Top Rated New York City Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Legal Representation for Victims of Medical Malpractice and Negligence in New York City
We expect our doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers to act in a reasonable and professional manner. This is their legal, as well as moral, duty. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional acts outside of this duty, and it leads to the injury or death of a patient in their care. Negligence on the part of medical professionals is a serious breach of the trust granted to them, and can have devastating consequences.
"If you are looking for good lawyers to represent you, this law-firm has the best lawyers. They will fight for your rights until the end. Everyone always welcomes you with courtesy and respect and you will always be updated in your case!"
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If you or a loved one has sustained an injury in New York City because of a failure to diagnose, a failure to provide adequate care, or because of an egregious error, research your legal options. The top NYC injury lawyers at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, can help you better understand your rights. Call (212) 986-7353 to get started.
Recent Case Results
Holding Medical Professionals Liable in NY
When a patient is seriously harmed by medical negligence, one of the first questions is often: Who can be held responsible? In New York, medical malpractice claims may involve more than one negligent party. A doctor may have made an error in judgment, a hospital may have failed to properly supervise staff, a nurse may have failed to monitor a patient, or a medical facility may have had unsafe procedures that allowed a preventable injury to occur.
At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, our New York City medical malpractice attorneys investigate every level of care to determine who may be legally responsible. In serious medical malpractice cases, liability may extend beyond the individual doctor to include hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, nurses, specialists, technicians, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, surgeons, and other healthcare providers involved in the patient’s diagnosis, treatment, surgery, monitoring, or discharge.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice in New York?
A medical malpractice claim may be brought against any healthcare provider whose negligence caused harm to a patient. Depending on the facts of the case, this may include:
- Doctors and specialists who fail to diagnose a serious condition, misread test results, perform a procedure incorrectly, delay treatment, or fail to follow accepted medical standards.
- Hospitals and medical facilities that allow understaffing, poor communication, inadequate patient monitoring, unsafe discharge practices, improper recordkeeping, or failures in supervision to endanger patients.
- Nurses and hospital staff who fail to report changes in a patient’s condition, administer the wrong medication, miss signs of distress, or fail to follow physician orders.
- Surgeons and anesthesiologists who make preventable errors before, during, or after surgery, including wrong-site surgery, anesthesia complications, post-operative infections, or failure to respond to surgical complications.
- Radiologists, pathologists, and laboratory providers who misread scans, fail to identify abnormal results, mishandle specimens, or fail to properly communicate critical findings.
- Pharmacists and medication providers who dispense the wrong medication, provide the wrong dosage, overlook dangerous drug interactions, or fail to warn about known medication risks.
In many cases, more than one provider may have contributed to the injury. A patient may have been failed by a doctor, a hospital system, and a testing provider at different points in the same course of treatment.
How Do You Prove a Medical Provider Was Negligent?
Not every poor outcome is medical malpractice. To hold a medical professional liable in New York, the injured patient must generally show that the provider failed to act as a reasonably careful healthcare provider would have acted under similar circumstances, and that this failure caused serious harm.
This often requires a detailed review of medical records, diagnostic testing, hospital charts, medication records, physician notes, nursing notes, surgical reports, discharge instructions, and the patient’s full course of treatment. Medical malpractice cases also typically require input from qualified medical experts who can explain what should have been done, what went wrong, and how the error caused the patient’s injury.
New York medical malpractice cases also require a certificate of merit in many medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice actions. The attorney must generally confirm that the facts were reviewed and that there was consultation with a qualified medical professional, unless a time limitation prevents that consultation before filing.
Why Is It Important to Identify Every Responsible Party?
Identifying every responsible party is important because serious medical malpractice cases often involve catastrophic injuries, long-term medical care, lost income, reduced quality of life, and permanent disability. If only one party is named, the injured patient may not be able to recover the full compensation available under the law.
For example, a patient harmed by a delayed cancer diagnosis may have been failed by a primary care doctor, a radiologist, a pathology lab, and a hospital system. A patient who suffers brain damage after surgery may have claims involving the surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses, hospital protocols, or post-operative monitoring. A child injured during labor and delivery may have claims involving the obstetrician, nurses, hospital staff, fetal monitoring procedures, or a failure to perform a timely C-section.
Our attorneys work to uncover the full chain of events so that every negligent provider or institution can be held accountable.
Can a Hospital Be Liable for a Doctor’s or Nurse’s Mistake?
Yes. Hospitals may be liable for the negligence of their employees, including nurses, technicians, residents, and other staff members. A hospital may also be directly liable when its own policies, staffing decisions, training failures, communication failures, or unsafe procedures contribute to a patient’s injury.
Hospital negligence may involve failure to monitor a patient, failure to act on abnormal test results, failure to prevent infection, failure to supervise staff, failure to communicate between departments, premature discharge, or failure to respond when a patient’s condition worsens.
In some cases, the question of whether a doctor was an employee, contractor, or affiliated provider can become complex. That is why a thorough investigation is critical in a New York medical malpractice case.
How Can a NYC Medical Malpractice Lawyer Help?
