Proving a police brutality case often takes more than one's word. It's going to mean culling medical records. It's going to mean reviewing the dispatch and police transcripts. It's going to mean delving into the prior internal records of the officer or officers involved. It's going to mean having as many witnesses as possible.

And every now and then, if you're lucky, an incident or exchange is caught on tape. Those become vitally important in Manhattan police brutality cases.

That's what happened in a recent police brutality claim out of White Plains. There, police are accused of shooting and killing a nearly-70-year-old black man. What's more, a city police officer is heard, just moments before the shooting, using a racial epithet.

Police had been called to the home of the elder man, a retired corrections officer and veteran of the U.S. Marines, after the man's medical alarm went off by accident. It was 5:30 a.m. when the man, who had a chronic heart condition, told the officer rapping on his door that everything was fine, there was no emergency and he didn't wish to open the door.

Officers outside, though, were insisting. On the audio tape of the encounter, which was captured on the victim's life alert device, one of the officers is heard saying the man's name, and then, "Stop. We have to talk, n-."

An autopsy later showed that the victim had been drinking. And officers said they just wanted to get inside because they had concern that someone else might be inside with him. Still, there is absolutely zero excuse for the language used, particularly in light of the fact that officers in this case ended up killing the man.

But the audio wasn't all investigators had. The device also picked up video. The officers claimed that the older man attacked them with a hatchet and a knife and that he ignored officer's demands to drop the weapons. But the video showed that not only was the elderly man unarmed, but he was standing several feet away from them, with his hands at his sides.

This may have implications for another man, who is suing one of those same officers for having beaten and falsely arrested him after he left a bar early one morning last year.

Medical malpractice cases often stem from those incidents in which a doctor was not careful and made mistakes which, given their knowledge, experience and skill level, are inexcusable.

Increasingly, though, incidents of medical malpractice in Manhattan can be traced to a team of doctors or surgeons or hospital administrators.

Recently, Dr. Atul Gawande of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, has been on the speaking circuit, featured on CNN and presenting a TED talk in California, highlighting this problem with miscommunication among doctors and medical teams.

Gawande says that as medical knowledge has exploded over the last several decades, many doctors are being shepherded into specialized fields. They must do this in order to absorb all the knowledge that exists in any one area.

But what does this mean for you, the patient? It means that if you are hospitalized with either an acute or chronic illness or condition, you are probably going to have a team of more than a dozen doctors, nurses and therapists.

The result of that, Gawande says, has been "disaster." He says that some 40 percent of coronary artery disease patients get inappropriate or inadequate care. Another 2 million people get sick from infections at hospitals because medical teams aren't using basic hygiene practices.

One suggestion that Gawande has made is that teams of surgeons and doctors use basic checklists, to ensure nothing vital in the process is missed. Now, some medical professional have balked at this, seeing it as an affront to their intelligence and pride. But given the increasing number of Manhattan medical malpractice cases, this simple step could save lives.

In fact, Gawande says that carefully crafted checklists can cut the rate of death during surgery in half. Fifty percent. One in two.

What that shows is that a huge number of deaths that occur during surgery don't need to happen. They can be avoided by a simple checklist.

What this further tells us is that when doctors and surgeons don't take these measures, it's their patients who pay the price.

As our Manhattan medical malpractice attorneys understand, that was exactly what happened in a case involving Depakote, a drug that is commonly prescribed to address the aggression and agitation in both schizophrenic and elderly dementia patients - neither of which it was actually approved to do.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the maker of Depakote, Abbott Laboratories, pleaded guilty and agreed to shell out some $1.6 billion to settle both the criminal and civil cases that were pending against it.

Associate Attorney General Tony West rightly observed that the company clearly put its bottom line ahead of the well-being of the patients.

Included in that $1.6 billion is a fine of $700 million in the criminal case and another $800 million to settle the civil case. That money will be paid out to the federal and state governments, which will then be responsible for distributing it to affected patients. Separate from that, the company will pay another $100 million to 45 states for violating consumer protection laws.

The company had been charged with a misdemeanor for rebranding the product.

This sum reflects the second biggest dangerous drug fraud settlement case in the country's history. The only one that was bigger was Pfizer, which two years ago was ordered to pay $2.3 billion.

In addition to the financial sanctions (which our Manhattan dangerous drug attorneys have found often speak the loudest to these large companies), Abbott will only be allowed to continue operation under tight court-approved supervision.

A spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department said no deaths were linked to the mislabeling and misbranding of the drug, but at its core, this was a case of elder abuse.

An investigation was sparked in Virginia, after officials were informed by whistleblowers that executives were touting the drug for uses that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not approved.

What the drug had been approved for was bipolar mania, migraine prevention and epileptic seizures. However, the company had an aggressive sales campaign to market the drug to nursing homes for help in controlling elderly patients and those with schizophrenia.

The drug had been tested for use by dementia patients way back in 1999. However, that testing was halted when researchers found that side effects included dehydration and anorexia.

Our Manhattan child injury attorneys understand how frustrating it is, especially when that injury was caused by someone else's negligence.

But who will pay for damages? Medical bills? Can you sue? Who should be held responsible?

There are a few different things you'll want to weigh when considering options. It's important that you use this merely as a way to kick-start your thinking process on the decision - there is no substitute for an in-person consultation with a skilled Manhattan attorney who specializes in child injuries.

The first thing you'll want to consider is the statute of limitations. This is basically the time frame in which a person can take legal action against a person or organization after an injury. The laws vary from state-to-state and depend on the circumstances of the case. Once that time limit expires, there is no chance to bring forth a lawsuit.

It's important you contact an attorney as soon as possible if you are thinking of filing a suit, so that you can receive specific information about the statute of limitations on your case.

You'll also want to consider that if there is a state or municipal entity (for example, a public hospital) that is involved, you have to file a notice of your intention to sue fairly quickly after the alleged incident. In other words, the statute of limitations is shorter than it is if you were suing a private defendant.

There are also varying laws regarding that statute of limitations when it comes to certain types of injuries, such as medical malpractice, so again, consulting with an attorney to explore your options is important here.

The other thing you may want to think about is what is known as the reasonable standard of care. In lawsuits that allege negligence, the courts have mostly held that adults will be subjected to a "reasonable person" standard of care. It means that the adult in the situation was expected to behave as a reasonable adult. A child, meanwhile, is expected can be expected to behave as a child would - considering their age, maturity, intelligence and experience. In some cases, though, if the injury happened while the child was engaged in an adult activity - like, say, snowmobiling - it's possible the court could mandate that the adult standard of reason should be applied. But of course, you won't know what the odds of that are in your particular case unless you meet with an attorney.

In cases where there is a financial reward, the child may not receive settlement money until he or she turns 18. The parents or guardians could, however, receive money for medical expenses or other bills much sooner.

Our New York City medical malpractice attorneys understand that a New York family was recently awarded $5.3 million in a settlement in a case alleging that medical staff did not provide appropriate care to the mother in order to prevent a premature birth.

Her child was subsequently born at 32 weeks - 8 weeks early - and now suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy. This is a brain injury that can happen during childbirth, and it impacts the child's muscle control. There has reportedly been a 25 percent increase in these types of injuries in recent years.

In addition to the emotional impact these families must endure, it's estimated that a child suffering from cerebral palsy will rack up medical bills in excess of $920,000 - and that's by the time they turn 18.

In this case, Reuters reports that the mother had gone to the hospital on several occasions prior to the birth for treatment. And yet, the child was still born prematurely and with severe disabilities. According to the lawsuit, New York Presbyterian Hospital did not take enough steps to make sure that a premature birth was prevented.

Other types of New York City birth injuries include bleeding in the brain, spinal damage or skull fractures. In a lot of these cases, those injuries were caused by a severe lacking in the quality of medical care. There are situations in which nurses and doctors don't properly monitor the fetus or doctors fail to take certain precautions when they know a pregnancy to be high-risk.

In order for these cases to be successful, our New York City medical malpractice attorneys know that we have to prove that the injury resulted from the negligence of the medical staff.

If a defendant in one of these cases feels like there isn't enough evidence to prove otherwise - or if they simply don't want to garner the headlines that a trial certainly would - they may be more apt to settle the case rather than take it to court.

Our New York City child injury attorneys know that parents are aware their child might suffer the occasional scrapes and bruises. However, most parents may not know that about 1 in 5 traumatic brain injuries happens when kids are involved in some form of recreational sports activities.

In those cases, the injuries may have been preventable, and possibly due to the negligence of schools or coaches, who sometimes place a high premium on winning, rather than the safety of the kids.

