Wisdom Tooth Extraction Gone Wrong: Can this be Dental Malpractice?

Nearly every person has three sets of molars.  The last set that emerges is what we call wisdom teeth.  Why we even have them is anyone’s guess.  Most people have them removed because they can cause more harm than good. 

Wisdom teeth are known to become impacted or partially impacted, they grow in crooked or sideways, surrounding teeth can be damaged by them, and the mouth might be over crowded by their presence.  Even serious infections can develop if wisdom teeth are not removed. 

Since wisdom tooth extraction is an event most people go through, one would think that dentists and oral surgeons are so practiced with the extraction that errors no longer occur.  The experienced Hudson dental malpractice attorney knows otherwise.  In fact, wisdom tooth extraction can and does go wrong.  Injured patients should know that wrongfully performed wisdom tooth extraction can de dental malpractice. 

Wisdom tooth extractions, performed negligently, have been known to cause:

·         Sinus perforation,

·         Infection,

·         Nerve damage,

·         Jaw fractures,

·         Uncontrolled bleeding,

·         Temporomandibular joint injury.

Even the wrong teeth can be mistakenly removed by negligent dentists and oral surgeons.  Mistakes related to the negligent administration of general anesthesia have caused patients to suffer injury as well.

What does it mean to be negligent?  In general, compensable negligence occurs when someone owes a duty to another, breaches that duty, causing injury and damages.  It is nothing intentional, but the negligent act or omission should not have happened. 

Negligence in the dental setting is dental malpractice.  The requirements for a successful dental malpractice claim are the following:

·         A dentist patient relationship,

·         A deviation from the standard of care owed to the patient that which occurred while treating the patient,

·         The deviation must have caused the patient’s injury,

·         And the victim must have suffered damages; pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills, etc.

There are nuances to all of this that only the experienced personal injury attorney will know.  For example, the offending dentist’s actions will be judged in light of other dentists in the area of similar skill and training that perform the same work under similar circumstances. 

The standard of care owed to dental patients must be proved by expert testimony.   So too must causation be explained by experts. 

Proof of the losses claimed by victim must also be introduced by evidence and direct testimony.  This requires reviewing medical records, wage statements, victim accounts, questioning experts and witnesses, among many other things. 

The short answer to the question is, when dentists make a mistake that shouldn’t have been made and wouldn’t have been made by another nearby dentist, failed wisdom tooth extraction can be dental malpractice. 

The attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg handle car accident cases throughout New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Albany County.  Our legal team has earned a reputation for dedicated service to our clients injured in New York personal injury accidents.  Please contact us today to receive a free case evaluation by dialing locally to 518-828-3336 or call toll free at 877-469-9300.

Common Types of Motor Vehicle Accidents and Statistics: Have You Been Injured?

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 304,804 motor vehicle crashes in New York State during the 2013 calendar year.  Over a thousand of those crashes involved a fatality; over 124,000 resulted in non-fatal personal injury; over 179,000 involved property damage.  If you add the number of drivers in those crashes together with the number of passengers, there were over a million people involved in motor vehicle crashes during 2013.  

The numbers above do not include pedestrian collisions, bicycle collisions, and motorcycle crashes.  As you know, over a thousand people were killed on New York roadways during 2013.  Statistics reveal that 625 of them were drivers; 178 were passengers; 344 were pedestrians; and 40 were bicyclists. 

The statistics for 2014 have not yet been released.  It would not be surprising if the numbers were not any better. 

Given the statistics above, the chances are likely that you or someone you know has been involved in a roadway accident.  The chances of knowing and/or being related to a person killed or injured in a roadway accident are far too great and these tragedies touch too many lives in New York.

The residents in and around Hudson, New York are not exempt from experiencing the horrible ramifications of motor vehicle accidents.  Experienced motor vehicle accident attorneys work with car accident victims every day.  It is important for readers to know that if a vehicle accident resulted from negligence, the injured victims have a right to compensation.

The accidents of which we speak include:

·      Accidents involving cars or trucks.

·      Bus accidents.

·      Motorcycle accidents.

·      Bicycle accidents.

·      Pedestrians hit by motor vehicles or motorcycles.

·      Roadway defect accidents.

