Typically, victims of medical negligence will pursue medical malpractice claims against the providers that caused their harm. In certain situations, though, incompetent medical care may give rise to a constitutional violation claim. Recently, a New York court issued an opinion differentiating between the two causes of action in a matter…
Breast cancer is a devastating illness that kills thousands of women each year. The majority of people who develop breast cancer do not have a familial history of the disease. Some patients, though, carry a gene mutation that creates a significantly high risk of not only developing breast cancer but…
Most medical malpractice cases resolve before they reach the trial stage. If they do proceed to trial, however, the parties will typically ask a jury to assess liability and damages. In theory, juries should assess the evidence presented at trial and make a determination based on that evidence, but they…
Lung cancer is a devastating disease, and a delayed diagnosis can worsen the already poor prognosis many patients with lung cancer face. People who suffer harm because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose a disease may be able to recover damages via medical malpractice lawsuits. Just as a delay in…
Cancer is a destructive disease, and when it is not properly diagnosed, it is often fatal. People who lose loved ones because of a doctor’s failure to diagnose or treat cancer have the right to seek damages via a wrongful death claim. In some instances, however, even if there is…
A prompt and accurate diagnosis is an essential element of competent medical care. Thus, a doctor that fails to diagnose a plaintiff in a timely manner may be liable for medical malpractice. If a patient does not promptly pursue claims against a doctor, though, the right to recover damages may…
In any New York medical malpractice case, the plaintiff must not only establish that the defendant breached the standard of care, but also that the breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s harm. Recently, in a case filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in…
There are basic elements that each party must meet in a medical malpractice case to show that judgment should be entered in their favor. In other words, the plaintiff must show harm caused by the defendant’s departure from the applicable standard of care. If the plaintiff meets this burden, the…
A delay in receiving an accurate diagnosis can cause irreparable harm, but how long of a delay is sufficient to constitute malpractice is typically within the purview of the jury. If the jury issues a defense verdict that is contrary to the evidence of record in a delayed diagnosis case,…
In many medical malpractice cases, both parties will rely upon the medical records to support their position. While the absence of complaints of pain in a medical record may harm the case of a plaintiff alleging a failure to diagnose claim, it is not dispositive, as shown in a recent…