Rochester Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Were you injured by medical malpractice in Rochester, NY?

At Buttafuoco & Associates, we are trial-tested medical malpractice lawyers committed to thorough preparation in every matter.

If a medical error in Rochester left you with a new injury or a worse condition, get a copy of your medical records. New York sets a strict deadline for malpractice claims, and those records are where every case begins.

Buttafuoco & Associates has represented injured New Yorkers since 1981, and our founder holds the third highest recorded personal injury settlement in New York State history. Contact our office to arrange a free consultation with a Rochester, NY medical malpractice lawyer.

Medical Malpractice Lawyer Rochester, NY

Medical malpractice is a claim that a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other licensed provider departed from accepted medical practice and that the departure caused an injury. A poor result is not enough by itself. The question is whether a careful provider in the same field would have acted differently, and whether that difference would have changed the outcome. That comparison decides most medical misdiagnosis claims, because physicians are not liable for every wrong conclusion, only for those a careful colleague would not have reached.

The Rochester metro area had 36,730 jobs in healthcare practitioner and technical occupations in May 2025, or 7.4 percent of local employment compared with 6.3 percent nationally, according to BLS wage data. A medical malpractice attorney in Rochester has to sort through that network of hospitals, practice groups, and labs to identify which provider made the decision at issue and when you learned of the harm, since those facts control whether you can pursue a malpractice claim.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle in Rochester

Medical malpractice claims in Rochester differ by specialty, by setting, and by the kind of proof they require. We investigate how a diagnosis was missed or a procedure went wrong, have the chart reviewed by physicians outside the case, and prepare each claim as though it will reach a jury.

• Failure to diagnose and delayed diagnosis. Cancer, stroke, infection, and heart conditions are among the illnesses most often missed or identified late. These claims compare what the symptoms and test results showed at each visit with what a careful physician would have ordered next. Several of our largest malpractice recoveries came from cases of this type.
• Surgical errors. Nerve damage, perforated organs, and retained instruments can all result from a procedure performed below the accepted standard. We obtain the operative report, anesthesia record, and nursing notes to reconstruct what happened in the operating room.
• Medication and pharmacy errors. A wrong drug, a wrong dose, or a dangerous interaction can originate with the prescriber, the pharmacist, or the nurse who administered it. We trace the order through each step to find where it failed.
• Anesthesia malpractice. Dosing mistakes, inadequate monitoring, and airway complications can cause brain injury or death within minutes. These cases rely heavily on monitor data and the timed entries in the anesthesia record.
• Emergency room errors. Patients discharged with the wrong diagnosis sometimes return days later with a condition that has become far harder to treat. We examine triage notes, discharge instructions, and the tests that were or were not ordered.
• Radiology and test-reading errors. A finding on an X-ray, scan, or biopsy does little good if no one reads it correctly or tells the patient. Claims may involve the radiologist, the ordering physician, or the facility’s reporting procedures.
• Birth injuries. Delayed C-sections, oxygen deprivation, and improper use of delivery instruments can cause permanent harm to a newborn. These cases often involve both obstetric and neonatal care.
• Informed consent failures. Before most procedures, providers are expected to explain the significant risks and the available alternatives. When a patient was never told about a risk that later caused serious harm, we evaluate whether the consent process met accepted practice.

Why Choose Buttafuoco & Associates as My Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Rochester, NY?

Several of our malpractice recoveries came during jury selection or after testimony had begun, once the defense saw that the case was prepared for a verdict.

Trial Preparation in Every Malpractice File

Founder Dan Buttafuoco has been board certified in civil trial law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 1989. He has also served as an adjunct professor of trial law at Hofstra Law School.

James McCarthy has litigated medical malpractice claims from investigation through trial, including failure-to-diagnose, surgical, and birth injury cases. He graduated cum laude from Touro Law Center in 1991, and the two attorneys were counsel together on the colon cancer settlement listed below.

Medical negligence is one part of a broader plaintiff practice, and the trial preparation is the same work our firm performs as a personal injury lawyer in Rochester, NY on motor vehicle, premises, and workplace claims.

