What are the Contingent Fees in a New York Medical Malpractice Case?

New York's Judiciary Law Section 474-A provides that in a medical malpractice case the attorney's fee is 30% of the first $250,000 of the "net sum" recovered. For the next $250,000 recovered, the fee is 25%. For the next $500,000 recovered the fee is 20%. For the next $250,000 recovered the fee is 15%. After that for any amount recovered over $1,250,000 the fee is 10%. The "net sum" recovered is the gross amount of the judgment or settlement, minus the amount of money the attorney has laid out for the expenses of the case. The expenses usually include fees for expert witnesses, court filings, transcripts, subpoenas, medical records and other similar expenses. As an example, if there is a gross settlement of $1million and expenses of $50,000, the fee would be calculated as follows: $1 million minus $50,000 equals $950,000 (the net sum recovered). 30% of the first 250,000 = 75,000 25% of the next 250,000 = 62,500 20% of remaining $450,000 = 90,000 Total fee = 227,500 Net to client = $772,500

Is an Expert Required in Order to File a Complain in a New York Medical Malpractice Case?

Yes. Pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules section 3012-A, a certificate of merit must accompany the complaint which states that the attorney for the plaintiff has consulted with an expert physician and that on the basis of that expert review, there is a reasonable ground for the commencement of a medical malpractice case. If there is insufficient time to obtain this medical review before the statute of limitations expires, then the attorney can state that in the certificate and later file a supplemental certificate when the expert review has been obtained.

What is a Notice of Medical Malpractice in New York?

Pursuant to section 3406 of the NY Civil Practice Law and Rules, the notice of medical malpractice action is a mandatory form that must be filled by the plaintiff with the clerk of the Court within 60 days of the service of answers by all defendants

What is the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in New York?

Answer: Pursuant to section 214-a of the NY Civil Practice Law and Rules, the basic medical malpractice statute of limitations is 2 and ½ years from the date of the malpractice or the last date of continuous treatment by the physician or hospital sought to be held responsible for the same injury or condition that gave rise to the malpractice. This statute of limitation applies to private physicians, hospitals, nurses and other health care providers.

What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice by New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation? (NYCHHC)

Answer: There are special rules applicable to malpractice by public hospitals run by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, such as Bellevue, Jacoby, Elmhurst, Metropolitan, Lincoln and others. Pursuant to Section 7401 of the NY Unconsolidated Laws, a medical malpractice lawsuit against the NYCHHC must be commenced within one year and ninety days. There is also the requirement that a notice of claim be filed with NYCHHC within ninety days in conformity with NY General Municipal Law 50-e.

What is the statute of limitations for a malpractice in failing to diagnose cancer?

Answer: Section 214-a of the NY Civil Practice Law and Rules provides that the statute of limitations for cancer misdiagnosis is 2 and ½ years from the date that the cancer was diagnosed, or that the patient should have known of the diagnosis of cancer. This is a special provision applicable only to cancer that measures the 2 and ½ years from the date of discovery of the cancer, rather than the date of misdiagnosis. This provision was added by the legislature to remedy the situation where a misdiagnosis is made and the patient is unaware of the cancer for a prolonged period of time until it is discovered.

What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice that causes the wrongful death of the patient?

Answer: When medical malpractice causes the death of the patient, there is a claim for the patient's injuries, pain and suffering up to the time of death, that is governed by Section 214-a of the NY Civil Practice Law and Rules, which provides for a 2 and ½ year statute of limitations measured from the date of the malpractice, the last date of continuous treatment, or in the case of cancer misdiagnosis, from the date of discovery of the cancer. There is also a separate claim for the wrongful death of the patient. Pursuant to Section 5-4.1 of the NY Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, the claim for wrongful death must be brought within 2 years from the date of death by the legal representative of the patient's estate, e.g, an executor or administrator.

Lab Mistakes Cause Doctors to Perform Surgery on Wrong Patient

New York City, NY – Top attorney handles medical malpractice, wrongful death, doctor errors, bus accidents, MTA, airline injuries & death, and construction cases. Attorney Jonathan C. Reiter consistently delivers results.

Wrong-site surgeries and surgeries performed on the wrong patient are sometimes referred to as “never events,” for a very simple reason: they should never happen.

Unfortunately, these medical mistakes happen more often than many people realize. According to one study, there are over 4,000 never events every single year in the United States. If you or a loved one have been injured from a surgery performed on the wrong person or wrong location, you should speak with a medical malpractice lawyer like Attorney Jonathan C. Reiter who has experience handling these types of cases.

Doctor Mistake Leads to Wrong Patient Surgery

According to reports, a pathologist’s mistake in mixing up tissue samples caused one man to undergo unnecessary surgery for prostate cancer. Reports stated that the man underwent surgery in 2017 because doctors told him he had prostate cancer. However, a pathologist had mixed up the man’s tissue sample with that of a different patient and in reality, the man didn’t have cancer at all.

Due to the mistake, however, he went forward with surgery to have his prostate gland removed. Unfortunately, the surgery caused damage to nerves near the man’s prostate, causing him to become both impotent and incontinent.

Patient Mistake Caused Delay in Other Surgery

When a lab mistake of this magnitude happens it often has monumental consequences that affect multiple patients lives. For example, this lab’s mistake also resulted in one man’s tissue sample being misinterpreted as healthy, when in fact it should have been communicated as testing positive for cancer. It’s possible for the mistake to have also caused the other patient to never have the needed surgery to remove the cancer since he was likely told he was healthy. The mix-up and mistake made by the pathology lab could have also caused the other patient to experience delayed treatment, which is extremely concerning. This type of delay in treatment could also have given the cancer time to advance or spread, making it more difficult to treat and further harming the patient’s health.

Ideas for Preventing Never Events in Medicine

Even if just one patient experiences a never event, it is still one too many. Since these types of events are entirely preventable, medical experts are always looking for ways to reduce the number of medical errors involving wrong-site surgery and operations performed on the wrong patient.

For example, some hospitals have switched to patient identification wristbands that contain more information. Instead of just listing a patient’s name and date of birth, newer wristbands include a patient’s photo as well as a bar code hospital staff can scan for more information about the patient, including medications they’re taking or allergies that might prevent them from being able to receive certain drugs.

Other hospitals have started using beacons that emit a bright orange light when a sponge or instrument count is about to begin. The beacons start going off as the surgical team prepares to do a count, which is designed to prevent doctors and surgical team members from leaving an instrument or sponge inside a patient during surgery.

Additional ideas include marking medications in hospitals with better labels, including the use of color-coded labels and barcodes to help hospital staff better identify a drug before giving it to a patient. The hope is that these new protocols will help reduce medication mistakes and dosing errors that can lead to serious patient injuries.

If you’ve been injured from a wrong-site surgery or a surgery performed on the wrong person, get in touch with a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. Get in touch with NYC Medical Malpractice Attorney Jonathan C. Reiter who has experience handling these types of cases at the top law firm in New York City.

NYC Medical Malpractice Attorney Jonathan C. Reiter

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Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future case. Recoveries always depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case, the injuries suffered, damages incurred, and the responsibility of those involved.

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