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She was insistent. She was adamant. She kept telling me the doctor did something wrong.
I’m telling you, the doctor did something wrong! Would you like to learn what this is
about? Come join me as I share with you this great information. Hi. I’m Gerry Oginski.
I’m a New York medical malpractice and personal injury trial attorney practicing law here
in the state of New York. My voice is a little bit hoarse; we had a change of weather here
in New York so hopefully in a few days it’s going to improve. But I wanted to give out
this great information to you right now because I think it’s important. I’m on the phone
with a woman who believes she has a valid medical malpractice case and she keeps insisting
that she believes the doctor did something wrong. And I’m explaining to her what we
need to prove in order to show there’s a valid case. We have to show number one, that
there’s wrongdoing. We have to show that the wrongdoing caused injury. And we have
to show that the injury is significant or permanent. And all three of these things must
be confirmed by a doctor who’s either treated her or reviewed all of her records. She tells
me about what she believes was done wrong. And I say, OK, well what injury did you suffer
as a result of that. And she goes off on a wild tangent and never gets back to that.
So I direct it back. I said let me ask you, what injuries do you have as a direct result
of whatever was done wrong to you? And still she can’t answer the question. She keeps
coming back to the doctor did something wrong, I’m telling you, they did. I’m sure, according
to your opinion, that they did something wrong. But I need to know whether that wrongdoing
was responsible for any physical injuries that you suffered. She couldn’t give me
an answer. And then I said do you have any physical injuries? Do you have anything that
you can tell me about as a result of whatever was done wrong? She couldn’t do it. It was
as if there was total silence on the phone. I said do you have any significant injury
or disability because of whatever was done wrong? And the answer ultimately that I was
able to get from her was no. So I had to tell her that even if she believed that something
was done wrong, we can’t proceed forward. Why? Because we have to have all 3 elements
necessary in order to prove a valid case. That’s known as making out a ‘prima facie’
case. In legal terms, it just means we have all the elements necessary. That there was
wrongdoing, the wrongdoing caused injury and the injury is significant or permanent and
that it’s all confirmed by a medical doctor. So here, even though she was adamant and insistent
that something was done wrong, without the connection to an injury and without the injury
being significant or permanently disabling there was nothing I could do to help her.
So why do I share this quick information with you? I share it with you just to give you
an insight and an understanding into what goes on into the litigation and evaluation
process in a medical malpractice case here in the state of New York. Chances are you
have questions of your own about your own matter. And if you do and your matter happened
in New York, what I encourage you to do is pick up the phone and call me. I can answer
your legal questions. I answer legal questions like yours every single day and I welcome
your call. You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by email at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I’m Gerry
Oginski, here in New York. Have a wonderful day!