Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New Jersey
3 years ago my husband was in the hospital with server congestive heart failure, he also had wounds on this feet the right one being the worse, which he was going to a wound center, he entered on april8,2007 on may 10th the surgeon said he had to amputate his foot, the heart doctor did not want him to do it but my husband chose to have it done because the doctor said it would get septic and he would die. that was the 1st of 4 surgeries on that leg. may 10 th, june 14, july 10 and august all 2007. the pain was unbearable for him, the leg did not heal, thus the 2nd surgery..he had to go to rehab in later june and went to the surgeon's office from there as the foot still was not healing, at the time he mentioned that there were things he could do but the problem would just come back. so now he is going above the knee in july, as he looks at it when we were ready to leave the hospital he says"oh needs a revision" that is when we went to another surgeon who had seen him before he had him in the hospital in aug, did a by pass from one side of his groan to the other than later operated and the leg started to heal,with at home care, plus he was on strong amounts of antibiotic because he had contacted staph infection. thank God that we found a good doctor, now that you have heard the story what do you think? thank you carol knittel
1 Answer from Attorneys
Please accept my sympathies for everything you and your husband have been through.
From the information you provided, it sounds like the first doctors may have failed to diagnose treatable arterial insufficiency.
However, the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in NJ, is 2 years from the negligent act, or possibly from the time you discovered the malpractice.
In this case, you seem to have discovered the possible malpractice in August 2007.
That would have given you until August 2009 to file a lawsuit, if that was appropriate.
This is my opinion only. I urge you to consult other attorneys ASAP if you are considering lgal action with respect to this incident.