Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog

In New York, EMTs providing ambulance services constitutes healthcare. As such, if they render their services improperly, they can be liable for medical malpractice. Not all duties performed by EMTs require an analysis of the standard of care imposed on health professionals, however, as some errors merely constitute negligence. In a recent New York case, the court discussed the difference between negligence and medical malpractice, ultimately determining that the plaintiff set forth a malpractice claim. If you were injured by inadequate medical care, it is wise to meet with a Syracuse medical malpractice attorney to determine what damages you may be owed.

Factual History of the Case

It is alleged that in May 2017, police officers had an altercation with the decedent that ultimately resulted in an officer shooting the decedent. The defendant ambulance company was dispatched to the scene to provide the decedent with emergency medical services and to transport him to the hospital following the incident.

Reportedly, the decedent passed away, after which the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the city and the defendant ambulance company, asserting wrongful death and negligence claims. The specific claim against the defendant ambulance company alleged it negligently provided first aid and medical treatment to the decedent, resulting in his death. The defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that the claim sounded in medical malpractice, and as the plaintiff failed to offer expert testimony in support of her claim, it should be dismissed. Continue Reading ›

Medical malpractice cases often hinge on the qualifications of expert witnesses and the interpretation of applicable standards of care. As such, the disqualification of a party’s expert witness can be devastating to their case. Recently, a New York court discussed expert qualifications in a medical malpractice case in which it ultimately determined that the plaintiffs’ expert was qualified to opine on the issue of whether the defendants violated the relevant standard of care. If you were hurt due to a negligently performed procedure, it is prudent to speak to a Syracuse medical malpractice attorney regarding your possible claims.

Factual and Procedural History

It is alleged that the plaintiffs, a husband and wife, filed a lawsuit against the defendants, alleging that an improperly performed blood draw at the defendants’ laboratory facility caused the plaintiff-wife to suffer severe and permanent. The complaint sounded in failure to obtain informed consent, medical malpractice, and loss of consortium. The defendants moved to strike the plaintiff’s expert, an anesthesiologist, from testifying on the grounds that he was not qualified as an expert witness on the issue of the standard of care for the blood draw procedure.

Demonstrating an Expert Is Qualified to Testify in Medical Malpractice Cases

In this case, the admissibility of expert testimony is governed by Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which requires that an expert possess knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education relevant to the case. Rule 702 serves as a gatekeeper to ensure that expert testimony is both reliable and pertinent to the matter at hand. Continue Reading ›

Cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease. A defect causes the heart muscle to become weakened, swollen, or lopsided, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. Cardiomyopathy affects infants eight times more than any other demographic. Cardiomyopathy, like myocarditis, can lead to congestive heart failure, which is caused by fluid buildup in the heart, lungs, or other organs.

Pediatric cardiology is a special type of pediatric medicine. In general, pediatric care has very few medical errors; however, more complicated, life-threatening diseases have twice the number of medical errors as other medical complications. As children’s systems are still developing and they are generally small in size, it is difficult to predict how their systems will react to complex and invasive medical testing and treatments. Furthermore, children are frequently unable to articulate their symptoms in a detailed and understandable manner.  Pediatric cardiology is a very unique condition to treat, resulting in unusual conditions that can lead to errors. Because few children suffer from cardiac problems, the overall possibility of error is low, but it does occur. However, since there are fewer patients, errors are more common in this area. As a result of less experience in treating these diseases, fewer protocols, fewer established diagnostic methods, and a lack of equipment to treat these diseases, medical errors are on the rise.

Other factors that contribute to medical errors in pediatric cardiology patients include a general lack of awareness of these problems, which frequently results in physicians failing to diagnose or consider cardiac conditions, the frailty of critically ill patients, and the fact that symptoms of heart disease can also correlate with a wide range of other possible conditions. For these reasons, pediatricians frequently test other options before considering a cardiac condition. This significantly delays diagnosis and treatment, potentially causing the child to suffer greatly or even die. If your child was harmed as a result of medical malpractice involving heart failure, you should consult with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Our highly experienced medical malpractice attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to assist you in obtaining the compensation you deserve.  We serve clients throughout Upstate New York and have offices in several convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the field of medical malpractice is reflected in the results we have obtained for our clients.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging test that uses magnetic pulses in conjunction with radio wave energy to view internal organs and other areas of the body. An MRI is a specialized piece of equipment with unique requirements. The MRI is not the same as a CT scan. During an MRI, the patient’s body is placed in a unit and must remain motionless for some time while the imaging is performed. Medical personnel who operate MRI machines must be properly trained in their use.

According to a recent lawsuit, a woman was injured during an MRI procedure. The woman claims that the machine was not properly operated and that the MRI machine was too small. As a result, the woman sustained physical injuries to the left side of her body. The injuries included burns due to her placement on the equipment. The woman states that the injuries were very severe and very painful. The lawsuit does not indicate whether the injuries were permanent, however, burn injuries often require continued medical treatment including the possibility of skin grafts to repair the damage. Additionally, the woman will likely have scarring and disfigurement because of the burns to her body. These injuries could have been prevented if the technicians were more careful while operating the machine. The equipment may not have been large enough to accommodate the woman, or she may have been positioned incorrectly on the table. Whatever the reason, the woman was injured because of the negligent care she received. The medical personnel should have been more cautious and noticed that the woman was not properly aligned to fit into the machine.

