How Does the “Discovery Rule” Work in my New York Medical Malpractice Case?

If you have been injured due to medical malpractice in New York, you have a legal right to file a claim for compensation. However, it’s important to understand the discovery rule and how it works.

In Brooklyn and New York, in general, the discovery rule relates to an exception in the deadline for filing a medical malpractice claim. Generally speaking, this is because victims may not initially realize that they have a viable case. In this case, the rule applies to a situation where a foreign object was left in the person’s body during surgery or when there was a failure to diagnose cancer. As a result of this rule, a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed within one year after the discovery of the object or the illness.

Overall, this discovery rule means that the usual two and a half years that an injured plaintiff has to file a malpractice claim is, essentially, extended. Usually, the statute of limitations in this type of claim begins from the date of the injury. However, in this situation, the individual may not know they suffered an injury until sometime later.

In the case of failure to diagnose cancer, which is known as Lavern’s Law, if a patient realizes too late that they have been misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all, they have the right to pursue a claim. This is a new law that was instituted in 2018 after a patient died in 2013 after being misdiagnosed in spite of having a treatable form of lung cancer. Once the woman was properly diagnosed, it was too late as her cancer had progressed to a later stage. She was also unable to pursue a medical malpractice claim due to the amount of time that had passed.

Your medical malpractice Brooklyn based attorney can help you get a satisfactory compensation for your case. Lawyers also work on a contingency fee, which means they get a percentage of your settlement if you win. If you don’t win, you don’t pay.

If you have suffered injuries from medical malpractice, you need the Brooklyn medical malpractice attorneys at the Levitsky Law Firm on your side. The experienced Brighton Beach accident attorneys will fight hard to get you the settlement you truly deserve in your case.