Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New Jersey
Inquiry during surgery
During surgery to have my ovaries removed my arm, shoulder and neck was injured. They said it was probably due to them not bracing my neck and arm correctly during a 4 hour surgery. At first I was in too much pain and was talking many pain meds so I didn't really think of a law suit. I eventually got better but still remain on pain management medication for it. Recently it has become much worse and in the future I may need to have surgery on my neck. It has been many years now but is there anyway for me to sue now for this ongoing problem. I really thought that it would be something that would go away but it appears that I will have this problem for the rest of my life. Any advise??
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Inquiry during surgery
It is possible that we might be able to pursue a medical malpractice action for you. We'd need additional information in order to evaluate your potential claim, including whether you've been diagnosed with a brachial plexus nerve injury, a cervical disc injury, or some other trauma from malpositioning during your surgery. This firm has handled many similar claims. Please feel free to contact me or any of my partners at the Blume Goldfaden Firm via the profile information provided on this site. We look forward to speaking with you, and will assist you in any way we can.
Re: Inquiry during surgery
Please accept my sympathies for what you�re going through.
New Jersey law imposes a two-year statute of limitations upon personal injury actions, which means that any medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed within two years of the alleged negligence or be forever barred. Assuming, that "many years" means more than two, the statute of limitations, or the time you are permitted to sue has passed long ago.
There is an exception which may extend the statute of limitations called the �Discovery rule�. Under this exception, you may have additional time to file a claim, based on when you discovered the cause of their injury. In this case, if a court is persuaded that you could not know about the injury until recently, you might be allowed to sue for a maximum of two years from the date you �discovered� the injury.
This may seem unjust, as you are being penalized for your prudence in not acting at a time when you were not certain that the extent of your injuries justified a lawsuit. One might argue that this justifies an extension of the time allowed to sue under the discovery rule. Personally, I do not believe that I could win this argument, as you stated that you were aware the injury early on. Another attorney may feel differently. As most malpractice attorneys will speak to you on the phone without charge, so I urge you to inquire further if you believe you may have a case.
In a �discovery rule" case, as in any medical malpractice case, if you are considering a lawsuit, you must seek out an attorney as soon as possible.
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