The simple answer is no, you can't.
Even though you feel you've been wronged by your doctor, you can't go forward with a case.
Even though you suffered horrible injuries following medical care by your doctor, you can't go forward with a case.
Even though you believe your doctor violated the basic standards of medical care, you can't proceed with a valid lawsuit against your doctor, unless you have the support of a medical expert who has either treated you or reviewed all of your records.
The law in New York says that in order to proceed forward with a valid medical malpractice case, you must get confirmation by a qualified medical expert that there was (1) wrongdoing, (2) the wrongdoing was a cause of your injury and (3) that your injury is significant and/or permanent.
If any one of those things is not present, you are not permitted to file a lawsuit here in New York.
This is much different than a car accident case or a trip and fall case where there is no medical expert required to validate your lawsuit.
Critics argue that it is simple to find a medical expert who simply signs off on a case in exchange for a large fee.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Really good trial attorneys in New York refuse to handle cases that do not have merit.
An attorney and his law firm must spend hundreds and thousands of dollars in order to prosecute these malpractice cases. Taking on a significant malpractice case represents a large investment for the law firm.
With these types of civil cases, an attorney and his law firm only get paid if they are successful in obtaining a result for the injured victim. That means they must lay out all of the money necessary to prosecute the case. They will never get repaid for all of those expenses unless they are successful.
The only way to increase the chances of being successful are to filter out those cases that do not have merit and only take cases that do have merit.