Negligence that which leads to roadway collisions, injury and death occurs in many different ways.  Take roadway defects as an example.  Defects in the road can be broken pavement or potholes; missing or improperly placed guard rails; missing or malfunctioning traffic devices and signs.  The road itself may have been improperly designed and/or maintained. 

Here is a list of other negligent acts that which cause injury or death to Hudson roadway users:

·      Speeding.

·      Drunk driving.

·      Buzzed driving.

·      Drowsy driving.

·      Falling asleep at the wheel.

·      Tailgating.

·      Failures to yield and/or stop as required by traffic signs.

·      Running red lights.

·      Texting while driving.

·      Distracted driving.

·      Failing to adjust vehicle use to compensate for poor weather conditions.

Some of these negligent acts will only result in mere property damage. However, others will unfortunately cause injury, sometimes serious, and even death.

The attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg handle car accident cases throughout New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Albany County.  Our legal team has earned a reputation for dedicated service to our clients injured in New York personal injury accidents.  Please contact us today to receive a free case evaluation by dialing locally to 518-828-3336 or call toll free at 877-469-9300.

Laws and Rules that Every Personal Injury Plaintiff Should Know

Civil litigation between private parties is a unique area of legal practice.  Every citizen has rights that which the law protects.  Every citizen also has responsibilities that which must be followed according to the letter of the law.  If you or a loved one has been harmed, you may have a valid legal basis to receive court ordered compensation from the offending parties. 

The experienced personal injury attorney practicing law in the Hudson Valley regions of New York is astute in knowing substantive law and procedural law.  Substantive law refers to those laws that define ones rights and responsibilities.

Understanding substantive law is sometimes the easy part for most people to understand.  Procedural law on the other hand, can be much more complex and confusing.  Procedural law instructs people on how to properly commence litigation against a defendant.  It also instructs attorneys on how to properly move through the many steps of bringing a case from start to conclusion. 

Perhaps the most important rules for most plaintiffs to understand are those that which relate to time limits for suing a defendant.   In New York, these time limits are called statutes of limitations.  The New York State Legislature has enacted laws that say how long the plaintiff has to sue a wrongdoer after the bad deed was committed.  Those rules are located in the New York Civil Practice Laws and Rules (CPLR) code books.

There is no one set time period for all possible bad deeds; so the time period will vary depending on the type of harm that which was done.  Let’s hone in on personal injury victims.

According to CPLR Section 214, these plaintiffs have three years to sue the person that caused them harm.  The clock starts to tick right at the moment the bad deed was committed.   If a plaintiff misses this timeline, the defendant’s attorney will most assuredly ask the court to dismiss the case as being barred by the statute of limitations. 

Another important rule that New York plaintiffs should know relates to whether or not a plaintiff can receive compensation if the plaintiff shares some of the fault for his/her injury.   New York is different from many other states in that the plaintiff can still collect compensation even if partially at fault for the accident and injury.  It is called comparative negligence.  The court and or jury will hear the case and determine fault.  A determination will be made as to how much each party is responsible for the accident; it will be in terms of a percentage.  So long as the plaintiff is less than 100% at fault, the plaintiff can collect something. 

The jury will determine the award and if the plaintiff is 10% responsible for the accident, then he/she will only receive 90% of the compensation awarded. 

Other important New York Laws and rules that should be discussed with you attorney are:

·      New York No-Fault laws

·      Dog Bite Liability

·      Procedural Issues when Suing the Government

 he attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg handle personal injury cases throughout New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Albany County.  Our legal team has earned a reputation for dedicated service to our clients injured in New York personal injury accidents.  Please contact us today to receive a free case evaluation by dialing locally to 518-828-3336 or call toll free at 877-469-9300.

Who Can I Sue if the Person that Crashed into me has No Money?

Why should a car accident victim have to pay for the costs of a car accident?  The answer is that the victim should not have to pay a single cent.  The person that caused the accident should be held accountable. 

The experienced Hudson car accident attorney knows that holding this person accountable is not always easy.  This is because the offending motorists might have no money and no assets from which the victim can collect compensation.  Attorneys call these types of people, “judgment proof”.  Winning a civil lawsuit against someone who is judgment proof will do little good to the victim.

