneys favor the per diem (Latin meaning “per day”) method of calculation. This method assigns a particular amount to each day from the date of the injury to the date of the patient’s “maximum” recovery (the date when the patient has healed as much as possible and will see no further improvement).

Insurance companies are not required or even expected to consider either of these methods for calculating pain and suffering damages.

HOW CAN YOU PROVE PAIN AND SUFFERING?

The proof of an accident victim’s pain and suffering can take a variety of forms. The more evidence that an injury victim can offer of pain and suffering, the more likely it is that the injury victim will receive a fair and just pain and suffering award.

Obviously, any medical records, medical reports, and statements or testimony from your doctor will provide important evidence toward proving your pain and suffering claim.

Medical documentation, however, should be bolstered with photographs, personal journals or diaries, and the testimony or statements of family members and friends regarding your physical and emotional pain and suffering.

Treatment provided by a mental health professional – and that professional’s statement or testimony – will be required in the state of New York if a plaintiff is seeking damages for a psychological or mental condition such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia.

WHAT IS A FAIR AMOUNT FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING?

After an injury in a traffic crash, if the insurance company offers a settlement, and the offer includes pain and suffering compensation, how can you know if the offer is fair and just?

You can use the multiplication method or the per diem method to arrive at a figure, and if the insurance company’s offer comes close to one of those figures, it is probably a good offer.

Still, in the New York City area, you will want to consult with a skilled personal injury attorney before you accept any settlement offer from an insurance company.

Under a no-fault auto insurance system like New York’s, it is more difficult for accident victims to win pain and suffering awards.

Medical expenses are paid for traffic accident injury victims regardless of fault, so pain and suffering claims are harder to establish in this state.

An experienced Bronx personal injury attorney can provide you with legal guidance and assist you with filing a claim. If you’ve suffered a personal injury in a traffic crash in the New York City area, you may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering.

Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingent basis, so you will pay no attorney fees until and unless your claim prevails.

Every day in the United States, innocent people – people who are in fact trying to improve their health – are injured by the carelessness or negligence of a healthcare provider. Consumer Reports tells us that more than 400,000 deaths a year are associated with medical errors in hospitals – a disturbingly high figure.

The number of hospital mistakes responsible for serious but non-fatal injuries is even higher. In the state of New York, can a medical malpractice law firm help you seek legal recourse if you are injured while you’re receiving care or treatment in a hospital? For those seeking justice in this state, the answer is yes. Hospital negligence leading to severe injury or death includes malpractice by doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, nurse’s aides, and even technicians who work for the hospital.

Hospital negligence includes surgical errors and much more. It also includes improper supervision, insufficient staffing, and misdiagnosis – the failure to conduct or to read accurately the results of medical tests. When any of the people who work at a hospital are responsible for medical malpractice, in most cases the hospital itself can be named as a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Surgical mistakes make the headlines – when the wrong organ or limb is removed, for example – but most malpractice incidents aren’t associated with surgeries. Most medical malpractice cases arise from misdiagnosis.

Approximately twelve million adults are misdiagnosed in emergency rooms, hospitals, and doctors’ offices every year in the United States. Misdiagnosis, and ordering the wrong medication or treatment on the basis of a misdiagnosis, is the most typical way that a patient in New York can be injured by medical malpractice.

Of course, there is never any reason for any hospital to put patients at risk by offering negligent or inadequate diagnosis, treatment, or care. Hospitals are regulated and licensed under a number of state and federal laws, and hospitals must adhere to policies, standards, and procedures that enhance and protect the health and well-being of their patients. When a patient suffers injury or harm because a hospital’s employees have been negligent, the hospital may have legal liability.

WHEN ARE HOSPITALS LIABLE FOR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE?

None of us are perfect. All of us make mistakes frequently, but for the most part, those mistakes don’t injure anyone. Similarly, not every mistake that a hospital employee makes is necessarily negligence or malpractice.

In most cases, a hospital is liable in the legal sense only if an employee’s negligence or incompetence results in injury to a patient. A medical malpractice lawsuit may be the proper course of action if a nurse, an aide, a technician, or any other hospital employee injures a patient by negligently performing or failing to perform a job-related task.

Hospital negligence includes emergency room errors. ER staffs work in a stressful, fast-paced situation, often caring for the most critically-injured incoming patients. ER personnel are trained in triage – the simultaneous assessment of several persons’ medical conditions in order to provide timely care where it is needed most.

An incorrect assessment can delay someone’s diagnosis and treatment, exacerbating a serious condition or even causing a patient’s death. Some patients have waited in ERs for hours with their health clearly deteriorating as they wait.

WHAT LEGAL RECOURSE DOES A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE VICTIM HAVE?

In New York City, when someone is injured by hospital negligence, that victim should seek the legal advice of a Bronx medical malpractice attorney who has experience representing the victims of hospital negligence and challenging hospitals in court. A good medical malpractice lawyer can identify violations of a hospital’s policies and regulations by interviewing hospital personnel, obtaining records, and thoroughly investigating negligence claims. The best Bronx personal injury attorneys additionally help their clients to obtain the quality medical healthcare they need after an incident of medical malpractice.

When someone is victimized by medical malpractice at a municipal hospital in New York City, a medical malpractice claim must be handled somewhat differently from a claim against a private hospital. Municipal hospitals are governmental entities administered by city officials – the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) – so the procedures for legal disputes are slightly different.

Each year, HHC facilities admit about 225,000 patients, and they handle approximately one million emergency room visits. HHC facilities treat nearly twenty percent of all New York City hospital patients and a third of those who visit New York City emergency rooms.

The HHC operates eleven hospitals, six diagnostic and treatment centers, five nursing homes, and more than seventy community-based clinics and primary care sites. When healthcare providers are seeing that many patients, some mistakes are inevitably going to happen.

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR SUING A PUBLIC HOSPITAL IN NEW YORK?

An adult who is injured at a New York City municipal hospital has ninety days from the date of the injury to file a medical malpractice claim. Claims for injured children, however, may be filed until three years past the victim’s 18th birthday, but legal action must still take place within ten years from the date of the malpractice incident and injury.

Any legal action against a municipal hospital must be filed in the county where the medical malpractice incident allegedly occurred, and a “Notice of Claim” must be filed before a victim can sue a public hospital. This notifies the HHC that a claim is being made and allows the HHC time to review the details of the claim.

Healthcare providers at both private and public hospitals, in emergency rooms, and at all other healthcare facilities owe a duty of care to every patient. When the negligence of a doctor, a nurse, or any other healthcare provider causes an injury or a fatality, it is imperative for the victims and their families to seek sound legal advice and reliable answers to their questions and concerns. To prevail with a medical malpractice claim against a public or private New York hospital, the victim must show that a doctor or someone else employed by the hospital violated the professional and legal duty of care to the patient.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case will also have to show that the hospital’s negligence directly caused his or her injury and that the injury resulted in damages – additional medical bills, lost income, unnecessary pain and suffering, and/or the temporary or permanent loss of future earning capacity.

When necessary, an experienced Bronx medical malpractice attorney will ask medical specialists, expert accountants, and financial analysts to assess a victim’s costs and losses and to determine the amount of compensation that an injury victim needs and deserves.