People in New York have the expectation that when they go to see doctors, they will not only be able to determine what is wrong, but also be able to help cure it. There are times when a certain medical condition may be too far along for doctors to anything about it, but if there is a chance for treatment people expect to receive the proper care.
The reality is though that modern medicine is not perfect and there is not a solution to every condition. Also, there are inherent risks that involved in any surgery or treatment plan. Sometimes when things go wrong it is not because the doctor or medical staff was negligent in their care of a patient.
This does not mean that unhappy patients will not initiate a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctor though. Medical malpractice lawsuits can be very complicated and time consuming matters even if the doctor did not act negligently. So, one of the first aspects to look at is whether the patient filed the lawsuit within the statute of limitations. If it is past the statute of limitations, the lawsuit may be dismissed quickly.
Statute of limitations for medical malpractice
People cannot wait forever to file their lawsuit. Generally, they must file the lawsuit within two years and six months of the injury occurring. This time limit may be extended though in cases involving foreign bodies. Those lawsuits may be commended within one year of discovering the foreign body. If the injury occurred when the person was a minor, the two and a half years begins when the minor becomes an adult, not the actual time of the injury.
No doctor in New York wants to have a medical malpractice lawsuit against them, but they are possible for anyone practicing medicine. There is a different standard though for medical malpractice versus a general negligence claim though. In many situations the doctor may not have committed malpractice even if the results were not what the patient wanted and the doctor may have defenses available to them.
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