A medical malpractice lawyer can help determine whether a bad outcome was the result of negligence, identify all potentially responsible parties, gather medical records, consult with qualified experts, calculate the full extent of damages, and prepare the case for settlement or trial.
At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, we prepare serious injury cases with the expectation that they may need to be presented in court. That preparation can be especially important in medical malpractice cases, where hospitals, insurance companies, and defense attorneys often dispute both liability and the extent of the patient’s injuries.
If you believe you or a loved one suffered a serious injury because of medical negligence in New York City, contact WRSMH for a free consultation.
How Do I Know If I Have a Medical Malpractice Case in NYC?
You may have a medical malpractice case if a healthcare provider failed to follow accepted medical standards and that failure caused serious harm. Warning signs may include a sudden unexplained decline, a delayed diagnosis, conflicting explanations from doctors, abnormal test results that were not addressed, a surgical complication that should have been prevented, a medication mistake, or a loved one’s unexpected death after treatment. The best way to know whether negligence occurred is to have an experienced NYC medical malpractice lawyer review the records with qualified medical experts.
Time Limits for New York Medical Malpractice Cases
Civil cases involving personal injuries have a ticking clock with regards to when you can file a case. Preferably, a victim should begin filing a claim as soon as they can, but the court system understands that not every individual has the time and resources to devote to their claim. Statute of limitations provides a set time period during which a victim can begin filing their claim, generally beginning at the date of the injury.
In the state of New York, medical malpractice cases have a statute of limitations of up to two and a half years from the date of the medical error, or the last date of the continuous treatment. Continuous treatment can include corrective surgeries to fix an earlier error or regularly scheduled tests for a specific medical condition. If the healthcare provider was negligent during these continuous procedures, a patient may file a medical malpractice claim two and a half years after the last scheduled appointment, but only for injuries related to the continuous treatment.
Cases involving medical malpractice in the state of New York are unique because of the Discovery Rule. The Discovery Rule modifies the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case to a period of time after the medical issue was discovered. In cases such as these, the patient may not know that a surgeon or practitioner was negligent until it negatively impacts them, which could be years after a surgery or test.
In 2018, New York updated the medical malpractice statute of limitations with CPLR-214a. Referred to as “Laverne’s Law,” this law changed the Discovery Rule with two key aspects:
- Foreign Objects: Medical malpractice cases that involve foreign objects have a statute of limitations to within one year AFTER the date of discovery.
- Cancer: Medical malpractice cases that involve the failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor due to negligent actions or omission have a statute of limitations of up to two and a half years AFTER the date of discovery of the negligent actions or omission. The date of discovery must occur within seven years of the negligent action or omission, or after the last date of continuous treatment.
Filing a medical malpractice claim in New York can be difficult for victims, as they may still need continuous treatment for their condition or injury, and do not have the necessary free time to devote to researching their case. These changes to the statute of limitations ensures that victims of medical malpractice have additional time to properly discuss their cases with an attorney. If you suspect you may be a victim of medical malpractice, you should not hesitate to contact a medical malpractice attorney to review your case.
Winning a New York City Medical Malpractice Claim
Now that you know who to file a claim against, it is necessary to understand what is required to win a New York City medical malpractice case. In such cases, plaintiffs must prove that:
- They had a doctor / patient relationship with the medical professional.
- The standard of care that they received was outside acceptable behavior for a reasonable health care provider given the circumstances.
- The breach of duty of care resulting in actual harm.
If a jury agrees, or the defendant’s insurance company think it likely that the jury will agree, you can receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Compensation for Damages in a New York Medical Malpractice Case
Patients injured by malpractice in New York City are entitled to compensation for their resulting medical expenses and future medical expenses related to the breach of care. A successful claim can also result in support for:
- Lost wages, including lost future wages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Cost of physical therapy
If the patient died as a result of medical negligence, the victim's family can pursue support for lost wages from the time of injury, loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other related damages. Unlike other states, New York does not have a cap on the amount of damages a victim can receive in a medical malpractice claim, ensuring that you receive the fair compensation for your injuries.
Common Examples of Medical Malpractice
Here are some of the most common examples of medical malpractice:
- Misdiagnosis - Cases involving misdiagnosis account for a large percentage of medical malpractice complaints. Also known as failure to diagnose, this form of medical malpractice is when a doctor fails to determine the true nature of a medical problem.
- Birth injuries - Injuries to the baby during delivery can include brain damage, broken bones, Erb's palsy, and nerve damage, especially to the brachial plexus. Injuries to a newborn caused by the negligence of medical staff can be one of the most painful things for a family to experience
- Medication errors - These types of mistakes can occur from the initial prescription to the administration of the drug. Common errors include mistakes with dosage.
- Errors during surgery - Several things can go wrong if the staff conducting the surgery is negligent of their duty of care. Common mistakes include anesthesia errors, leaving instruments or objects inside the patient, operating on the wrong side of the body, and surgical fires.
