Medical Malpractice as a Cause of Action in New York

Medical malpractice lawsuits are a way for patients to seek justice when they are harmed by the negligence of a healthcare provider. In New York, a patient who brings a malpractice claim must prove two specific elements: that the doctor or other healthcare provider failed to follow accepted medical practices, and that this failure directly caused the patient’s injury. These elements are necessary for the claim to be successful in court.

Deviation from Accepted Medical Practice

The first requirement in a medical malpractice case is showing that the healthcare provider deviated from accepted medical standards. This means that the provider did something that a competent doctor in the same field would not have done under similar circumstances, or failed to do something a competent doctor would have done.

This is not simply about a poor result or a mistake. It must be shown that the provider’s care was outside the range of what is generally accepted in the medical community. For example, if a surgeon leaves a surgical instrument inside a patient, or if a doctor prescribes a medication that should not be used for a certain condition and there was no medical justification, this may be considered a departure from accepted practice.

To prove this, the injured patient usually needs a medical expert to explain what the standard of care is and how the provider failed to meet it.

Proximate Cause of Injury

The second element is that the provider’s mistake must have caused the injury. This means there must be a direct connection between the improper care and the harm the patient suffered. Even if a doctor made a mistake, there is no malpractice unless that mistake is what actually caused the injury.

For instance, if a delayed diagnosis led to the worsening of a disease that could have been treated earlier, the patient must show that earlier treatment would have made a difference. If the outcome would have been the same no matter what, there is no proximate cause, and therefore no malpractice.

Conclusion

Medical malpractice in New York requires more than just a bad outcome from medical treatment. A patient must show that the healthcare provider acted outside accepted medical standards and that this failure was the cause of their injury. These claims are complex and typically require expert testimony, but they serve an important purpose in holding providers accountable and compensating patients for avoidable harm.

Find the Law

“The essential elements of medical malpractice are (1) a deviation or departure from accepted medical practice, and (2) evidence that such departure was a proximate cause of injury” ( DiMitri v. Monsouri,302 A.D.2d 420, 421, 754 N.Y.S.2d 674; see Barnett v. Fashakin,85 A.D.3d 832, 834, 925 N.Y.S.2d 168; Guzzi v. Gewirtz,82 A.D.3d 838, 918 N.Y.S.2d 552).” Hayden v. Gordon, 91 A.D.3d 819, 820 (N.Y. App. Div. 2012)