Saratoga Springs Hospital Malpractice Lawyers

★★★★★

We absolutely can’t thank you enough.

Powers & Santola was so knowledgeable and caring. I was so very fortunate to find such a great law firm.

- John

Hospital Malpractice Lawyers Serving Injured Patients in Saratoga Springs, New York

According to an oft-cited Johns Hopkins study, medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States. This is an intimidating statistic for many patients who go to hospitals to get better, not worse. Yet, people continue to be seriously injured and die because of the substandard care they receive from medical providers.

If you were injured due to what you suspect was medical malpractice, a medical injury lawyer from Powers & Santola, LLP can review your case for free during an initial consultation. Since 1987, our outstanding lawyers have championed the rights of personal injury and medical malpractice victims. Let us explain how we can help during your complimentary, confidential consultation.

How Can a Hospital Malpractice Lawyer from Powers & Santola Help Me?

Medical malpractice cases are some of the most complicated personal injury cases. They involve a unique intersection of medicine and the law. To establish your right to compensation after an injury at a hospital, you must be able to show the hospital was negligent or one of its providers deviated from the standard of care that resulted in your injury.

Medical malpractice lawyers understand this complex web and can work with medical experts who can establish the legal basis of a malpractice claim. A medical malpractice attorney from Powers & Santola, LLP can review your situation, identify what went wrong in your care, and explain your legal options. If you decide to proceed with a medical malpractice case, our legal team can gather evidence to establish your claim.

Powers & Santola, LLP is known for its tenacity. Insurance companies and defendants know that when we take on a case, it has merit, and we will not settle our case for less than its fair value. Time and time again, we have secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our deserving clients. We prepare every case as though it were going to trial, which helps us to leverage our knowledge of the case in and out of the courtroom. We handle negotiations with medical malpractice insurance providers and defendants so you can focus on your recovery.

Our zealous representation has garnered us recognition as “Best Lawyers in America” and “Super Lawyers” based on reviews and recommendations from our clients and attorneys on the other side of the table. Learn more about the legal process of filing a legal claim when you contact an experienced malpractice lawyer from our award-winning law firm.

About Saratoga Hospital

Saratoga Hospital is the only acute-care facility in Saratoga County. It is affiliated with Albany Medical Center and operates from over 19 locations with healthcare providers in more than 40 specialties. The hospital has a staff of over 450 physicians and medical professionals.

The hospital also currently has a deplorable 2.6 rating on Google. Visitors complain of long wait times, not receiving any care, doctors who forget about them, and lack of communication. Unfortunately, these issues can lead to medical mistakes that harm patients and their families.

Hospital Medical Malpractice and Negligence

Legal claims against hospitals related to patient injuries generally fall into one of two categories: medical malpractice or negligence. Negligence often occurs because of the actions or inactions of hospital staff or nurses rather than physicians or the negligent actions of hospital administration. Common examples of injuries that may result from hospital negligence include:

Pressure ulcers or bedsores that arise because of understaffing
Falls that happen because of uncleaned spills or failure to assess a patient for fall risk
Physical or sexual assaults that occur because the hospital fails to monitor patients and their staff properly
Overmedication that occurs because healthcare providers fail to communicate or obtain information necessary about the patient’s current regimen
Hospital-acquired infections that occur due to unsanitary practices

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care and harms a patient due to their deviation from the standard of care. These situations often involve the acts or omissions of physicians and can result in serious injuries, prolonged illness, permanent disabilities, worsened health outcomes, or death of patients.

Common Causes of Patient Injuries at Hospitals

Patients may suffer various injuries due to medical malpractice, including:

Surgical Errors

Even though surgeons have extensive training and education, they can still make mistakes. Patients can be injured through errors such as:

Operating on the wrong body part
Wrong patient surgery
Wrong-site surgery
Leaving surgical instruments in a patient’s body after surgery
Nicking an artery during the surgical procedure
Botched surgery

These surgical mistakes may lead to injuries, the need for additional surgeries, complications, and prolonged recovery times.

Medication Errors

Patients can suffer injuries when hospital staff prescribes the wrong medication, gives the wrong dosage, uses the incorrect method of administration, or gives the patient a medication that adversely interacts with another medicine.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia errors include giving a patient too much or too little anesthesia, giving the wrong type of anesthesia, failing to monitor the patient, or using defective medical equipment to administer the anesthesia.

Anesthesia mistakes can cause severe consequences, including:

Brain damage
Heart attack
Stroke
Coma
Death

Diagnostic Errors

Diagnostic errors can result in misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. A misdiagnosis occurs when a healthcare provider diagnoses a patient with a condition they do not have. The patient does not receive the medical treatment they need. Instead, they receive unnecessary medical treatment that could harm them.

A delayed diagnosis occurs when a medical professional fails to diagnose a patient in a timely manner, allowing the disease to spread or the condition to worsen during the delay. In some cases, such as those involving the delayed diagnosis of cancer, the result can be fatal by the time the healthcare provider realizes their mistake.

Birth Injuries

Hospitals can deliver babies and respond in case of emergencies that arise during pregnancy. Healthcare professionals may fail to monitor the pregnancy properly, react promptly to an emergency, or misuse a vacuum extractor or forceps. These mistakes can cause various birth injuries, including cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, and permanent disabilities.

