{"id":3763,"date":"2026-07-22T10:36:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.defranciscolaw.com\/blog\/?p=3763"},"modified":"2026-07-27T10:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:57:14","slug":"court-examines-causation-in-new-york-medical-malpractice-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.defranciscolaw.com\/blog\/court-examines-causation-in-new-york-medical-malpractice-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Examines Causation in New York Medical Malpractice Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medical malpractice claims involving prescription medications often turn on more than whether a healthcare provider made a questionable treatment decision. A plaintiff must also establish that the departure from accepted medical practice actually caused the patient\u2019s injury or death. A recent federal decision applying New York law illustrates how the causation requirement can determine the outcome of a malpractice action even when the prescribing practices themselves remain disputed. If you believe negligent prescribing or medication management caused you or a loved one to suffer serious harm, you should speak with an experienced Syracuse medical malpractice attorney about your possible claims.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>History of the Case<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allegedly, the decedent had a lengthy history of substance abuse and received primary care from the defendants for several years. He also had paraplegia after a prior accident and later suffered significant burns to his legs. During treatment for those burns, a medical provider prescribed hydrocodone for pain. The prescriptions continued for more than a year, even though the patient had a known history of opioid misuse, received early refills, took benzodiazepines, and produced drug-screen results showing multiple controlled substances. Family members also expressed concern that the patient was engaging in drug-seeking behavior and had resumed abusing drugs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reportedly, the patient was found deceased in his home in July 2021, surrounded by drug paraphernalia and evidence of recent illicit drug use. The medical examiner attributed the death to acute intoxication caused by the combined effects of several substances, including hydrocodone, alprazolam, fentanyl, and norfentanyl. The estate commenced an action asserting medical malpractice, wrongful death, and related claims against the healthcare providers and the United States under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/R45732\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Tort Claims Act<\/a>. The defendants moved for summary judgment, maintaining that the plaintiff could not prove that any prescribed medication caused or contributed to the death.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is alleged that the plaintiff relied on expert opinions asserting that prescribing opioids together with benzodiazepines departed from accepted medical practice and increased the risk of respiratory depression. The plaintiff\u2019s experts also maintained that the continued opioid prescriptions contributed to the patient\u2019s renewed addiction and eventual overdose. The defendants\u2019 toxicology expert, however, concluded that the prescribed hydrocodone and alprazolam were present at therapeutic, nonlethal levels and that the fentanyl concentration alone fell within a fatal range. The matter came before a federal magistrate judge for a report and recommendation on the summary judgment motions. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defranciscolaw.com\/blog\/court-examines-causation-in-new-york-medical-malpractice-cases\/#more-3763\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Medical malpractice claims involving prescription medications often turn on more than whether a healthcare provider made a questionable treatment decision. A plaintiff must also establish that the departure from accepted medical practice actually caused the patient\u2019s injury or death. A recent federal decision applying New York law illustrates how the causation requirement can determine the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medical-malpractice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Court Examines Causation in New York Medical Malpractice Cases &#8212; Syracuse Personal Injury Law Blog &#8212; July 22, 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Medical malpractice claims involving prescription medications often turn on more than whether a healthcare provider made a questionable treatment &#8212; July 22, 2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.defranciscolaw.com\/blog\/court-examines-causation-in-new-york-medical-malpractice-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Court Examines Causation in New York Medical Malpractice Cases &#8212; 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