When a patient suffers a serious injury because of negligent care, it is considered medical malpractice. In this instance, the woman may request damages to cover her medical expenses, lost wages, future treatments, and pain and suffering caused by the injury.  If you or someone you love was injured due to an improperly performed MRI procedure, contact our office today.  At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our highly experienced medical malpractice attorneys may be able to help you recover the compensation you deserve.  We help clients throughout Upstate New York, with offices in multiple convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the medical malpractice field is reflected in the results we have achieved for our clients.

For parents, the worries associated with impending parenthood begin long before their child is born. Unfortunately, birth injuries can occur at any time during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, or the postnatal period. One of the most serious birth injuries is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).  Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain for an extended period of time. According to a Newborn Infant and Nursing Review article, HIE occurs in 1.5 to 2.5 of every 1,000 live births in developed countries. Surprisingly, despite advances in obstetric care, the rate of HIE has not decreased over the last few decades.

HIE occurs as a result of an event that deprives the newborn’s brain of oxygen or blood flow before, during, or after birth. When a baby’s developing brain is deprived of oxygen and blood, the cells rapidly decay and die. It is not always clear what event prevents oxygen or blood flow to the brain. However, there are a number of risk factors and potential causes to consider. Problems with blood flow to the placenta, preeclampsia, maternal diabetes with vascular disease, congenital fetal infections, drug or alcohol abuse, severe fetal anemia, heart disease, and lung malformations are all prenatal risk factors. Intrapartum risk factors include umbilical cord problems, placental abruption or uterine rupture, excessive placental bleeding, abnormal fetal position, such as breech position, prolonged late stages of labor, and very low blood pressure in the mother. Severe prematurity, severe lung or heart disease, serious infections, brain or skull trauma, very low blood pressure in the baby, and respiratory failure or cardiac arrest are all postnatal risk factors.

When doctors and nurses miss critical signs that the baby is in distress during delivery, this is considered medical malpractice. The actions or inactions of the medical team can deprive the baby of oxygen, causing profound brain damage.  This would lead to the infant requiring extensive resuscitation before they could start breathing on their own, resulting in permanent brain damage that would limit their mental and physical abilities for the rest of their life. If you or your baby suffered injury as the result of medical malpractice, call our office today.  At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our highly experienced medical malpractice attorneys may be able to help you collect the compensation you deserve.  We help clients throughout Upstate New York, with offices in multiple convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the medical malpractice field is reflected in the results we have achieved for our clients.

Gastroparesis, also known as delayed gastric emptying, is a condition in which the stomach takes an abnormally long time to empty its contents. The stomach normally contracts to move food down into the small intestine for digestion. The vagus nerve regulates the passage of food from the stomach to the digestive tract. Gastroparesis occurs when the vagus nerve is damaged, and the stomach and intestine muscles do not function normally. The food then moves slowly or stops moving completely through the digestive tract.  With gastroparesis, the stomach is partially paralyzed.  This means that the stomach is unable to digest food and empty its contents properly. Depending on the individual, gastroparesis symptoms can be mild or severe. Symptoms may occur frequently in some people but less frequently in others. Many people with gastroparesis have a variety of symptoms, and the disorder is sometimes difficult to diagnose. Gastroparesis symptoms include severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, a decreased appetite, heartburn, pain in the upper abdomen, an early feeling of fullness after only a few bites of food, weight loss due to poor nutrient absorption or low-calorie intake, abdominal bloating, high and low blood glucose levels, a lack of appetite, and gastroesophageal reflux.

One of the most frequent causes of gastroparesis occurs when a surgeon cuts, severs, damages, compresses, or traps the vagus nerve during a bariatric or other gastrointestinal procedure. Because the vagus nerve regulates the stomach, it can cause gastroparesis if it stops working or is not working properly. The standard of care requires surgeons to locate and protect nerves and blood vessels during an operation or procedure. In other words, vagus nerve damage should not occur and when it does, it is usually the result of medical malpractice.  If you or someone you love has suffered because of a healthcare provider’s surgical error, call our office today.  Our highly experienced medical malpractice attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to assist you in obtaining the compensation you deserve.  We serve clients throughout Upstate New York and have offices in several convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the field of medical malpractice is reflected in the results we have obtained for our clients.

Several tests are available to help doctors diagnose gastroparesis. It is not a condition that should be diagnosed without the completion of the following tests:

If a person has a medical problem that necessitates medical attention or is simply going in for their annual check-up, anything they discuss with their doctor is kept between them and the healthcare provider. The physician is legally obligated to uphold a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement, which is based on the idea that a patient should never be afraid to seek medical treatment for fear of private medical information being disclosed to others. If a patient discovers that the information they shared with their doctor was mishandled or shared with others without their consent, this is a violation of the doctor-patient confidentiality agreement, and they may be able to sue their healthcare provider for medical malpractice. A knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney can thoroughly review the case and advise you on the best legal course of action.  At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our highly experienced medical malpractice attorneys may be able to help you collect the compensation you deserve.  We help clients throughout Upstate New York, with offices in multiple convenient locations. Our extensive experience in the medical malpractice field is reflected in the results we have achieved for our clients.

A person’s health is a very personal matter, especially if they have specific health issues that they do not feel comfortable discussing with others. Doctor-patient confidentiality is important because it allows patients to feel more comfortable sharing medical information. Furthermore, the more information the doctor has about the patient, the better he or she will be able to make an accurate diagnosis and provide the best care possible.

Once the doctor-patient relationship is established, the physician is not permitted to disclose any medical information without the patient’s permission. The duty of confidentiality does not end when the patient is no longer under the physician’s care. It lasts as long as the patient does, and it even lasts after the patient dies. The following are covered by the agreement: