When you’ve become the victim of a doctor’s mistake and need to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York, you need to know what you’re up against. Since hospitals and their insurance companies have an army of attorneys to represent them, you need someone in your corner with experience in the area of personal injury law who can anticipate the myriad of defenses the other party’s counsel will use in your case. If you’ve been seriously injured, help from a medical malpractice attorney can prove invaluable.
When you file a medical malpractice lawsuit, the ultimate goal is to receive the compensation you need to safeguard your quality of life. Insurance companies representing the at-fault hospital or health care institution will do everything in their power to keep this from happening.
6 Typical Defenses in a New York Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Since malpractice is a form of negligence, many defenses hinge on proving a patient’s negligence, which include:
- the patient was negligent and caused the harm to himself or herself;
- the patient did not take steps to minimize the harm done or made the damage worse;
- the patient gave informed consent and, therefore, assumed the risk;
- the patient didn’t share crucial medical history information with the doctor;
- the alleged negligence did not make the patient’s condition worse; and
- the patient acted in some way after the malpractice occurred that makes it impossible to link the alleged negligence directly to the patient’s condition.
Perhaps the only defense that doesn’t directly point blame at the patient is that the harm or damage the patient sustained was a “known risk” associated with that treatment and couldn’t have been avoided.
Fighting Medical Malpractice Defenses on Behalf of Victims in New York
If you’ve been the victim of a medical mistake, a medical malpractice attorney in Brooklyn will work closely with you to discount the defense’s arguments, one by one. By poring over medical records and gathering documents, a timeline can be constructed and a case built that disproves such tactics.
After all, health care providers are instructed above all to “do no harm.” When harm results through no fault of your own, you’ll want someone with experience in these cases to do the digging and stand up in court on your behalf. While at first glance a New York medical malpractice lawsuit can seem clear cut, each case can be completely different, depending on the negligence involved.
This is why you’ll want to look for an attorney experienced in the many forms of medical malpractice, which may include:
- birth injuries;
- surgical errors;
- anesthesia errors;
- medication errors;
- misdiagnosis;
- failure to warn of a procedure’s risk;
- failure to recognize serious and life-threatening conditions; and
- failure to treat serious and life-threatening conditions promptly.
Whatever your situation, having a committed malpractice attorney in your corner can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case. You don’t have to go it alone.
Dedicated to Helping Victims of Medical Malpractice in New York
At Gacovino Lake & Associates, our medical malpractice attorneys know that when something goes wrong with your treatment and you suffer harm as a result, you deserve answers. Our Brooklyn medical malpractice attorney team will investigate what led to your injuries and fight to hold all parties accountable.
Contact us today at 1-800-246-HURT, and you’ll find we’re committed to helping you. At Gacovino Lake & Associates, we have the skills and experience to stand up to hospitals and insurance companies.
