Time Limitations For Bringing A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

When it comes to filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against a negligent doctor or hospital

, the law in New York places strict time limits on starting the action. Filing past the deadline will most likely lead to a dismissal of your case, thus it is important to know the time frames for different types of medical malpractice claims.

General time to sue doctor for medical malpractice:

Medical malpractice lawsuits enjoy a shorter statute of limitations in New York than regular negligence actions, and generally your time to sue doctor or hospital is two and a half years from the time medical malpractice occurred. In other words, if the omission took place on May 1, 2010, your time to start an action would be 2 years from that date or November 1, 2012. However, there are several exceptions to this rule, some of which are discussed below:

a. Time to sue hospital for medical malpractice causing injury to a child

In New York, medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of a child, against a negligent medical provider, must be brought within 10 years from the omission. However, the rule states that it can never be started after the child turns 21 1/2. The rationale is that the child becomes an adult at 18, capable of bringing his own suit and the law gives him 2 years from reaching majority to bring suit to recover for injuries sustained. It is important to keep in mind that the parent suing for loss of services of a child does not enjoy the same tolling of the statute like the infant plaintiff, and the parents timeframe for bringing the suit is still 2 years from occurrence.

b . Continuous treatment

If the medical provider commits malpractice during his course of treatment of the patient, but the patient continues to see him, not knowing that the mistake was made, the doctrine of continuous treatment will increase the statute of limitations for bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit to 2 years from the last date of treatment. It is important to note that Courts are wary of plaintiffs who continue to treat solely for the purpose of extending their time to sue and may dismiss the case for untimely filing if genuine continuous treatment is not found.

c. Foreign objects left in patient during surgery

These objects include sponges, surgical instruments, gloves, scalpel, or any other equipment that the surgeon was using during the operation and forgot to remove from the patients body before suturing him up. In this case the lawsuit must be started within one year of discovery of the object, on the x-ray, in the course of examination or through other means. Therefore, the matter may be filed after the regular 2 year statute, as long its filed one year after the object is found.

d. Mental incapacity

If the patient is found to be insane, the statute tolls until the insanity or mental disability ceases, but never more than 10 years from omission.

e. Wrongful death

If a person dies due to an omission by his physician, a wrongful death case brought by his estate must be started within two years from the date of death.

These are just some of the time limitations for starting a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York. Consult a medical malpractice attorney to determine which time frame is applicable to your matter.

by: James Wilkens

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