Rochester Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Study Says New York is the Third-Worst State for Doctors

Published on: March 13, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

If you or your loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice, you may be able to seek compensation for your harm. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our Rochester medical malpractice lawyers can review the merits of your case and assist you in determining your course of action. You can rest assured that our firm can guide you through the legal process in a thoughtful and compassionate manner.

A study recently released by WalletHub found that New York is the third-worst state for doctors, coming out just ahead of Rhode Island and New Jersey. The study compared states on 16 metrics, including annual salaries, starting salaries, hospitals per capita, hospital quality competition, and how much was awarded in malpractice per capita. One of the biggest setbacks for doctors working in New York is the high cost of malpractice liability insurance. In fact, New York was found to have the most expensive annual malpractice liability insurance in the United States. Exacerbating the cost of malpractice insurance is the amount that New York doctors are paid. The state came in 29^th place in the study when it comes to wages for doctors. This fact, coupled with the cost of living in New York, affects the big picture for doctors.

In New York, you may bring a medical malpractice lawsuit for an injury you suffered against a licensed health care provider based upon their negligence, misconduct, mistakes, or omissions in the rendering of medical services. Specifically, medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional causes injuries or death by failing to adhere to the standard of care that a reasonable medical professional in the same specialty would have used in the same or a similar situation. Some examples of medical malpractice cases include but are not limited to:

Pathology Malpractice in Rochester

Published on: March 6, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Pathologists play a crucial role in diagnosing and treating life-threatening diseases. If you have been injured and believe that it was due to a pathologist’s error, you need to seek out a skilled Rochester pathology malpractice lawyer who can analyze your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we can help you understand your legal rights and come up with a legal strategy accordingly.

Pathology involves looking at tissue samples and cells in body fluids under the microscope and making a diagnosis based upon the findings. For example, it might involve examining a breast lump under the microscope at the time of surgery to figure out whether it is cancerous or not. If a pathologist misses a cancer diagnosis, the cancer can go untreated until it is too late and lead to devastating consequences for the patient. On the other hand, if a pathologist makes a cancer diagnosis when there is no cancer, the patient could go through lots of unnecessary treatment.

The Journal of the American Medical Association found that pathologists are at greater risk of malpractice lawsuits than other specialties. In addition, pathologists are far more likely to have poor outcomes when those lawsuits are litigated. Pathology mistakes can happen in a variety of ways, such as:

Needle Stick Malpractice in Rochester and Across the U.S.

Published on: February 27, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Needle stick injuries can lead to devastating and long-term harm. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a needle stick injury, you may be eligible for compensation for your injury. After such an injury, it can be hard to know what to do next, but you can rest assured you don’t have to face the situation alone. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our experienced Rochester medical malpractice attorneys understand how to steer these types of claims and can apply our knowledge to your case. Time is of the essence in these cases, so it is important to act quickly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 600,000 to 800,000 needle stick injuries take place in the health care industry every year. Hypodermic needles, blood collection needles, and intravenous needles often cause these injuries. It is important to note that the wound itself is hardly the problem; instead, it is the possibility of exposure to infection and illness. A needle stick can transmit blood-borne pathogens, leading to life-threatening diseases. Needle stick injuries can take place in hospitals, clinics, labs, and private practices. Victims of needle stick malpractice may suffer from a variety of conditions, including but not limited to:

Hepatitis B or C
Tuberculosis
Typhus
Herpes
Malaria
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Spotted Fever
Syphilis

Feeding Tube Errors in Rochester and Throughout New York

Published on: February 20, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

When a patient is seriously ill, they may not be able to eat food. In such cases, feeding tubes may be needed to provide sustenance to the patient. If you or someone close to you has been injured due to a feeding tube error, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our skilled Rochester medical malpractice attorneys can meticulously analyze the facts of your case and help you determine your legal options.

Every day, medical instruments are used to help medical professionals in completing their jobs properly. Feeding tubes are used for patients who struggle with eating and suffer from conditions that limit their ability to chew, swallow, and digest food. Although the placement of feeding tubes is a relatively simply surgical procedure, as suggested by the Mayo Clinic, it should only be used for patients who have no other option when it comes to receiving nutrients. Patients in long-term facilities and nursing homes routinely use tube feeding as a way to feed patients. Many hospitalized patients in the United States also receive tube feeding. According to the National Center for Health Statistics’ latest figures, patients received tube feeding in approximately 245,000 hospital stays.

Feeding tube malpractice can occur in a variety of ways, including but not limited to:

Improper insertion or placement of a feeding tube;
Improper sanitation of the feeding tube;
Failure to properly clean the incision site regularly;
Medical staff not being trained to handle the feeding tube; or
Failure to monitor the tube for any changes.

Failure to Monitor Errors in Rochester and Elsewhere

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

Medical professionals have an obligation to monitor patients in accordance with appropriate standards of care. If you or your loved one has been injured due to a health care provider’s failure to monitor you during treatment or post-op, you may have a claim for medical negligence. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our skilled medical malpractice attorneys can analyze the facts of your case and help you pursue the compensation you deserve for your harm.

When medical professionals fail to properly monitor a patient, the results can be devastating or even fatal. We have handled a wide range of cases related to errors in patient monitoring. These mistakes can happen anywhere from a clinic to a hospital to a nursing home. Patient monitoring errors may include but are not limited to:

Failure to diagnose and treat post-operative complications;
Failure to monitor a patient’s vital signs after anesthesia;
Failure to monitor hospital patients for infections;
Failure to monitor a child during and after birth;
Failure to monitor nursing home patients so that bed sores develop;
Failure to monitor a patient on dialysis;
Patient discharged from the hospital too early when they should have been monitored further in the facility;
Failure to monitor how certain high-risk drugs interact with each other in a patient; or
Failure to follow up with a patient.

Malpractice Arising from Laboratory Errors in Rochester

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

If you or a family member has been a victim of a laboratory error, you need to reach out to a skilled Rochester medical malpractice attorney who can assess the merits of your case. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, we understand that victims of malpractice often feel helpless, but it is important to know that you don’t have to deal with the situation alone. Our team can meticulously analyze the circumstances surrounding your injury and help you pursue the financial support you need to move on with your life.

Virtually every specialty in medicine will send samples to be tested at a laboratory. The results of laboratory tests are vital to make decisions about a patient’s condition and potential course of treatment. In many cases, laboratory tests can significantly affect the outcome of an individual’s life. For example, consider the fact that when a patient has a heart attack or stroke, their blood needs to be tested immediately to figure out how much blood-thinning medication is necessary for the patient to take. Laboratory mistakes can take place in many ways, including but not limited to:

Ordering the wrong tests;
Using expired products to screen for cancer or other conditions;
Mixing up patient samples/swabs or patient information;
Mislabeling samples;
Recording the wrong information;
Wrongly transcribing records;
Using defective or faulty equipment;
Failing to communicate test results in a sensible time frame; or
Failing to order the needed follow up tests.

Shoulder Dystocia for Rochester Patients

Published on: February 1, 2018 | By DeFrancisco & Falgiatano

Every potential mother hopes for a smooth labor and delivery with no complications. The goal, after all, is a healthy baby. While the vast majority of women give birth without any serious complications, there are certain emergency situations that can arise, such as shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia can be one of the scariest emergencies in the delivery room. If your child has been injured because a medical professional failed to handle shoulder dystocia properly, we can help. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers, our seasoned Rochester birth injury attorneys can analyze the facts of your case and help you determine your next steps.

Shoulder dystocia is a serious condition in which one or both of a baby’s shoulders become stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone during delivery. Put another way, shoulder dystocia occurs when an infant’s shoulder catches on the mother’s hips during childbirth. Approximately 1 percent of all deliveries experience shoulder dystocia complications. However, 20 percent of affected babies suffer temporary or permanent injuries.

When shoulder dystocia occurs, immediate and detail-oriented medical attention is needed. There are a number of last-minute safety techniques that can help prevent injury to the mother and infant. In some cases, an emergency C-section surgery will be required to deliver the baby because the umbilical cord may be compressed and cutting off oxygen to the baby’s brain. Failing to recognize and treat shoulder dystocia can lead to serious and long-term injuries to the newborn, including brain injury, brachial plexus damage, bone fractures, nerve injury, Erb’s palsy, maternal hemorrhage after delivery, cerebral palsy, and a variety of other dangerous health conditions.

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.

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.