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Representation in Malpractice Litigation

Medical Malpractice Lawyer Serving Long Island

There are hundreds of thousands of injuries, illnesses and deaths that occur throughout the country every year that are the result of some type of medical malpractice. How a medical malpractice claim is addressed legally will have a huge impact on the final case outcome. At the Law Offices of Joseph M. Lichtenstein, PC, our firm's attorneys and supporting staff have created a compelling force that can address even the most difficult malpractice cases, even those that other law firms have turned down. With many multi-million dollar settlements, some of historical significance, our firm is dedicated to serving the injured or their families throughout the New York City area, and also provide aggressive legal counsel to clients who live in the areas of Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and all of Long Island.

Areas of Practice

Anesthesia Errors
During surgery of any type, from major surgery to dental surgery or elective surgery, the use of anesthetic must be carefully managed. Patients can have a negative response to a certain anesthetic, or the anesthetic is administered in the wrong dosage, leading to serious and life-threatening complications.

Birth Injuries
When a baby suffers damage through a failure to correctly manage the birth process, the outcome can be devastating. Cases of cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, brachial plexus injuries, brain damage or even the tragic loss of the baby's life must be addressed by a skilled legal professional.

Blood Transfusion Injuries
When the loss of blood requires a transfusion, it is hoped that the process is carefully managed, as any error is extremely dangerous. The transmission of a disease such as HIV is far less likely to occur than a transfusion error in which the wrong blood type is transfused. These errors can occur when several patients in the same area need a transfusion or other situation. A transfusion error can lead to a deadly reaction, hemoglobinuria or other serious and dangerous outcome.

Brain Damage
Certain types of medical errors can lead to permanent brain damage. These can include surgical errors, birth injuries or anesthesia errors that contributed to a permanent condition for an innocent individual who should have been safe in the hands of the practitioner.

Cardiovascular Disorders
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Among the most common types of cardiovascular disorders are heart attacks, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. As this type of complication is extremely common, doctors need to be conscientious when they are diagnosing and treating these patients.

Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer begins in the cervix and can spread to other parts of the body. When detected early enough, it is possible to treat and completely remove the cancer. Therefore, if a doctor is negligent in diagnosing or treating the cancer, they could be held accountable for the severity of the cancer.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
When a blood clot occurs in the deep veins, a deep vein thrombosis can occur. These types of blood clots usually occur in the legs and can lead to serious complications when the clot detaches and travels to other parts of the body. When the clot travels to the lungs, a pulmonary embolism can form.

Delayed Diagnosis
When delayed diagnosis occurs, the doctor correctly diagnoses the condition of the patient, but not until a substantial amount of time has passed. If it can be proven that the patient should have been diagnosed sooner and that it would have helped them recover, this could be a medical malpractice case.

Doctor Errors
We trust that a physician who is treating a condition or illness will make the correct decisions and not endanger our lives. There are thousands of doctor errors every year, many of which lead to very serious medical conditions, whether a wrong treatment, misdiagnosis, medication errors, surgical errors or a failure to diagnose a serious condition.

Emergency Room Errors
The doctors, nurses and other personnel who serve in an emergency room have a difficult and stressful occupation. There are cases in which an individual suffering from an illness or with specific symptoms is not diagnosed or treated correctly, leading to the condition or illness worsening or even leading to the loss of life.

Failure to Diagnose
When a physical condition, illness or injury forces you to seek medical attention, it is expected that if you have a serious condition, that it will be diagnosed and treated. Unfortunately, there are cases in which a serious illness or condition is not diagnosed as it should have been had the physician followed standard protocol in diagnosis for certain symptoms.

Failure to Monitor Patient
Medical staff members are responsible for monitoring patients while they are in their care. There are countless complications which could develop after a surgical procedure or during treatment and close attention is required in order to ensure they do not cause serious problems. Failing to monitor patients properly could result in injury and a medical malpractice case.

