A medical malpractice lawsuit involves a claim that a healthcare professional violated the standard of care for his or her patient. Medical malpractice can include a wide range of actions, including surgical mistakes, prescribing the wrong medication, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, and other errors. These claims may also involve physical injuries such as loss of limb, paralysis, or brain damage and emotional trauma, and financial losses such as lost wages, future earning capacity, and medical expenses.
It is important to consult an experienced New York medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible when you suspect medical negligence has caused your injury. Every state has a law called a statute of limitations, and the deadline to file a medical malpractice lawsuit is known as the statute of limitations “clock.” It is crucial that your lawyer have the opportunity to review your case before this clock runs out, because once it does, a court will almost certainly dismiss the lawsuit, no matter how egregious the health care provider’s mistake or how severely you were harmed.
Some medical malpractice cases are easy to identify, such as when a doctor removes the wrong limb or leaves a clamp in a patient’s body after surgery. However, in other cases, a victim may not realize they were the victim of malpractice until months or even years later, because some injuries do not immediately manifest themselves or are difficult to detect. This is why it is important for a healthcare professional to be thorough in explaining how he or she will treat the patient, and to document all steps in the treatment plan.
The statute of limitations “clock” usually starts when the healthcare professional’s error occurred or, in some states, at the end of any continuous treatment during which a medical malpractice injury took place. In other states, like New York, an exception is made for cases in which a healthcare professional left a foreign object in a patient’s body after surgery; in this case, the statute of limitations “clock” typically starts when the foreign object is discovered.
If you are harmed by a healthcare professional’s mistakes, the experienced legal team at Sobo & Sobo can help you sue for medical malpractice. We can evaluate your case, explain the standards of care in your area, and file a complaint with your physician’s insurance company. You can sue an individual medical professional in private practice or a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility where the healthcare professional worked.
In addition, we can assist you with filing a wrongful death claim if the malpractice has resulted in the death of your loved one. Contact us to learn more about our services or to schedule a free consultation. We have offices in Middletown, Orange County, and NYC, serving clients throughout the region. We can travel to your home or hospital if necessary. We accept all types of personal injury and wrongful death cases, including automobile accidents, truck crashes, slip and fall claims, and other civil litigation.