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.

醫務人員未能診斷疾病應該被起訴嗎

(Can I Sue My Medical Professional For Failure to Diagnose a Medical Condition?)

醫療失誤是美國第三大致死原因 – 僅次於心臟病和癌症。據研究，每年因為醫生、醫院或醫療專業人員的失誤死亡的人數超過25萬。

談到醫療失誤，很多人聯想到的是醫生在病人的錯誤部位做了手術、藥師給錯藥物等，實際上，醫師沒有正確診斷出疾病，或者診斷失誤, 也會對病患造成傷害。

常見的診斷失誤

醫生有責任辨認病人的各種疾病和疾病症狀，許多疾病的患者如果沒有及時治療，可能會因此喪命。醫生還必須知道問哪些問題來確定病人的健康狀況，因為一般病人不一定清楚哪些症狀是有問題的，哪些是沒有危害的。

但是，醫生在診斷疾病時，也可能犯錯誤。以下是幾種常見的醫療失誤情況。

未能診斷疾病 – 醫生在某些情況下，完全沒有診斷出病人症狀和疾病之間的關係，以致沒有告訴患者正確的疾病，導致病患可能在之後幾個月或幾年內都不知道自己身患疾病。當患者知道自己身體不健康時，通常為時已晚，已經錯失治療機會。

誤診 – 還有一種情況是醫生給患者作出錯誤的疾病診斷。例如，患者心臟病發作時，急診室的醫生可能誤診爲消化不良。

延遲診斷 – 延遲診斷指醫生花費太多時間才確診患者罹患某種疾病。例如，醫生按照偏頭痛症狀治療病人幾個月或幾年之後，才做相應檢查，發現診斷出病人罹患腦腫瘤。

以上任何一個診斷失誤都會對患者造成長期的嚴重損害。在某些情況下，診斷失誤可能導致死亡。

未能診斷疾病屬於醫療事故嗎？

醫生未能診斷疾病並不代表患者一定會發生醫療事故的情況。要成立醫療事故，患者必須合乎確認醫療事故的所有要素。

醫病關係的照護責任 – 首先，病人必須能夠證明醫生沒有盡到做為醫生照護病人的責任。為此，患者必須證明接受醫生的診斷時，雙方存在醫病關係。例如，如果您在雞尾酒會遇到一位醫生並向其諮詢腳踝扭傷的問題，您可能很難證明你們之間是醫病關係。
違背醫病照護責任 – 患者還必須能夠證明醫生脫離了醫病照護責任的標準。誤診情況，通常是指醫生忽視或誤解了患者的體徵或症狀，未能安排正確的檢查方法以正確診斷疾病。有時醫生安排了檢查，但忽略或誤解了檢查結果。例如，X光、乳房X光檢查或CT掃描可能顯示出癌症跡象，但放射科醫師沒能正確解釋檢查結果。同樣，血液檢查可能會顯示疾病證據，如貧血、癌症或感染，但醫師可能未能識別結果，也未能根據結果採取相應診療措施。另外，在誤診情況下，醫生可能開給病人不需要的藥物，往往對患者造成額外的傷害。
診斷失誤導致患者受到傷害 – 有時雖然醫生沒有盡到做為醫生的責任，但患者無法成立護責任。在誤診情況下，這沒有因此受到傷害，那麼醫療事故訴訟是無法成立的。在誤診、未能診斷和/或延誤診斷的案例中，成案的原因是看患者的病情是否因為沒有被正確診斷和治療，導致病情惡化，甚至失去治癒疾病的可能，或者病人健康狀況因此變更糟。例如，如果醫生在可治癒的早期階段未能診斷出惡性腫瘤，則腫瘤可能會擴散到其他器官，甚至導致死亡。同樣，如果醫生誤診患者是胃病症狀，而實際情況是心臟病發作，那麼結果可能是致命的。如果及時診斷和治療可以治愈疾病，而醫生的疏忽診斷導致患者病情嚴重惡化，甚至死亡，那麼這就足以提出醫療事故訴訟。

律師公告

以前的案件結果不能保證或預測未來案件會有類似結果。損失補償取決於每個案件發生的事實、環境、遭受傷害和損失程度以及案件責任人等多方面因素。

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Jonathan C Reiter

醫務人員未能診斷疾病 應該被起訴嗎

醫務人員未能診斷疾病應該被起訴嗎