Failure to Refer
If you were the victim of failure to refer, your first step should be to get in touch with our team at the Law Offices of Joseph M. Lichtenstein, PC. We understand the role that greed can play in doctor's choosing not to lose patients by referring them to a hospital or a specialist. You could be entitled to compensation if you were injured in this way.

Gastric Bypass Errors
Gastric Bypass surgery is exceptionally dangerous. The fatality rate is as high as 1 in 200. There are also serious and deadly complications that can be the result of a surgery that was performed incorrectly. If you have suffered from serious complications or have lost a loved one after gastric bypass surgery, the case should be evaluated immediately to determine if medical malpractice led to the condition or death.

Heart Attacks
As one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., heart attacks need immediate treatment once the symptoms have been detected. If the medical staff fails in any regards to diagnose or treat the attack, they could be held liable for any negative results.

Improper Treatment for Diagnosed Disease
In cases where misdiagnosis is not a factor, there could still be potential errors regarding the treatment of the patient. For example, if the doctor made a mistake during surgery, failed to secure the patient's informed consent, or gave them the wrong medication, they could have a medical malpractice lawsuit on their hands.

Incorrect Operation
Although rare, cases of a patient getting the incorrect operation do occur. In such cases, a patient is given an operation that another patient was scheduled to receive. This situation could not be more dangerous; not only was the procedure wrong, the patient will now require another surgery to address their condition. Wrong surgery site events are approximately 13% of all reported medical errors.

Infections in Hospitals
There has been a rise in healthcare-associated infections, or HAI, also termed nosocomial infection. These infections are contracted in the hospital and were not present when the patient was admitted. Some of these infections are extremely dangerous, including bloodstream infections, pneumonia and urinary tract infections, as well as more serious infections. There are an estimated 99,000 deaths yearly from hospital borne infections

Inpatient / Outpatient Suicide
If your loved one was admitted to a hospital or outpatient care facility, the medical staff will assess the patient to determine if there is a risk of suicide. If the fail to accurately assess the risk or do not properly monitor the patient, they could be held liable for their death.

Lack of Supervision
If you suffered because a member of the medical staff failed to provide you with proper supervision while in care, you should contact our team as soon as possible. Lack of supervision can lead to serious injury or even death depending on the circumstances of the case.

Medical Equipment Failure
The failure of medical equipment can lead to serious injury or loss of life. These failures, whether an anesthetic machine, blood pressure equipment, diagnostic testing equipment, x-ray equipment or other crucial diagnostic or treatment unit can lead to injury or death.

Medical Errors
Cases in which a medical error has led to injury, illness or a condition that requires medical treatment should be addressed with a legal action taken against the medical professional, the facility or other liable parties to recover compensation for damages.

Medical Negligence
A healthcare provider has a duty of care to provide treatment at a level that is similar to what another medical professional would provide under similar circumstances. When they fail to do so, they may have been negligent and breached their duty to the patient.

Medication Errors
When administering medication, whether an anesthetic or medication to treat an illness or condition, errors can lead to serious and dangerous consequences. Over medication, wrong medication, or a medication that the patient is allergic to are all dangerous situations. If you or a loved one has been injured, suffered dangerous side effects or lost their lives after a medication was administered, you may have a medical malpractice case.

Military Hospital Malpractice
Due to certain laws and precedents, the U.S. government is well-protected when it comes to filing lawsuits of medical malpractice against military hospitals. Due to the Feres doctrine, courts can dismiss cases purporting that the military cannot be held liable.

Misdiagnosis
When you are suffering from physical symptoms and seek medical treatment, it is assumed that your condition will be correctly diagnosed. If a serious illness or condition is misdiagnosed, the actual condition can worsen or become life-threatening, such as heart attack, different forms of cancer and others.

Nerve Damage
During surgery, the operating team must exercise extreme caution to avoid damaging the numerous nerves throughout the body. Either because of an error in administering the anesthesia, failure to reposition the patient during surgery, or direct damage to a nerve, the patient could be left with permanent complications.

