Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice Lawyer
F: (212) 683 2815
43 West 43rd Street
Suite 169
New York, NY 10036-7424
Civil litigation. 20+ years' experience in the New York Courts representing injured plaintiffs and their families in neglience, personal injury, wrongful death, and medical malpractice cases.
Please call me "Val" ("Mr. Wallace" is fine too if you prefer).
When a person is injured or killed as a result of negligence or medical malpractice, the financial fallout for their family is devastating. Considering the high costs of medical care, the hospital bills alone can run into six or seven figures. Unfortunately, it is virtually unknown for a medical provider to admit their mistake and voluntarily make good for the patient and their family. The only option a patient and their family has is to file suit for compensation.
A New York civil case on the grounds of medical malpractice is brought only after a highly qualified physician expert in the medical field involved has carefully reviewed the case, and in their professional opinion, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, there is a good faith basis for proceeding with court action to highlight the error in treatment.
Health care providers, Municipal entities, hospitals and nursing homes are required to carry insurance, and court actions are brought where atypical and unusual situations in these settings result in patient harm or death. These cases are brought on behalf of the patient, with the use of experts in the medical field involved, who will identify for the institution itself where they went wrong, so that an acceptable standard of medical care can be preserved, and the harm caused to the plaintiff can be avoided for future patients.
The insurance companies that cover health care providers often elect to vigorously defend against legitimate claims in Court to reduce their financial exposure. Sides are taken: an injured plaintiff and an insured defendant, and the insured defendant, with attorneys appointed by the insurance company to represent them, is always very ably represented in defending these claims. Injured plaintiffs, on the other hand, who would otherwise be no match for the insurance companies, rely on attorneys such as myself to take their cases on a contingency, so that they may have their day in Court and hope to achieve justice.
My office handles cases filed in the Courts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Westchester and Nassau counties, and where appropriate, in Federal Court.There are no upfront fees. All cases accepted under Retainer are undertaken on a 'contingent fee' basis, which means we will advance case costs, and no legal fees are payable unless and until a successful financial recovery is achieved in Court on your case. Pursuant to New York law, the legal fees are then deducted from the financial recovery.
I work hard to obtain the best possible outcome.
September 18, 2019
Two years ago a mass was found in my breast, the mammogram confirmed that the mass was "suspicious" and should be monitored at 6 month intervals but the doctor I was seeing at the time never really acknowledged it and it was never monitored (I wasn't able to see anyone for it without his referral) I am now trying to have it checked again with a new doctor, so my question is if it's now shown to be malignant and could have been caught during those two years would it be malpractice?
A suspicious mass that was not properly treated is a feature of every case I've handled that involves delayed-diagnosis of breast cancer. The statute of limitations is 2 1/2 years in NY, so you would need to act quickly.
August 5, 2019
My father was killed in a cycling accident and while preparing my case I found out I may have a brother and sister. They don’t have my fathers last name will this pose a problem
Non-marital children may be "distributees" of any amount recovered in a wrongful death lawsuit if paternity has been established. These are complex cases with proceedings in both Surrogate's court and Supreme court.
July 18, 2019
I had breast reconstruction after being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. At the time of exchanging the expanders for implants, the plastic surgeon was to also remove some fat from hips to help plump up the deep scars that were left from the initial surgery. By doing so I believe he lipoed more from one side than the other, which left me lopsided and distressed for the longest time. I made him aware of my concern at my follow up visit and he said let’s wait until all the swelling goes down or just lose weight. I was taken aback by his remark. When I first walked into his office I was not lopsided, I’m no surgeon but common sense tells me that if you take 2 cc’s out of one side you would take 2 cc’s out of the other whether you use the fat or not, you throw it away, so your patient doesn’t leave lopsided. I haven’t been back since. At that time we were postponing anything else because I had to start chemo and other surgeries that were more important. I look in the mirror to this day and still can’t believe a plastic surgeon would be that careless.
Dissatisfaction with the results of a cosmetic procedure rarely amounts to a medical malpractice case, unless there was a 'departure from the accepted standard of care' on the part of the surgeon resulting in permanent injury. You are entitled to receive a copy of the operative report from the surgeon, which might explain the imbalance. If there was surgical malpractice, as Mr. Bower noted, you would have had to file suit within 2 1/2 years of surgery. You don't say if you ever returned to the surgeon after the first follow-up visit, but you could always seek out another plastic surgeon to correct the aesthetics. Best of luck.
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