- Delayed medical treatment - Hospitals have a duty to diagnose and treat patients in a timely manner to ensure their conditions do not worsen. Failure to do this can result in prolonged illness, permanent injury, and death.
- Hospital negligence - Hospital negligence includes malpractice by doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and technicians who are staff of the hospital. The hospital itself can be to blame for inadequate staffing, unsatisfactory supervision, or the failure to perform or properly interpret diagnostic tests.
- Wrongful death - When a patient is under the care of medical professionals, undergoing treatment, and dies unexpectedly, questions must be raised about the level of care provided to said patient. If the negligence of medical professionals caused an individual to die prematurely, they could be liable for wrongful death.
Case Results
$1,875,000 Settlement – Failure to Treat Electrolyte Imbalance in NY
During jury selection in Westchester County, a settlement was reached in the case of a 42-year-old Blue Cross/Blue Shield Vice President's death. The firm argued that two general practitioners' failure to investigate a prolonged three-week diarrhea episode resulted in fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance, leading to the man's premature death from heart arrhythmia. The case was built on limited medical records, including autopsy findings which indicated fluid and sodium loss had significantly impacted the heart's electrical conductivity. As the trial approached, the doctors' insurers offered a settlement, which was accepted to spare the family further trauma.
$1.75 Million – Medical Malpractice: Patient Suffers Vision Loss
Plaintiff was a 35-year-old woman who sustained vision loss as a result of the defendant doctors’ failure to render timely treatment (shunt surgery) for an increase in intracranial pressure which was causing compression of the optic nerve.
What Clients Are Saying About Us
I would highly recommend this law firm to anyone-Patrick McFadden (5-Star Google Review)
Ken Halperin and Noah Katz did an impeccable job in resolving my case! They were thorough, courteous professional, compassionate and efficient every step of the way. I felt very competent and secure knowing they were handling a very important part of my future. I would highly recommend this law firm to anyone in need of true quality care and real results in a timely manner!
Very very very very good-Luis Olivares (5-Star Google Review)
Our experience with this law firm was very very very very good. They took care of all my needs and they were very professional in handling my case and I was happy with my reward. I would like to encourage anyone who might need a good law firm to use them.
Other Locations We Serve in New York
Contact a New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you believe that you or a loved one was the victim of medical malpractice, request a copy of the medical records and reach out to a NYC medical malpractice lawyer right away. Victims in such cases are entitled to financial support for their suffering, and negligent healthcare providers should be held responsible for any injuries they cause. If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical negligence, contact us at (212) 986-7353 for a free and comprehensive case evaluation.
Meet Our Attorneys
Philip Russotti
Philip Russotti is a distinguished trial attorney and partner at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, where he oversees all trial litigation and helps guide the firm's case strategy. With more than five decades of legal experience, he has built a reputation as one of New York's leading personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys.
Since entering private practice, Phillip has dedicated his career to advocating for people harmed by negligence. He has successfully handled a wide range of complex cases involving construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, motor vehicle collisions, wrongful death, and catastrophic injuries.
Kenneth J. Halperin
Kenneth J. Halperin is a highly respected trial attorney and partner at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP where he has spent decades helping injured New Yorkers pursue justice and financial recovery after serious accidents and acts of negligence. Known for his strategic advocacy, meticulous case preparation, and commitment to client service, Ken has earned a reputation as one of New York City's accomplished personal injury attorneys.
Ken concentrates his practice on complex personal injury litigation involving construction accidents, motor vehicle collisions, premises liability claims, workplace injuries, and other catastrophic injury cases. Throughout his career, he has represented individuals and families facing life-altering circumstances, helping them navigate the legal process while seeking compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Bryce Moses
Bryce Moses is a dedicated trial attorney at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP, where he represents individuals and families whose lives have been affected by serious injuries caused by negligence. As part of one of New York City's most respected personal injury law firms, Bryce is committed to helping clients pursue justice and obtain the compensation they need to move forward after an accident.
Bryce focuses his practice on complex personal injury matters, including construction accidents, motor vehicle collisions, premises liability claims, workplace injuries, and other catastrophic injury cases. He approaches every case with careful preparation, attention to detail, and a strong commitment to protecting his clients' interests throughout the legal process.
Clifford H. Shapiro
Clifford H. Shapiro is a respected trial attorney and founding partner of Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro, Moses & Halperin, LLP (WRSMH). Throughout his distinguished legal career, he has dedicated himself to representing individuals and families affected by serious injuries, helping them pursue justice and financial recovery after life-changing accidents and acts of negligence.
Clifford has spent decades handling complex personal injury litigation involving construction accidents, motor vehicle collisions, premises liability claims, workplace injuries, and catastrophic injury cases. His extensive courtroom experience, strategic approach to litigation, and commitment to thorough preparation have helped him secure significant results for clients facing some of the most difficult circumstances of their lives.
Additional Information
- When to File a Med Mal Suit for a Medical Device Injury
- The Dangers Of Doctor Fatigue
- Never Go Into a Malpractice Claim Alone
- The Real Cost of MedMal
- New York Statute of Limitations and the Discovery Rule