The standards for health care providers in New York

If someone files a medical malpractice lawsuit against a health care practitioner or facility, two of the things they need to prove are that the provider had a duty to the patient and that the patient did not receive the appropriate level of care. The first requirement is met by demonstrating that the person in question had a relationship with the provider.

This is frequently demonstrated with medical records, but testimony stating that a person agreed to be cared for or treated for a particular condition may also be used to show this. It is required that the treatment or care must line up with the timeline that the malpractice was said to have been committed.

It must also be demonstrated that the level of care someone received was not appropriate to their situation. The required level of care is generally determined by looking at what type of knowledge that a practitioner would be expected to have. Frequently, this will be based on a comparison of the level of care provided by other practitioners of the same level. For example, a general practitioner would be compared to another general practitioner while a specialist would be compared to another specialist.

A person whose condition has worsened as a result of substandard hospital care, a doctor's error or other form of medical negligence may want to discuss the available options with an attorney who is experienced in medical malpractice litigation. Through a review of the patient's medical records as well as consultation with medical experts, the attorney might determine that there was a failure to abide by the requisite standard of care.