New York Medical Malpractice Legal Questions

The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice action is 2 1/2 years from the time of the mistake, so if you have a case, you have to move fast- you only have 5 months left to start a lawsuit. Much more information is needed: your original medical condition, whether the surgeon made a mistake and if so what, exactly, to what extent your activities/ life has been impacted by this problem, etc., but this does appear to be a good case. ... Read Answer

If this happened less than 2 1/2 years ago, you may have a case depending on what happened, exactly. Your medical records need to be reviewed and you must prove that you lost the vision in your eye because of something the doctors did or failed to do, and that had they proceeded differently, your sight could have been saved. This could be a good case. Spontaneous blindness can happen because the doctors ignored symptoms that were unconnected to your heart problem. For example, scalp pain, jaw pain, difficulty eating, double vision are all signs of giant cell arteritis which if ignored, can lead to blindness. If diagnosed timely, however, cortisone treatment can save the vision. You must have your surgical and medical records reviewed. A doctor other than your surgeon may be the one who failed to diagnose your problem if you consulted with another doctors prior to your surgery for complaints unrelated to your heart surgery.  Only a medical records review can give you the answer.... Read Answer

The question is, why do you need another lawyer? Did your current lawyer drop the case or is your lawyer neglecting the case and you're the one who wants a new attorney? Whether or not another lawyer would want your case would greatly depend on the stage of the case. You can switch lawyers any time you like but if you win any money through verdict or settlement your current lawyer will likely be entitled to a share of the legal fees. This will greatly factor into whether an attorney would want to take over the case.... Read Answer

You may have a case, but you need to act fast because the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years. The medical records of the family member need to be immediately reviewed, and only that will give the answer to whether there is a viable medical malpractice case. Not only must there have been a mistake, but you must prove but for that mistake, the patient would have not become ill. ... Read Answer

Possibly- it all depends on how bad the result was, and the reason. For example, if  you have a bad scar but the reason is because the doctor removed a cancerous tumor- you have no case. If you went for cosmetic surgery and came out looking worse than before, you might have a case depending on the nature of the procedure, what method of surgery the doctor used, and what was the recommended method. The only way to be certain is to review your medical records and before and after photos. ... Read Answer

What you described may definitely be medical malpractice, but the only way to tell is to have the medical records reviewed by another surgeon. Not only must you prove that your surgeon made a mistake, but you must prove that "but for" your surgeon's mistake, you would have healed properly. ... Read Answer

Your fiance may have a viable case but we would need to obtain all of her records to make a determination. We are experienced plastic surgery malpractice attorneys. We have successfully litigated many such cases. See our website at www. richandrich.com. Feel free to give me a call at 212-406-0440 to discuss this impoortant matetr in more detail. Thank you, Jeff Rich, Esq.  ... Read Answer

Obviously more detail is needed. If surgical mistakes  that caused you permanent injuries and/or severe pain, or long hospitalization were made less than 2 1/2 years ago or you were treated by the same doctor for the injuries resulting from those mistakes less than 2 1/2 years ago,, you may have a case.... Read Answer

I am very sorry for your loss.  What you are describing sounds like chronic bedsores, and it is very common, preventable, and treatable. Your mother's diabetes made her more prone to this, so the hospital was on notice to look out for and treat it. Your mother needed to be turned in bed periodically, and the existence of those bedsores was evidence of negligence, possibly leading to her death if her infection became systemic. The only way to tell is to review the medical records, but you likely have a strong case for medical malpractice against the hospital. ... Read Answer

You say you've been given no diagnosis or tests, but then you say you have a broken pelvis. How do you know that? A broken pelvis is only caused by severe trauma like a car accident- when and how did you break it?  If you had no trauma, you don't have a broken pelvis, and that's why nobody is takng you seriously. Before you have your next bout of excruciating pain, make an appointment with your general practitioner or an orthopedist to sort this out. The emergency room is no place to do that. ... Read Answer

You might have a case, but it's impossible to tell until the surgical records and all of your relevant medical records are reviewed by another surgeon. If you had a great deal of degenerative disease before the surgery it may be impossible to prove malpractice, but it's certainly worth having the records reviewed. ... Read Answer

You may have a case for dental malpractice if you can prove the dentist unnecessarily extracted two healthy teeth for the purpose of putting the wrong dental bridge in your mouth. Xrays and records should prove whether or not this was malpractice. If you're still in pain consult a different dentist for an opinion, and keep in mind the statute of limitations to start an action is 2 1/2 years from the time of the malpractice. ... Read Answer

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years, and it runs from the time of the mistake or from the time of the last appointment with the doctor for the purpose of treating the mistake or condition. If the case isn't barred by the statute of limitations, it sounds like a potentially good one. ... Read Answer

There is a definite possibility that you have a dental malpractice case. It depends on whether another dentist will testify that your dentist deviated from the accepted standard of dental care by doing or failing to do something, and that but for that error, the dentist is reasonably certain you would not have sustained this numbness. ... Read Answer

I am very sorry for your loss. Yes, there is a definite possibility that what you described is negligence or malpractice, and you may have a wrongful death case on behalf of your mother. The only way to be sure is to review her records. If you have not already done so, you (or whomever was named in her will) need to be appointed legal representative (administrator or executor, if there was a will) of her estate, and that will give you legal authority to request her medical records. The statute of limitations for wrongful death is two years from the time of death. ... Read Answer

First of all, I am very sorry for your loss of your sister. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years from the date of the malpractice, so if this happened before then, unfortunately you have no case. Assuming it happened less than 2 1/2 years ago, the only way to ascertain if malpractice was committed is to review your sister's medical records. In order to have a viable case, the doctor must have made a mistake or omission that, had it not been made, would have been treatable, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that your sister would have survived/recovered. Only a review of the records first by an attorney and then by a doctor can answer that question.... Read Answer

First it's important that you know that the statute of limitations to file an action for medical malpractice is 2 1/2  years, and runs either from the time of the injury, or in your case, from the time the continuous treatment by the misdiagnosing md stopped.. This could be tricky depending on how many different mds have treated you over the years, but assuming you were treated by the same one, or at least the same medical center continuously,  the statute of limitations started to run after you were correctly diagnosed. You have an excellent case for damages for the years you could not walk due to the incorrect diagnosis and medication. ... Read Answer

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years from the time of the malpractice, or from the time of the end of continuous treatment by the same doctor for that injury. If that doctor is still treating your son for the injury, the statute of limitations has not started to run yet.  ... Read Answer

You will have a hard time finding an attorney to take on the case because of the issue of financial viability. Malpractice cases are damages driven. Articles below explain this in more detail. Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability. Click here for an article that explains what you can and should expect when pursuing a medical malpractice case. Click here for more information about me. Please understand that by answering your question in this informal forum I am not acting as your attorney. I am not doing anything to protect any legal rights that you have.  Medical malpractice cases need to be thoroughly investigated and to know whether you have a viable case, an attorney usually has to obtain and review all of the pertinent medical records and consult an expert.    ... Read Answer

If the blood relatives sign off on you becoming administrator that would enable you to obtain the records.  You can also get temporary letters of administration just for the purpose of prosecuting the medical malpractice/ wrongful death action.  I would try to find a local estate attorney to help you with the surrogate work.... Read Answer