Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New Jersey

On Feb 22 2010 my oldesrt brother died after being in the Essex County Jail for almost 2 yrs awaiting his trial of which was a mistrial. i spoke to him on Monday and he asked for me to send him money. Friday at 1:00 am in the morning we get a call form UMDNJ ER that he was in critical condition and on a ventilator. We were not aloud to see hik becuase he was in custody by the DOC. So we reached out to the warden and finally was granted a visit that following. It appears taht he was quite sick for sometime before he was taken to the hospital. All the doctors and nurses suggested that he should have been in a hospita. he died of AIDS. Do I have a chance of filing a lw=awsuite against the DOC for malpractice or the mdeical personnel the DOC use to treat inmates?


Asked on 6/27/10, 3:22 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Arthur Newmark Arthur Newmark, M.D.. Esq

Your first step is to file a notice of claim under New Jersey's Tort Claims Act naming anyone who may have been responsible: DOC, the medical care givers at the prison and UMDNJ.

The New Jersey Tort Claims Act provides protection to state employees who are sued by requiring "notice" of a possible claim within 90 days of it accrual. There are occasions when notice may be given up to a year after the event.

You have presumably allowed the 90 days to pass without taking the required action.

If you are interested in pursuing this matter, you need to find a medical malpractice attorney, ASAP with experience in exceptions to the NJ Tort Claims Act. Alternatively, you might contact the Essex County Bar Association and consider engaging an attorney on an hourly basis to advise you regarding the issue of late Tort Claims notice.

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Answered on 6/28/10, 12:05 pm


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