Best Medical Misdiagnosis Lawyers in NYC

A wrong diagnosis doesn't just delay treatment. It can set a patient's health on a completely different and far more dangerous path. According to a landmark study published in BMJ Quality & Safety, an estimated 371,000 Americans die every year following a misdiagnosis, and another 424,000 suffer permanent disability. And yet roughly 1 in 18 patients visiting US emergency departments receives the wrong diagnosis, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Fellows Hymowitz Rice has spent over four decades representing people harmed by exactly these kinds of medical failures. Here is what sets our medical misdiagnosis attorneys apart.

What Is a Misdiagnosis Claim and When Does It Become Malpractice

Not every wrong diagnosis gives rise to a legal claim. Doctors are not expected to be infallible, and medicine is not an exact science. A misdiagnosis constitutes medical malpractice, though, when a reasonably competent physician, given the same information and circumstances, would have made the correct diagnosis, and the failure to do so caused measurable harm to the patient.

The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions that result in serious harm fall into three categories, which researchers call the "Big Three": vascular events (like strokes and heart attacks), infections (such as sepsis and meningitis), and cancers (such as lung, breast, and colorectal). Together, these account for approximately 75% of all serious misdiagnosis-related harm in the United States.

In New York, the most frequent types of misdiagnosis claims include:

• Cancer misdiagnosis: Missed or delayed detection of tumors that were identifiable on imaging or biopsy.
• Stroke misdiagnosis: Symptoms dismissed as vertigo, anxiety, or migraines in the ER.
• Infection misdiagnosis: Sepsis or meningitis not recognized until organ damage has occurred.
• Heart attack misdiagnosis: Particularly in women, whose symptoms are frequently atypical and dismissed.
• Appendicitis misdiagnosis: A condition where missed diagnoses can lead to rupture and life-threatening complications.

To bring a successful claim, you must establish that the healthcare provider deviated from the accepted standard of care and that this deviation directly caused your injury or worsened your prognosis. This requires expert medical testimony, thorough review of records, and attorneys who know how to build complicated and difficult cases.

What Fellows Hymowitz Rice Brings to Misdiagnosis Cases

Not every personal injury law firm has the medical knowledge, network of medical experts, or vast financial resources to take a misdiagnosis case all the way through litigation, especially against large, well-funded medical facilities. Fellows Hymowitz Rice does, and our documented results prove it.

The firm has recovered substantial compensation for clients whose medical misdiagnosis caused serious harm:

• $925,000 misdiagnosis settlement recovered for a client whose condition was missed by treating physicians despite available diagnostic evidence.
• $650,000 misdiagnosis settlement secured after a delayed diagnosis significantly worsened the client's medical outcome and required extended treatment.
• $600,000 misdiagnosis settlement obtained for a client whose symptoms were repeatedly dismissed before the correct diagnosis was finally identified.

These figures represent individual clients — real people whose medical conditions were missed, delayed, or misidentified by healthcare professionals who should have done better. Winning each case required a detailed investigation, qualified expert support, and attorneys willing to take the matter to litigation when necessary.

Three Partners. Decades of Combined Experience.

Robert L. Fellows has more than 40 years of experience in complex personal injury and medical malpractice litigation. Recognized as a New York Metropolitan Area Super Lawyer every year from 2013 through 2025, Rob holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell (4.9), a 10/10 AVVO rating, and was named a Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion Gold in 2026. He also served as President of the Rockland County Bar Association from 2022 to 2024 — a peer-elected leadership position that reflects the respect his colleagues place in his judgment and ethics.

Steven R. Hymowitz has built his practice around medical malpractice cases, bringing meticulous preparation and a detailed understanding of clinical standards to every matter. Selected to the NY/Metropolitan Area Super Lawyers list from 2014 through 2025, Steve is the type of attorney that clients describe as someone who genuinely invests in their outcome, not just their case file. He holds a 10/10 AVVO rating and AV Preeminent® recognition from Martindale-Hubbell.