Hospital-Acquired Infections

Patients can suffer from infections including staph, strep, and necrotizing fasciitis due to issues such as:

Lack of protocol surrounding sanitation
Healthcare providers who disregard sanitation protocols
Improper sterilization of medical equipment
Failure to follow protocols regarding infection control

These infections can lead to complications, including sepsis and septic shock.

If you or a loved one were harmed in any of the manners described above, reach out to an experienced medical malpractice attorney today.

Why Does Hospital Malpractice Occur?

Various factors can lead to hospital malpractice, including:

Lack of admission – Hospitals may not have sufficient space for all of the patients needing care, causing them to refuse to admit some patients for observation or assistance. Many of the patient complaints about Saratoga Hospital pertain to patients waiting endlessly and being refused a bed because none were available.
Missing information – Hospitals may have incomplete patient information, leading them to give them medicine they are allergic to, miss symptoms, or fail to see genetic connections due to this lack of information.
Miscommunication – Healthcare providers may confuse patients or fail to provide information to other treating physicians.
Understaffing – Hospitals are notoriously understaffed, which can lead to patient injuries when healthcare providers fail to properly monitor them or respond to emergencies.
Ignoring symptoms – Many healthcare professionals brush off patient concerns or attribute them to a more innocuous source, such as a common ailment or stress, leading patient conditions to go undiagnosed and untreated.
Delayed reactions – Healthcare providers may not respond promptly once they receive lab results, notice symptoms, or have other indications of an emergent situation.
Lack of follow-up – Hospital staff may conduct imaging or labs, only to leave patients in the dark about their results.
Fatigue – Many healthcare providers work long hours, which can result in impaired cognition and judgment.
Impairment – Some healthcare providers may abuse drugs or alcohol, impairing their cognitive and motor function.
Early discharge – The hospital might prematurely discharge a patient with ongoing monitoring if necessary.

Contact an experienced medical negligence lawyer today to learn more about the legal process of filing a Saratoga Springs medical malpractice case.

What Is the Legal Process Involved in Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim in New York?

If you suspect medical malpractice injured you or a loved one, it’s crucial that you respond quickly. You have a limited amount of time to make your legal claim, and your medical malpractice lawyer will need time to investigate your case fully.

Your lawyer can begin by filing a claim with the provider’s or hospital’s medical malpractice insurance policy. They can provide a demand letter stating why the defendant is responsible for the injury and the compensation you seek to resolve your case. Your lawyer handles negotiations with the insurance company, attempting to arrive at a fair settlement of your claim.

If the insurance company denies your claim or refuses to offer fair compensation, your lawyer can proceed with filing a civil lawsuit against the hospital and any other relevant parties. New York law requires that your attorney include a certificate of merit with the complaint or within 90 days of filing the complaint. This certificate of merit states that your attorney has consulted a qualified medical expert who believes the lawsuit has valid grounds. Because Powers & Santola is a well-respected law firm that has been in business for over 35 years, we have a network of experts to consult on your case and call to the stand if your case goes to trial.

What Financial Compensation Can I Recover in a Medical Malpractice Claim?

New York law allows personal injury and medical malpractice victims to seek compensation for the damages they sustained as a result of someone else’s negligence. These damages generally fall into two categories:

Economic Damages

Medical expenses
Ongoing medical care and treatment
Future medical expenses
Lost wages and employment benefits
Reduced earning capacity
Replacement services
Out-of-pocket expenses
Home or vehicle accommodations

You can use receipts, invoices, bills, and other documentation to establish the value of these and other losses.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages compensate victims for the less tangible losses they suffered, including:

Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Emotional distress
Physical disfigurement and scarring
Loss of consortium
Loss of enjoyment of life

An experienced medical negligence attorney can evaluate your case and what your hospital malpractice case is worth.

What Is the Time Limit for Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in New York?

Medical malpractice lawsuits must generally be filed within two and a half years under New York law. For adults this deadline usually starts on the date the act of medical malpractice occurred. However, there are exceptions to this rule, including cases involving delayed diagnoses of cancer, continuous treatment, leaving surgical instruments in patients, malpractice which injures a child under 18 and malpractice which results in death. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can review your case and explain the deadline that applies to it.

If you miss the applicable deadline, the court can dismiss any lawsuit you later file as being untimely. You can lose your right to recover compensation through the court system. You can potentially avoid this outcome by contacting an experienced medical malpractice attorney who can safeguard your rights.

Contact Our Saratoga Springs Hospital Malpractice Lawyers Today

If a hospital’s negligence harmed you, you deserve to be fairly compensated for the harm you’ve suffered. An experienced lawyer from Powers & Santola, LLP can review your case during a free consultation, discuss your legal rights and options, and pursue fair compensation on your behalf.

Our legal team provides complimentary consultations so you can learn more about your case without any risk or obligation to you. If we take your case, we work on a contingency-fee basis, so you don’t pay us anything until we recover compensation for you. Contact us to learn more about how we can help.

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When someone injures you, your life gets turned upside down. Suddenly, you may face a ton of medical bills. You may be unable to work or help out around the home. Others may need to care for you around the clock. Nothing is the same.

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