Managing Partner
Patients can sometimes sue their healthcare providers for causing pain. Although some medical procedures necessarily involve pain, there are cases in which the healthcare practitioner engaged in negligence. These providers could be held liable for medical malpractice.
Pain is not enough by itself to give a patient grounds for suing. But the experienced Long Island medical malpractice lawyers of Dell & Dean, PLLC can review your situation and see if you have a case.
When Healthcare Providers May Be Liable for Pain
To understand whether you have a claim after experiencing pain and suffering, you need to know the elements of medical malpractice. In New York, those elements are:
- Existence of a doctor-patient relationship: This relationship gives the medical provider a duty of care with respect to the patient.
- Breach of the duty of care: The provider must have departed from the accepted standard of medical care. Described another way, the provider must have acted in a way that a reasonably competent provider would not have. This is a key analysis for pain cases.
- Causation: The breach must have caused injury to the patient, meaning the provider’s negligence either caused pain or made it worse.
- Damages: Lastly, the patient has to show they suffered damages. Pain and suffering is a recognized category of non-economic damages in New York malpractice cases.
Any Long Island healthcare professional such as a doctor, nurse, or surgeon, along with any healthcare facility like a hospital or clinic, can potentially be liable for causing pain. However, pain alone is not sufficient; the patient has to prove malpractice.
Possible Examples of Pain-Related Malpractice
These are some real-life examples of when legal action may be available to a patient who has experienced pain because of a medical procedure:
- Surgical mistakes: If the surgeon operates on the wrong part of the body, then any resulting pain and suffering was entirely unnecessary.
- Failure to diagnose: A doctor’s failure to diagnose a medical situation could allow it to worsen and cause avoidable pain and suffering.
- Anesthesia errors: Since anesthesia is designed to lessen pain, not administering it correctly could cause unnecessary suffering for the patient.
- Dental malpractice: A dentist may negligently damage a nerve during a procedure, potentially leaving the victim with chronic pain.
- Delayed treatment: While some delays are unavoidable in the medical field, unreasonable delays in treatment can allow a patient to suffer extensively.
These are situations that involve more than simply the presence of pain and suffering. Rather, the medical professional has done something negligent connected with the pain. Conversely, pain that is an expected side effect or inherent risk to a procedure is likely not actionable.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
Pain and suffering is compensable in a Long Island malpractice claim. This form of damages compensates victims for subjective and intangible losses they experience. It includes the physical pain and discomfort victims suffer, but it can cover more than that.
Pain and suffering often overlaps with emotional distress, mental suffering, trauma, disfigurement, and depression. These and other losses affect a victim’s mental health, psychological wellness, and emotional stability.
So when you consider the pain and suffering you’ve experienced as a result of a medical procedure, you should also evaluate its effects on your overall quality of life and well-being. Share these experiences with your lawyer so you can seek the compensation you deserve.
Contact a Long Island Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If your medical procedure did not go as expected and you suffered pain as a result, you may have a legal claim. Schedule a free case evaluation with the attorneys of Dell & Dean, PLLC. Contact us today to learn more.
