An Interview with Jay W. Dankner, Esq. and Marcelo A. Buitrago, Esq. On October 28, 2014 an article in The New York Daily News reported that Joan River’s daughter Melissa Rivers had set in motion the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit by engaging a top New York medical malpractice law firm to begin the process of gathering all of the facts surrounding the death of her famous mother.   Those familiar with the situation anticipate Ms. Rivers intends to

Patients daily rely on medications prescribed by their doctors. And no one relies on those medications more than patients facing serious or life-threatening illnesses. In New York and within our society in general, we hold doctors and medical professionals to high standards to ensure that patients receive the correct prescriptions and medications, and that medication mistakes aren’t made.That wasn’t the case at a cancer clinic in Mississippi where a doctor was charged with health care

Many people rely on medications to help treat daily or recurring ailments. Some people only need prescription medicine for unexpected illnesses or injuries. But for any prescription or medication handed out, doctors need to be careful in writing the prescription and be aware of the instances where reliance on medicine can turn to abuse.New York recently conducted an examination of over 22 million prescriptions dispended in the state. The State Comptroller’s Office sent auditors to

Hospitals are meant to heal and cure but sometimes treatment in hospitals can make a patient sicker. This is because although healthcare facilities make a great effort to control germs and bacteria, they are not always successful and that can lead to infections or other illnesses for patients. One of the common examples of this is infections transmitted through central line IVs, which are inserted into a large vein and can carry infections to the

Many New York residents rely on prescriptions and medications to regulate common ailments or as part of a medical treatment plan. Whether the medication is dispensed in the hospital or through a pharmacy, it’s important to make sure that the correct medicine and dosage reach the patient.Far too often, however, medication mistakes occur. Medication errors fit many different categories, including incorrect dosages, continuing a prescription longer than necessary and dispensing the wrong prescription.Patients and healthcare

The medical profession isn’t the only one that is self-protective. Police officers, for example, are well known for keeping silent about the misdeeds of fellow officers. The code, supposedly for better but often for worse, is that cops don’t tell on other cops.Doctors and nurses engage in plenty of this kind of counter-productive self-protection concerning medical mistakes. According to a new book, the problem is widespread and pervasive in the delivery of medical care.The book

A recently released survey revealed significant concern among healthcare consumers about medical mistakes.The survey from Wolters Kluwer Health covered 1000 consumers in the U.S. The results indicated almost 30 percent of Americans have faced a medical mistake, either themselves, or through a third-party. The survey also revealed that most people think that there is a solution and that as technology improves, medical mistakes will decrease.One risk for New York patients, and health consumers in general,

The words “failure to diagnose” are often associated with cancer. This is for good reason, because the consequences of failing to catch cancer in time are frequently catastrophic.Failure to diagnose cancer is not, however, the only type of failure to diagnose a serious condition that can result in serious injury or death. In particular, heart disease – and more specifically heart failure – are also life-threatening when not diagnosed properly in a timely manner.A proper

Sepsis is a far less common word than cancer. But it is one of the leading causes of death in hospitals.It isn’t only the complications of cancer that can be a consequence of failure to diagnose. Failure to diagnose infections can also be deadly.Last week, the New York Times reported on the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy who had cut his harm while playing basketball. Less than a week after sustaining this seemingly ordinary

If a surgical medical mistake meets the criteria for medical malpractice, up until recently at least, insurance companies for New York City hospitals could be liable to pay for victims’ injuries and losses in the form of a jury verdict or settlement.What happens, however, when insurance companies are not involved? Several New York City hospitals are forgoing medical malpractice coverage as a way, they claim, of cutting costs. In lieu of carrying malpractice insurance, some

CNN recently featured 25 shocking medical errors that unfortunately happen every day at hospitals throughout the country. Please click on the link below to see a feature video about this documentary entitled “The Empowered Patient” . At DM&R we are here to help when these errors as well as those less obvious ruin your life or that of a loved one.

At Dankner Milstein hospitals don’t get away with mistakes like these. We have successfully litigated hundreds of case where vital organs or blood vessels are negligently cut during surgery.Please view the article on the Montefiore live-donor transplant program being shutdown.