Malpractice Results for Our Clients

Our firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured New Yorkers, and medical malpractice cases account for several of our larger results.

• $2,940,000 jury verdict for a young patient whose Hodgkin’s disease was not diagnosed until it had advanced to Stage III.
• $2,000,000 settlement for the family of a 34-year-old woman whom a hospital discharged with a food poisoning diagnosis two days before an acute abdominal emergency was identified.
• $1,200,000 settlement for a patient left with permanent footdrop after a bypass procedure on her leg.
• $880,000 settlement, reached during jury selection, in a failure-to-diagnose colon cancer case.

What Is Important to Understand About a Medical Malpractice Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Medical Malpractice Cases

A malpractice claim seeks compensation for the harm the error caused, not for the illness the patient already had. New York allows recovery of both economic and non-economic damages in these cases.

• Medical expenses, past and future, including corrective surgery, rehabilitation, and long-term care.
• Lost earnings and reduced earning capacity when the injury limits the patient’s ability to work.
• Pain and suffering, along with loss of enjoyment of life.
• Wrongful death damages for the family when a medical error proves fatal.

Liability can extend beyond the treating physician. Hospitals may answer for the conduct of their employed staff, and radiology groups, laboratories, and pharmacies can share responsibility when their part of the process failed.

If the patient’s own conduct contributed to the harm, such as skipping a recommended test, New York’s comparative fault rule under CPLR § 1411 reduces the award by that share rather than barring recovery.

What Are Important Aspects of a Medical Malpractice Case?

Two elements decide most cases: a departure from accepted practice, and proof that the departure caused the injury. Not every bad outcome is malpractice, and our Rochester medical malpractice lawyers will tell you directly if the records do not support a claim.

Timing is the next issue. Under CPLR § 214-a, a malpractice action generally must be filed within two years and six months of the error, or of the last treatment when care for the same condition was continuous. The statute of limitations works differently in two situations. A foreign object left in the body allows one year from its discovery, and a failure to diagnose cancer may be filed within two years and six months of when the patient knew or reasonably should have known of the error and the injury it caused, subject to a seven-year outer limit.

The number of providers involved also shapes the proof. Medication errors, for example, can involve a prescriber, a pharmacist, and the nurse who gave the dose, and each of them keeps separate records.

Filing a physician misconduct complaint with the state Department of Health can lead to discipline against a doctor, but it does not compensate the patient. Only a civil claim can do that.

What Is the Medical Malpractice Case Timeline?

Malpractice lawsuits usually take longer than ordinary injury claims because both sides depend on physician testimony. Most follow the same stages as other New York injury case timelines, with added time for medical review.

1. Records and review. We collect hospital and office charts, imaging, and billing records, and we check the inspection and quality data the state publishes for facilities such as Strong Memorial Hospital. Independent physicians then evaluate the care against accepted practice.
2. Filing. A Rochester medical malpractice lawsuit is filed in Monroe County Supreme Court, which sits in the Hall of Justice downtown.
3. Discovery. Both sides exchange records and depose the patient, the treating providers, and the nursing staff.
4. Disclosure and negotiation. Each side identifies its medical witnesses, and many cases enter settlement talks or mediation at this stage.
5. Trial. Cases that do not resolve are tried before a jury, and some settle during jury selection, as several of ours have.

What Should You Bring to Your Medical Malpractice Consultation?

Documents help us evaluate a claim quickly. Missing paperwork should not delay your call, though, because we can request records from providers on your behalf.

• Names of every provider and facility involved, with approximate dates of treatment
• Medical records, test results, or discharge papers you already have
• Bills, insurance statements, and records of time missed from work
• A written timeline of your symptoms and appointments

During the free consultation, a Rochester, NY medical malpractice attorney will ask how your treatment unfolded, review what you bring, and explain whether the claim appears to be within the filing deadline.

Reach Out to Buttafuoco & Associates to Schedule a Consultation

Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer in Rochester who will examine the records before offering an opinion on your case. The consultation costs nothing. Our online case review form is available at any time, and once we receive your information, we will arrange a time to discuss what happened and how the filing deadline applies to your claim.