When you are sick, you need to know that the New York hospital you are going to will follow reasonable, professional standards. If the hospital doesn't or the physicians commit some act of medical negligence, you may be able to hold the hospital accountable for any injuries or damage you suffer. While you may know you have a legitimate case of hospital error, New York medical malpractice law can be quite difficult to tackle on your own. Instead, it is important to work with an attorney who has considerable experience with medical malpractice lawsuits to better your chances of receiving compensation from a negligent hospital.

According to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, within one month, over 130,000 patients using Medicare to pay for medical costs have experienced at least one "adverse event" while at the hospital. The New York Times defines an adverse event as an incident in which a patient has experienced significant harm during or because of his or her medical care. With such a high number of adverse events happening to Medicare beneficiaries each month, it is not surprising that there has been a study focusing on medical care and hospital errors.

What the study discovered, however, is that many hospital administrators are not receiving reports of adverse events or harmful medical malpractice, despite Medicare requirements and internal hospital procedures. Most hospitals have systems in place that allow for hospital employees to tell management of an incident of medical malpractice, but the study shows that staff members are not actually communicating errors or negligence.

The inspector general believes that one reason why hospital employees are not reporting is because they fail to recognize when medical malpractice is even happening. Many of them are not sure when a patient has experienced harm, which prevents an accurate recording of adverse events. Some staff members also do not understand what patient harm is and, thus, fail to realize when it is actually happening.

Medical malpractice can be a true tragedy and many of these Medicare beneficiaries do not have the financial resources to just search for a better doctor when they experience an adverse event at the hands of a negligent hospital or physician. Luckily, New York medical malpractice laws can protect these patients.

Source: The New York Times, "Report Finds Most Errors at Hospitals Go Unreported," Robert Pear, Jan. 6, 2012