Hospital negligence can result in serious injuries and even deaths. If you have been injured as the result of negligence while you were a patient in a hospital, or if a loved one died due to hospital negligence, you may be able to file a claim and collect compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses and other losses. Some of the most common forms of hospital negligence include wrong-site surgeries, medication errors, surgical errors, development of hospital-acquired infections, improper use of anesthesia, improper treatment of a diagnosed medical condition, failure to monitor or stabilize a patient, or improper use of a medical device.

Wrong-site surgeries are when a physician removes the wrong limb during an amputation or removes the wrong organ during a surgical procedure. For example, removing the left kidney when it is the right kidney that was diseased would be an example of a wrong-site surgery. Medication errors can happen because of errors at the hospital pharmacy or because of errors at the patient care level. Medication errors can involve giving the incorrect medication to a patient or giving too much or too little of the correct medication. Surgical errors include the improper use of medical instruments, failure to remove sponges and other supplies from a surgical site, and failure to use proper surgical techniques on a patient.

While not all infections are due to hospital negligence, hospital-acquired infections can be very severe. In someone whose immunity is compromised by illness or weakened due to recent surgery, these infections can quickly become life-threatening. Hospital negligence can contribute to the development of infections if care providers failed to follow proper infection control procedures or did not respond quickly to signs of a developing infection. Patients in intensive care units are particularly at risk for these infections because they are often on ventilators. Ventilators bypass normal breathing mechanisms that work to keep out infection, so it is easier for bacteria to enter these patients.

Improper use of anesthesia can include using too much anesthesia, not giving enough anesthesia, using the wrong anesthetic drugs, or making an error in administering epidural anesthesia. These errors can lead to serious effects on a patient. Too much anesthesia can cause a patient to become confused or disoriented and may even lead to death. Not enough anesthesia can cause a patient to feel the pain of medical procedures. Epidural errors can lead to serious consequences such as paralysis or painful bruising of the spine.

Hospital negligence cases often come down to the documentation available in the form of medical records and the statements of witnesses to the negligence. As a result, it's important to have an attorney who is experienced in handling hospital negligence claims and can work to gather evidence and interview nurses, technicians, and other witnesses.

If you believe that you or a loved one has been a victim of hospital negligence call Gaines, Gruner, Ponzini & Novick, LLP at 914-288-9595.

Recklessness and negligence is extensive in today's climate resulting in numerous personal injuries. People who are cautious still are involved in accidents that result in injuries. Millions of injuries every year occur in the United States that result in over 6 million auto accidents. Two million of those become permanent personal injuries and many thousands end in death. Accidents involving trucks and large rigs number over 125,000 every year causing 50,000 personal injuries and over 4,000 of those ending in death. The number of fatalities associated with SUV rollovers when an accident does occur is frightening.

You might be surprised to discover that approximately 125,000 personal injuries result each year from the use of dirt bikes and ATVs.

If you are involved in an accident check for obvious injuries on yourself and those with you. If your passengers are ok, check to see if anyone else is injured. Call the police to report the accident and let them know if anyone is injured and how many appear to be injured. This lets them know how many emergency vehicles and personnel will be needed.

Next, obtain information from the other driver(s) involved in the crash. Ask for their name, address, driver's license number, insurance information and license plate number. If there were any witnesses to the accident, obtain their name(s), address(es) and telephone numbers too. Do not say that you were at fault. You may have been, but there may be factors about the accident that you were not aware of initially. It may turn out that the other driver was at fault.

You will need the police report number when you go to the police station to request an accident report. However, many insurance companies will take care of that for you. But, just in case, there is nothing wrong with asking the officer for this information if they don't offer it to you. If the police officer asks you for a statement, simply relate the facts.

If you have been involved in any type of accident that you believe was the fault of another person and have suffered personal injuries resulting from the accident, take a moment and fill out the "Contact" form on the home page of this website. You may be eligible for compensation and the law firm of Gaines, Gruner, Ponzini & Novick, LLP will fight for your rights and to get you full compensation. You can also call 914-288-9595 and ask for Ted A. Novick, Esq., the partner that handles such cases.

Ted A. Novick, Esq., the partner that handles the medical malpractice cases at Gaines, Gruner, Ponzini & Novick, LLP in White Plains, NY is looking for potential clients who were allegedly exposed to Hepatitis C at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, NY. Allegedly, 6,000 patients were exposed to Hepatitis C at Northern Westchester Hospital when a surgical technician injected the patients with saline rather than the pain killer Fentanyl because the technician was addicted to the painkiller and used the Fentanyl on herself and than put saline into the same needle and injected the patients. Hepatitis C is a liver disease. It can cause cirrhosis and cancer. It is usually transmitted through contact with the blood of an infected person, primarily through sharing contamintaed needles to inject drugs. Symptoms include decreased appetite, fatigue, stomach pain, jaundice, itching and flu like symptoms. However, most infected people expereince no symptoms and the infection is usually accidentally discovered. The disease can be treated but around 50% of the people can never be cured. Please call Mr. Novick @ 914-288-9595 to discuss your questions and concerns. For access to Mr. Novick during the evening call his cell phone @ 914-629-5291.