Exposing the New York City Medical Malpractice “Crisis”
New York city is in the midst of a crisis in medical malpractice law, a division of personal injury law. For the average man or woman on the street, this is common knowledge, old news. Across demographics, attorneys, medical professionals, even average citizens are familiar with the buzz across the country: at large, the nation is witnessing unprecedented overuse and abuse of the medical malpractice laws of the civil court system. Court dockets have become hopelessly clogged, tax money is wasted, and, perhaps worst, for the average citizen, confidence in the legal system of this country has been depleted and squandered.
Except that it’s not true.
However, what is true is that medical mistakes account for a remarkable number of deaths every year. These deaths total more, even, than automobile accidents. Additionally, recent research has found that virtually all medical malpractice lawsuits filed in this nation have merit, and are based on serious, significant errors (leading to injury or death) in medical care. And yet, we all know the widely-held belief that most medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous, and arise from the imagination (some would say avarice) of medical malpractice attorneys in New York City and elsewhere across the country. So how can we rectify this prominent but false belief with the statistical evidence to the contrary?
Greedy trial lawyers clogging the courts with a glut of frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits is a myth, disseminated and perpetuated, very effectively, by the insurance industry, with hopes of prompting “reform” that would include tighter limits on the criteria for filing a medical malpractice case. Part and parcel to this myth is the idea that such reforms are necessary to create limits for attorneys. In fact, the primary beneficiaries of such reforms would be the insurance companies who market malpractice insurance to medical professionals. Restricted filing criteria results in fewer suits. Fewer suits means fewer settlements. Fewer settlements/pay-outs means a better bottom line for insurance providers.
It clearly, we can see who gains. But who loses? Of course, it is the average citizen. Described in clear, plain language, who among us would argue in favor of limits on the legal options available to victims of medical malpractice, a phenomenon which we have seen kills more individuals than auto accidents? If we go one step further and take into account recent findings that nearly all suits of medical malpractice are not frivolous and in fact have merit, it is a no-brainer. In this country, medical malpractice laws provide the necessary checks and balances for our medical system. So don’t be fooled. If you find yourself the victim of a medical mistake, don’t hesitate to exercise your legal rights.
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Tags: medical malpractice lawyer, New York, New York attorney