When a New York doctor makes a mistake due to negligence and the patient is harmed, that patient has a right to file a medical malpractice claim. There are certain myths about these types of lawsuits that should be known.
Most medical malpractice claims are frivolous
One of the biggest myths about medical malpractice lawsuits is that the majority of them are frivolous. In reality, a person who has a legitimate malpractice claim is someone who has suffered serious harm due to negligence on the part of a doctor or other medical professional. According to studies, only around 3% of medical malpractice claims are considered frivolous.
Successful claims result in large compensation payments
The truth is that under 1% of all medical malpractice claims result in large compensation payments such as $1 million or higher. In most of these cases, the plaintiff only recovers the costs of their medical bills, which are usually much lower. Sometimes, they are also compensated for lost wages if it’s necessary to miss time from work.
Any medical mistake warrants a medical malpractice claim
It’s a huge myth that any medical mistake warrants filing a medical malpractice claim. In reality, this is untrue. If a doctor or other healthcare professional makes a medical mistake and the patient is not left injured, there is no cause to file a medical malpractice claim. Only errors resulting in injury warrant filing a malpractice lawsuit.
Malpractice claims cause health care costs to rise
Although health care costs continue to rise, it has nothing to do with medical malpractice claims. There are many factors that cause the cost of health insurance and other health care costs to increase, but malpractice is not the reason behind it.