Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in New York

Re: Statute of Limitations on Medical Liability

The Statute of Limiations for an infant damaged at birth is a maximum of 10 years from the date of injury. If the infant was born in a municipal hospital there is an additional requirement to file a notice of claim within 90 days of the date of the injury. Application can be made to the court to file a late notice of claim up to 1 year and 90 days from the date of injury. Both the notice of claim and the statute of limitations must be complied with when dealing with a municipal hospital.

As for proving malpractice, that issue may be linked to the delay in taking the infant to the NICU but more likely its something that occured during labor and delivery or prenatally. Did the infant's fetal heart beat drop below 90 bpm while labor was progressing? Was labor induced? Why was the infant born prematurely in the first place? All of these other issues must be examined before concluding that it was the delay in going to the NICU that made the difference. To investigate the issue of whether the infant suffered oxygen deprivation or hypoxia, as its known, you must acquire the prenatal, obstetrical and delivery records, as well as, the pediatric records for the child's admission to the NICU. Not much time remains to do this so you must act quickly. You must have all of these records reviewed and an analysis made by an obstetrician, a pediatrician and a neurologist before you are able to conclude whether there was medical malpractice and neurological damage. Another consideration is whether the child met all of its developemental milestones. If not then this may be an indication that something is wrong. In other words, did the child hold up its head, roll over, walk and talk at the time he was expected to do so. The cost associated with performing all of these tasks and tests can be as much as several thousand dollars. There is no guarantee that a definative answer will emerge. Once, however, you have a doctor's report stating that, in his opinion there was malpractice, then you are ready to go file a lawsuit.

Brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation is a permanent damage that will not get better with time. As time goes by the effects may become more apparent and the limitations more noticeable.

In short you should take the time and spend the money to find out if your child has a problem and where it comes from.

If you need further guidance I may be reached at 516-498-9343.