If not from the driver, from whom can an injured motorist and or pedestrian collect compensation?  New York’s permissive use doctrine answers this perfectly.  Said doctrine is found in section 388 of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law.  It states,

“[E]very owner of a vehicle used or operated in this state shall be liable and responsible for death or injuries to person or property resulting from negligence in the use of operation of such vehicle, in the business of such owner or otherwise, by any person using or operating the same with the permission, express or implied, of such owner.”

This means that the owner of the vehicle can be held liable for the driver’s negligence behind the wheel.  Think about situations where a teen is using mom’s or dad’s car.  The teen might have little income and no assets, but the parents may have much, much more.  The same holds true when employees are driving the company car.  The company most likely has more money and assets as compared to the employee.

So long as the driver had permission to use the vehicle, the owner can be held liable.  Permission to use the vehicle can be expressly given.  For example, when mom says to child, “take the car to see grandma”.  Or permission can be implied.  Employees often have implied permission to use company vehicles.  The employer never expressly told the employee to take the car out, but completing his or her job functions requires using the company vehicle.  Additionally, permission can be implied if the owner knows someone is using the car and the owner does nothing to prevent the car’s use. 

Understanding from whom one should collect is important because the New York no fault laws and insurance companies may not compensate the victim for all damages.  The victim will then have to separately sue the driver and anyone else who can be held to pay. 

The experienced attorney will investigate not only into the matter of negligence, but also into the availability of potential sources of compensation. 

The attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg handle car accident cases throughout New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Albany County.  Our legal team has earned a reputation for dedicated service to our clients injured in New York personal injury accidents.  Please contact us today to receive a free case evaluation by dialing locally to 518-828-3336 or call toll free at 877-469-9300.

Surgical Mistakes Rising to the Level of Medical Malpractice

Often time’s patients come out of surgery feeling in a way that was not expected.  They are left wondering if such is normal, or if they should be concerned.   Even if they discuss their concerns with the surgeon, they may still be left unsatisfied. 

The experienced Hudson medical malpractice attorney knows that surgeons and other medical professionals are not required to tell their patient that mistakes were made during their surgery.  Even worse, there is nothing that prevents the surgeon from lying to the patient with the claim that everything is fine.

That being the case, many patients turn to medical malpractice attorneys to have their problem investigated.  Upon consultation and retainment, the attorney will investigate the facts that which surround the patient’s surgery by reviewing medical records and by enlisting the help of medical experts. 

The patient may expect financial recovery from the offending surgeon if the patient was injured by a negligent act committed by a medical professional.  Of course, the negligence must have occurred while the patient was treated by the offending doctor. 

Negligence in the medical setting is what attorneys call medical malpractice.  If a duty of care is owed to a person, and that duty is breached, the offending party will be liable for damages if the breach caused the other person injuries. 

In the course of the doctor patient relationship, surgeons owe a duty to the patient.  The surgeon must follow the standard of care prescribed by the profession in that community.  Any other deviation there from is negligence if another surgeon in the area would not have committed the offending act or omission. 

The ways in which a surgeon can commit malpractice during surgery are limitless.  With that said, there are common errors that have happed in the past and they continue to happen.  Here are some examples.

·         Wrong site surgery;

·         Surgery on the wrong patient;

·         Surgery in which the wrong limb is amputated;

·         Leaving a foreign object inside a patient’s body; sponges, pads, gloves, needles, etc;

·         Organ puncture;

·         Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose;

·         Bowel perforations;

·         Severed, nicked, or cut veins;

·         Lack of informed consent;

·         Anesthesia errors;

·         Excessive bleeding;

·         Excessive scarring; and

·         Delayed surgery.

As a parting note, please realize that more than just the surgeon can be held liable for a mistake made during surgery.  Any medical professional that took part in the surgery and contributed to the negligent harms committed to the patient can be held accountable.  This includes, nurses, assistants, anesthesiologists, technicians, etc.  Moreover, the professionals that treated the patient prior to and after the surgery can be accountable as well if they too negligently injured the patient.

The attorneys at Greenberg and Greenberg handle medical malpractice cases throughout New York State, including Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, and Albany County.  Our legal team has earned a reputation for dedicated service to our clients injured in New York personal injury accidents.  Please contact us today to receive a free case evaluation by dialing locally to 518-828-3336 or call toll free at 877-469-9300.