Most people in New York likely understand that healthcare does not come with a money-back guarantee. Even with the many advances made in clinical science in recent years, there is no eliminating the risk inherent in medical treatments.
However, is not unreasonable for patients to expect that healthcare practitioners do everything they can to mitigate those risks. If and when clinicians fail to meet that expectation, those impacted by their failures may justly choose to seek legal action.
In-utero tragedy results in lawsuit
A Connecticut family sought such action against the state itself following the in-utero death of their daughter and concurrent brain injury of her twin (the results of which have the boy now needing lifelong medical care). Per Patch.com, the parents participated in an insemination procedure at a state-sponsored health center. Per the medical malpractice lawsuit filed by the family, the donor of the sperm they received suffered from a disease (the genetic predisposition of which makes unborn babies susceptible to birth defects and/or prenatal death). Subsequent court rulings awarded the family $37.6 million in damages.
Accountability for medical errors
Some might argue that a medical malpractice lawsuit simply represents the vindictive motives of people not happy with their healthcare (given that no ruling reverses what they experienced). Yet while the purpose of such action may indeed involve an element of accountability, that accountability is typically not meant to punish, but rather ensure that other patients do not suffer the same results.
The other major motive behind litigious actions against healthcare providers is often to seek compensation for the expenses victims of medical errors must deal with. In many cases, those experiences continue to accrue due to the ongoing complications their errors in care leave them dealing with.