Sometimes doctors in New York fail to exercise reasonable degrees of care and patients end up becoming harmed as a result. This can happen in a wide range of medical specialties, including in radiology. In fact, radiology was recently named the eighth most likely service to be involved in a claim of medical malpractice. Ninety percent of radiologists are expected to be the subjects of lawsuits at least one time during their careers by the time they reach age 65.
A successful claim of malpractice is based on several factors. First, a duty to care for a patient exists when a medical provider undertakes the treatment or care of a patient. Second, a breach must take place, which means, in other words, a provider must have failed to provide a relevant standard of care.
Third, there must be evidence that the duty breach caused the patient’s injury. If a radiologist missed lung nodules in an X-ray of the chest and the patient ended up dying for a different reason, the radiologist is not subject to a claim of malpractice. Finally, the patient must have suffered an injury resulting from the doctor’s negligence.
Medical malpractice may end up causing a person to suffer potentially permanent injuries in New York. In some cases, malpractice can even lead to death. A person who is injured as a result of the negligence of a health care provider has the right to file a liability claim against the provider, seeking damages. Likewise, the surviving loved ones of those who have died as a result of malpractice may opt to file wrongful death claims, seeking damages. A damage award, if achieved, may help to cover hospital costs, burial expenses and other losses stemming from a medical malpractice incident.
Source: diagnosticimaging.com, “Radiologists, Expect to Get Sued“, Liza Haar, March 3, 2016
