How Common Is Medical Malpractice in New York?
Medical malpractice is much more common than you might think. In 2025, insurers paid 1,269 medical malpractice claims in New York State and just over 10,000 claims nationwide. Each of these numbers represents a person whose life was forever changed by a trusted health care provider’s negligence.
New York is a leading state for medical malpractice claims. While New York represents roughly 6% of the U.S. population, nearly 13% of the nation’s recent malpractice payouts occurred in the Empire State.
This data may not reflect the true toll of medical errors, as not all patients file malpractice reports. Recent research estimates that approximately 400,000 hospitalized patients in the U.S. experience preventable harm each year, and around 200,000 patient deaths annually are related to preventable medical mistakes. Some researchers have estimated that preventable medical harm causes a substantial number of deaths and serious injuries each year, but the exact national toll remains debated.
Why New Yorkers Trust Us To Fight for Them After Medical Negligence
Founded in 1967, our firm has spent nearly 60 years fighting for the rights of injured New Yorkers and their families. In that time, we’ve combined courtroom strength with client-centered representation to recover billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements.
Medical malpractice insurers are often quick to push inadequate settlement offers, but we never settle for less than our clients deserve. We take a litigation-forward approach that involves preparing each case for trial from the start. This strategy shows insurance providers that we mean business and builds leverage for a favorable resolution.
We provide accessible personal injury representation to New Yorkers of all walks of life, offering multilingual support in Spanish, French, Russian, Korean, and more. Our diverse team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide clear communication and personalized attention at all stages of your case. And because we handle medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis, so you do not pay attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you.
Recent New York Awards for Malpractice Injuries
The following are examples of recent malpractice lawsuit outcomes in the State of New York. Keep in mind that every lawsuit is different, and that outcomes vary. Actual compensation is based on the actual injuries and relevant facts.
- $130 million was awarded to a Long Island family whose 10-year-old daughter, now with cerebral palsy, suffered oxygen deprivation at birth due to hospital negligence and can no longer take care of herself. The hospital offered the family an $8 million settlement which the family rejected. A jury ultimately awarded the family the larger amount.
- $26 million was awarded to the family of a Brooklyn, NY boy who suffered brain damage resulting from birth injury malpractice.
- The widow and children of an army vet were awarded $5.9 million in a lawsuit against the Manhattan VA Hospital for failing to properly diagnose the veteran’s gastric leak incurred while undergoing bypass surgery. The judge ruled that the hospital’s failure to monitor the individual properly after surgery was “inexplicable and inexcusable.”
Types of New York Medical Malpractice Claims We Handle
Medical negligence can take many forms. These are the broader categories of malpractice cases we often handle, but your case may involve more specific types of errors:
- Anesthesia Errors
- Birth Injuries
- Doctor Negligence
- Hospital Infections
- Hospital Negligence
- Misdiagnosis and Failure To Diagnose
- Nursing Home Abuse
- Surgical Errors
- Pharmacy Errors
- Wrongful Death
While some cases fall into a single category, others involve multiple failures in care. If any of these situations sound familiar, our Manhattan medical malpractice lawyers are standing by to help you understand your rights and options.
We Have Your Back
Founded in 1967, The Sanders Law Firm has grown into a large, thriving organization of attorneys, paralegals, medical consultants, and support staff – all committed to providing the highest level of legal representation to injured New Yorkers.
Common Types of Damages Available in Medical Malpractice Claims
If medical negligence caused you harm, we may help you seek compensation for the full impact the error has had on your life. These damages typically fall into two categories: economic and non-economic. In some cases, punitive damages may also apply.
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover the measurable financial losses related to your injury. Common examples include past and future medical expenses and disability-related expenses, such as mobility equipment, home modifications, and rehabilitation.
If the incident caused psychological harm, your economic damages may also include mental health therapy costs. You may also be entitled to compensation for the injury’s effects on your ability to earn an income, both during your initial recovery and long-term.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages reflect the ways the injury has affected your quality of life. These may include physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, and scarring or disfigurement. They may also include loss of enjoyment of life due to the injury’s impact on your ability to participate in activities you once enjoyed.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are intended to punish a medical professional for exceptionally reckless misconduct or intentional harm. While they’re not available in every case, they can provide a sense of accountability when the conduct goes beyond basic negligence and reflects a serious disregard for patient safety.
How Do You Know if You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?
Not every poor medical outcome involves malpractice. But when a health care provider makes a preventable mistake and you suffer harm as a result, you may have the right to take legal action.
Several signs can point to this type of care failure—maybe you’re feeling worse after a procedure that was supposed to improve your condition. Perhaps something didn’t go right during the birth of your child or during your parent’s nursing home stay. Or maybe you spoke up about symptoms only to have your providers ignore you while your condition continued to deteriorate.
If you have questions about the medical care provided, our firm is here to help. You tell us what happened, and we’ll tell you whether filing a malpractice lawsuit may be appropriate. If we suspect medical negligence played a role in your injury, we’ll quickly begin gathering evidence and preserving your right to pursue compensation.
How To Prepare for a Medical Malpractice Consultation With Our Lawyers
Preparing for your consultation can help you get clearer answers from our attorneys. You do not need to have everything figured out, but bringing these key details can help us better understand what happened:
- A timeline of events, including when your treatment began, what care you received, and when your condition changed
- Medical records, including test results, doctor’s notes, surgical reports, prescription records, and hospital discharge paperwork
- Provider information, including the names of any doctors, nurses, or facilities involved in your treatment
Don’t worry if you don’t have access to all of these records. If there are any gaps in the evidence, we can help you obtain the necessary documentation to determine whether you have a valid malpractice claim.
The Complexity of New York Medical Malpractice Claims
Even when the facts are on your side, proving medical negligence is an uphill battle. The burden falls on you to show that a health care provider’s failure to meet the standard of care caused you harm.
This process involves more than pointing to a bad outcome. To recover compensation, you must also present strong evidence of what a reasonably skilled provider would have done differently under the same circumstances.
Our NYC medical malpractice lawyers can play a critical role in developing this evidence. When you turn to our firm, we’ll collaborate with our in-house medical consultants to review your records, identify where the standard of care was violated, and connect that failure to the harm you experienced. While you focus on your recovery, our team will be hard at work handling the investigation and insurance communications on your behalf.
We’re Here To Help You Move Forward After Negligent Medical Care
Learning that a trusted health care provider’s negligence caused you harm can shake your confidence in the systems meant to protect you. Our New York medical malpractice lawyers are ready to step in as a reliable advocate during a vulnerable time and pursue accountability from those responsible for your suffering. We have helped thousands of injured clients throughout Manhattan, Long Island, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, and we’re prepared to help you, too.
Start getting the answers you deserve today with a free, no-obligation case review. Complete our online contact form or call (833) SANDERS to speak with a member of our team. Our friendly staff is standing by to take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.