Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New York

Hello,
in the spring of 2013 my mother was an active 77 year old senior citizen , living in her own apartment , driving a car, going shopping, doing her banking , going to the fresh water spring and filling gallon jugs with water and lording them into the car, knitting hats, mittens, socks and baby blankets for her family , playing a guitar , writing songs , singing in church and around the community. going to senior functions and square dancing, baking cookies and pies for special occasions. On September 16th of that same year, my mom went into the hospital for what was to be a quick hernia operation , they said she would go in, have the operation , possibly stay over night and go home the next morning, that operation turned into a nightmare for my mom and our family. Due to negligence my mom was not stitched up inside properly and began to bleed internally, my mom was very nauseous was not waking up good after the operation and her stomach was getting swollen , my sister in law and brother kept asking if that was normal, but they were told it was just swelling due to the operation, they kept her overnight , and in the morning my mom was still not awake and her stomach was very distended and swollen again my sister in law and brother asked if that was normal, and again they were told it was just swelling due to the operation, and once they got her up and moving around the swelling would go down, sot they got my mom up out of bed with a walker and she took a couple of steps and then said " I feel dizzy" then she fell to the floor and what they thought was passed out, they were calling her name and trying to wake her up when my sister in law noticed she didn't look like she was breathing, so she told the nurse and they called the crash cart and finally got my her heart beating again. to make a long story short , my mom ended up needing emergency surgery to repair the leak , she was full of blood clots, and had to have tubes and drains inserted into her ,several days later needed to have yet another operation to put in a filter to keep any tiny blood clots from going to her heart, she ended up spending over two weeks in the hospital and had 9 blood transfusions, then they sent her to a rehabilitation facility where she spent several weeks, But when all was said and done they said my mother could not live alone any more. My mother could not remember how to play the guitar, how to knit , or how to do simple figures, she also was off balance and was told she should use a walker. over the last couple years , she has just gotten worse, she has developed a fear of being left alone, and taking a shower, and now is in an assisted living facility, She also is slow in her speech, Se gets confused easily especially when she is away from her comfort zone. My mother went into the hospital but we did not get our mother back. The reason we did not do anything when it happened was because both my eldest sister and brother in law were dying from cancer and the family was already under enough stress. Is it to late to sue the hospital for Malpractice?

Asked on 8/25/16, 8:16 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Sherri Plotkin Rheingold Giuffra Ruffo & Plotkin LLP

0 users found helpful

0 attorneys agreed

The statute of limitations, or the time in which to start a lawsuit in NY is two and a half years (2-1/2) from the date the malpractice occurred, OR, 2-1/2 years from the last date of treatment rendered by the hospital/doctor you wish to sue, providing it is a privately owned hospital and not a city owned hospital. I'm not sure how long your mother stayed in the hospital after this surgical procedure, but even assuming it was a couple of months, the time to sue the hospital has most likely expired unless your mother continued to receive follow up care at the same hospital through at least April 2014.

Answered on 8/25/16, 8:36 am

Mark as helpful