Matthew F. Rice spent years representing large insurance carriers and construction companies before joining Fellows Hymowitz Rice as a plaintiff's attorney. That experience on the defense side gives him a precise understanding of how insurers assess misdiagnosis claims, which arguments they take seriously, where they look for weaknesses, and what it takes to shift leverage in negotiations or at trial. Matthew holds Super Lawyers recognition from 2023 through 2025, an AV Preeminent® rating (4.9), and a 10/10 AVVO score.

Together, the three partners bring over 100 years of combined legal experience to every case the firm accepts.

The Statute of Limitations: Time Works Against You

Under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 214-a, most medical malpractice claims (including misdiagnosis cases) must be filed within two years and six months of the negligent act or the end of continuous treatment for the same condition.

For cancer misdiagnosis cases, Lavern's Law provides an important modification: it provides a “discovery rule” where the statute of limitations clock begins running from the date you either knew of or reasonably should have known about the error, rather than the date it occurred. However, even under Lavern's Law, there’s a hard seven-year cap that applies from the date of the original malpractice, regardless of when the error was discovered.

Additional exceptions exist for minor victims and for cases where foreign objects were left in the body. The practical reality is that if you suspect a missed or delayed diagnosis has harmed you, every week of delay narrows your options. Evidence becomes harder to preserve. Medical records get lost or become incomplete. Witnesses' memories fade.

The best course of action is to speak with one of our skilled attorneys as soon as possible. This will put you in the strongest position possible to recover the maximum amount of compensation.

How Misdiagnosis Cases Are Built

Misdiagnosis litigation is among the most resource-intensive areas of personal injury law. Unlike a car accident, where liability is often established through police reports and witness testimony, a misdiagnosis case lives or dies on the quality of its medical expert analysis.

At Fellows Hymowitz Rice, every potential misdiagnosis case begins with a thorough review of the complete medical record. This usually consists of hundreds or even thousands of pages of clinical notes, imaging reports, lab results, and discharge summaries. Your legal team will work with qualified medical experts to identify specifically where the standard of care was breached and what the correct diagnosis should have been given the information available at the time.

This front-end investment of time and resources we make in a case is what separates those who recover full and fair compensation from those at other law firms who settle for a fraction of their case’s true value.

What You Should Gather Before Your Consultation

The more documentation you bring to your first conversation with our attorneys, the faster and more accurately your case can be evaluated. Relevant materials include:

• All medical records from the treating provider
• Imaging reports (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds)
• Lab and pathology results
• Records from subsequent treating physicians who identified the correct diagnosis
• A written timeline of symptoms, appointments, and conversations with medical staff
• Any correspondence with the hospital or the provider's office

You do not need a complete record to have a conversation. The exceptional attorneys at Fellows Hymowitz Rice and their experienced staff will help identify what is relevant and assist in obtaining records you do not yet have.

Why New York City Misdiagnosis Cases Require Local Knowledge

New York City's healthcare environment is unlike that of any other city in the country. Because patients move between large academic medical centers, community hospitals, urgent care clinics, and private specialists, they are often saddled with fragmented records and no continuity of care. This fragmentation is one of the most common contributing factors in delayed and missed diagnoses faced by New Yorkers.

Fellows Hymowitz Rice serves clients across all five NYC boroughs, as well as Rockland County, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and the broader tri-state region. The firm's attorneys understand how New York's hospital systems operate, how major institutions like NYU Langone, Mount Sinai, and Montefiore document their clinical decisions, and how to obtain and use that documentation effectively in litigation.

The firm maintains offices in New City (Rockland County) and the Bronx. For clients who cannot travel due to injury or treatment, home and hospital consultations are available.

Why Fellows Hymowitz Rice Is the Right Call After a Misdiagnosis

Fellows Hymowitz Rice has recovered $925,000, $650,000, and $600,000 in misdiagnosis settlements for clients who trusted the firm with their most difficult cases. These are just a small sample of successful outcomes for our clients we’ve fought for over the last four decades.

With Super Lawyers recognition across all three partners, AV Preeminent® ratings, and over four decades of results, the firm brings the credentials and the commitment that misdiagnosis victims in New York deserve.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by a missed or delayed diagnosis, contact Fellows Hymowitz Rice today for a free consultation. There are no fees unless we win.