Nursing Errors
Nurses have a responsibility to ensure that when they administer medication, or are providing care to a patient, that they provide this care without endangering the life of the patient. In some cases, a nurse may fail to administer the correct dosage, may administer the wrong medication or fail to alert other medical staff when a patient is in distress.

Nursing Home Negligence
All over the country, patients in nursing homes are suffering from abuse and neglect. In some cases, the abuse is so severe that the elderly victim does not recover and succumbs to their injuries. If you have noticed any unexplained injuries, changing in your family member's behavior, or unaccounted financial transactions, you should contact our office as it could be pointing to neglect or another type of abuse.

Paralysis
Certain types of medical malpractice errors can lead to permanent disabilities. One common injury which can stem from a spinal cord injury is paralysis. Either from a direct injury to the spinal cord or because the doctor failed to diagnose the condition properly, you should not have to suffer because of the mistake of someone else.

Pharmacy Errors
A prescription medication can resolve a condition, treat an illness or manage a physical situation so that the patient can live longer. If a pharmacist makes an error and provides the wrong dosage, wrong medication or other error, the individual can suffer great harm, including a worsening condition or loss of life.

Plastic Surgery Errors
Many people have surgical procedures to improve their appearance or may need this surgery after an injury, to correct it or improve their quality of life. Plastic surgery errors often lead to permanent disfigurement and the need to have multiple subsequent surgeries to try to resolve the initial surgical error.

Psychiatric Malpractice
What is psychiatric malpractice? When an individual seeks help regarding a mental disorder, they could be referred to a psychiatric hospital or unit. They are able to treat such disorders as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, and more. If the doctor is negligent in their treatment of the patient, however, their condition could worsen.

Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that has traveled to the lungs from another part of the body and formed a blockage. Depending on the severity of the PE, it can result in breathlessness, chest pain, coughing up blood, or even a heart attack.

Radiology Errors
If you were injured because of a radiology error, you could be entitled to compensation. X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, and CT scans are extremely useful in diagnosing and treating numerous different conditions; however, when the radiologist does not administer the test correctly or interpret the findings accurately, the patient could be left facing severe consequences.

Sexual Misconduct
Sexual misconduct is not tolerated in the medical field, but this does not mean that these cases of abuse do not occur. If you were the victim of inappropriate sexual contact, statements, or even assault from your doctor, please contact our team as soon as possible so that we can seek to prove your case and secure you justice.

Spinal Cord Injury
The spinal cord remains one of the most difficult areas to treat when any injury has taken place. When the injury is the result of medical malpractice, such as a surgical error, the patient could have their lives forever changed, and will face the future with difficult challenges. These cases often lead to paralysis, either quadriplegia or paraplegia.

Strokes
Strokes can be caused either by a blood clot in a vessel in the brain or when a blood vessel bursts in the brain. As this can lead to long-term consequences and brain damage, it is imperative that individuals seek medical attention as soon as possible after noticing the symptoms of a stroke.

Surgical Injuries
Any surgical procedure has inherent dangers. In some cases, there were injuries that resulted from an error in the procedure. These injuries can include wrong surgery, brain damage, spinal cord injuries, foreign objects left in the body, anesthesia errors, organ damage, infections or other type of serious malpractice.

Urgent Care Errors
Urgent care facilities are designed to help treat patients who need immediate care, but the situation is not serious enough to need to visit the emergency room. Since they began in the 1970s, over 100,000 of these facilities have opened across the country. The fact that over half of all medical malpractice lawsuits were directed towards outpatient care facilities shows that this is a serious issue.

Wrongful Death
A medical error, doctor error, nurse error, surgical error or misdiagnosis can lead to the loss of a loved one. If you have lost your family member through medical malpractice, you have a short period of time in which to file a claim to recover compensation in a wrongful death claim.

Medical Malpractice FAQ
If you have questions concerning medical malpractice or whether you have a case, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team. We can help you determine how much money you are entitled to as well as help you hold the guilty party responsible for what they have done.