Yes, you indeed can sue a Hospital in NYC, if you lost a loved one due to medical malpractice, you can file a wrongful death claim.
New York law permits plaintiffs in medical malpractice and wrongful death claims to name individuals and entities such as Hospitals as defendants in lawsuits. So, a claim can include individual healthcare providers like a physician, anesthesiologist, or nurse and the facility, usually a Hospital, where the malpractice happened.
That being said, hospitals and healthcare systems are powerful opponents that Lambrou Law has taken on routinely over the last nearly thirty (30) years.
That’s why you need the skilled New York City medical malpractice lawyers from Lambrou Law. Lambrou Law knows all about litigating cases against strong adversaries including Hospitals and Hospital systems and have the resources to build the case properly and ultimately win the case.
Understanding the difference: Medical malpractice versus wrongful death
There are a couple of differences between these two legal concepts. Understanding them can help you make better decisions about your case.
What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is when a medical professional fails to deliver the standard of care expected of someone in their position. This could be actions that directly harm the patient or inaction that causes harm. Medical negligence takes many forms:
- Wrong-site surgery or surgical errors
- Failing to manage a pregnant women giving birth which causing injury to the newborn child
- Not considering the patient’s medical history or family history when diagnosing
- Improper medication prescribed or failure to consider drug interactions when prescribing new medication
- Failing or delaying the diagnosis of cancer
- Discharging a patient from care while they are still too ill to be discharged
- Failure to order proper diagnostic tests
Medical Misdiagnosis is the most common form of medical malpractice. If a doctor makes the wrong diagnosis of a deadly disease like properly, cancer and instead labels it noncancer, the malpractice can easily lead to wrongful death. Failure to diagnose is also another form of malpractice. It is when a medical professional fails to diagnose a condition. Such a failure can easily lead to wrongful death if the condition that is not diagnosed is cancer or another terminal illness.
What is wrongful death?
Wrongful death is the death of a person due to the negligence or malicious action of another party. For your lawyer to successfully prove that your loved one suffered a wrongful death due to medical malpractice, they must establish that malpractice occurred and that the medical malpractice led to the death of your loved one.
These cases are civil matters, not criminal. It is unlikely that a doctor or other clinician who committed medical malpractice will face criminal charges. Despite that, they can be found to have caused death in a civil case alleging medical malpractice, which is another form of justice.
Establishing the critical elements of a wrongful death
Your attorney must prove the elements of a wrongful death lawsuit covered by many laws including the 1985 Medical Malpractice Reform Act:
- There must be a death
- The death must be caused by negligence
- The victim would have been able to file a medical malpractice suit had they lived
- The surviving family members suffered damages from the death
Even if your lawyer establishes negligence, they still must draw the connection between the healthcare provider/facility and their death.
How to hold a hospital liable in a wrongful death suit
Holding a Hospital liable for wrongful death works much the same as holding an individual liable. Your lawyer must prove that the hospital itself was negligent.
One common way a New York City hospital can be liable for wrongful death is if it fails to do due diligence in the hiring process for medical professionals. If the hospital fails to conduct a thorough background search on potential hires, or overlooks red flags, it could be held liable.
A hospital could also be liable for medical malpractice if it failed to supervise or discipline medical professionals properly. If patients complained about a doctor, nurse, CNA, or other specialist’s lack of care, and the hospital failed to investigate or discipline that individual, it could be liable for the harm that professional caused.
Have you lost a loved one due to medical malpractice? We want to hear your story.
At Lambrou Law, we have extensive resources to litigate complex claims against hospitals and other medical care facilities. We have recovered millions of dollars on behalf of the Estate of families that have brought cases seeking compensation for wrongful death. Our legal team carefully gathers evidence, interviews witnesses, and reviews the records of the facility and individual healthcare providers and retains world class experts to build our case.
The use of medical expert witnesses to weigh in on the specific instances of medical malpractice that led to your loved one’s death is essential in these types of cases. From there, we trust economic experts to help properly value your claim.
Please contact us today at (212) 285-2100 for a free consultation.