According to the study, child injuries include broken bones, dehydration, concussions and other issues. The study analyzed more than 500 children between the ages of 8 and 18 who played sports, as well as more than 750 coaches and 750 parents.

Despite these alarming numbers, more than 50 percent of the coaches surveyed responded that they believed there was an acceptable amount of head contact that a child could sustain without risking serious injury to the brain. They described it as seeing stars or "getting your bell run."

The truth of the matter is, however, there is no amount of impact to the head that doesn't risk serious injury. The fact that so many coaches are misinformed about this is deeply disturbing - and one of which parents should take note. 

The president of SafeKids said coaches and parents should follow the mantra that "when in doubt, take them out." For those children who have a concussion, they should not resume play until a doctor has given them the Ok.

Another major risk factor for a New York City traumatic brain injury involving children is if they suffer repeated blows. As the chief of neurosurgery and spine surgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center was quoted as saying, "One plus one equals three." That means if a child suffers one blow to the head and another soon after, this can double the impact of the original injury.

Sometimes, coaches or other game officials think that if a child isn't knocked out, it is Ok for a child to keep playing. It's not. Other indicators of a concussion include confusion, fatigue, dizziness and vomiting. And those may not happen immediately - it could be days or weeks before those signs appear.

If your child has suffered a sports-related injury in New York City, you need to contact an experienced attorney who will help you explore your options.

Our New York City medical malpractice attorneys know that modern medicine has benefited from the expansion of technology in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few short decades ago. But doctors, hospitals and the health industry in general need to ensure that the products and medicine that is being used by and for the public is properly vetted and tested. Sadly, that doesn't always happen.

According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, the company involved in this case is Intuitive Surgery Inc. It's product, the da Vinci surgical robot, was used in the 24-year-old woman's hysterectomy surgery, which she had in a Bronx hospital in the late summer of 2010. The lawsuit is alleging that the robot caused burns to her intestines and an artery, which weren't immediately detected. These injuries resulted in her death just a few weeks later.

The suit alleges that there are flaws in the robot that cause the current of electricity to accidentally surge into tissue and organs that are healthy. What's more, the doctors in this case weren't properly trained to use the device, the father says, and the maker of the company didn't run enough random tests on its devices. The company also misrepresented the value of the robots to local hospitals, the doctor says. Each machine costs about $2 million, not including the annual maintenance required.

In a second medical malpractice suit, the father alleges that the surgeon who was operating the robot was careless, partially because he didn't notice that the machine was damaged and also because he didn't recognize that the young woman had been injured during the course of surgery.

And this is not the first time this particular robot has been cited in surgical complications. A number of medical journals have noted problems in prostate and gynecological surgeries as well. Usually, the injuries reported are burns and tears to the uterus, intestines and blood vessels. In a lot of these instances, the damage isn't apparent until weeks later.

Numerous media reports have noted that robotic surgery is much more expensive than the open surgical procedures that it replaces. It was thought that the increase in cost was the trade-off for procedures that were safer. But given these recent reports, it seems the medical community - and patients - shouldn't be so sure.

Our New York City construction accident attorneys understand that the tragedy stemmed from the malfunction of a crane at the site where workers were helping to expand the No. 7 subway line in Manhattan. Of what we know so far, the details bear a close resemblance to similar tragedies in the city just a few years ago - one of which has yet to be resolved, as the crane owner is currently facing trial on criminal charges related to the incident.

In this case, officials report that the upper section of a 170-foot crane came toppling down, killing a 30-year-old worker from New Jersey and seriously wounding four others.

One city official, who had been quoted on the condition of anonymity, said investigators' initial beliefs are that something on the rear of the crane snapped, which caused it to be thrown off balance, tossing a 40-foot section and sending an 80-foot section plummeting to the ground. However, the exact reason for that malfunction isn't yet clear.

Rules for crane operation and  maintenance have tightened in recent years, in the wake of two other deadly crane accidents in the city, both in 2008. The first of which happened in Manhattan and killed seven people. It was later found that the project didn't conform to the city's zoning standards. Then a few months later, two others died in a crane accident on East 91st Street.

Both incidents led to requirements that construction plans be filed with the city before cranes are ever erected, and crane operators are now required to complete extra hours of training.

It's not yet clear whether those regulations were being followed in this instance.

Work has been temporarily suspended at the site, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority said it is inspecting all cranes at each of its construction sites. In this case, the crane was owned by Yonkers Contracting Company.