New York Medical Malpractice: Watch Out For Foreign Objects

Surgery

Medical Malpractice occurs when a medical professional owed a duty to his/her patient and the care provided to the patient failed to meet the standards set forth by the medical community, thereby causing harm to the patient.  Sometimes, the malpractice takes the form of leaving a foreign object inside the patient’s body.

“Foreign Object” is not exactly what you might think.  For example, it is not leaving a pace maker, or the component parts of a hip replacement, inside the patient’s body.  While these things are not natural to the body, they are not considered to be “foreign” within medical malpractice based on leaving a foreign object in a person’s body.  That is because those objects named above were intended to be left in the patient’s body; that is, they are there because the surgery was conducted to put them in the patient’s body.

Therefore, a foreign object is some object that was left inside the patient’s body that was not intended to be left inside the patient.  The foreign object could be a sponge, a surgical glove, a surgical clamp, or any other number of items.

Leaving these unintended objects inside a person’s body may cause extreme pain, infection, the need for additional surgeries, and many other complications.  An experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorney should be consulted if you or a loved one has suffered from, or is suffering from, the harmful effects of having a foreign object left inside your body.

An experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorney will know when a suit will need to be started so as not to miss the statute of limitations.  A limitations period forces an injured person to start a law suit against the person who caused the injury within a certain amount of time after the injury occurred if the patient wants to be successful in the case.

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice in general and for medical malpractice based on a foreign object is different.  In New York, the statute of limitations for basic medical malpractice is 2 ½ years from the date of the last appointment with the doctor in regard to the malpractice now alleged.  However, since a foreign object might not have been discovered by the patient until well after the 2 ½ years has passed, the patient would receive more time to seek court relief.

Patients suffering from harm caused by foreign objects left inside their bodies have until one (1) year after they discover the object or after they have ascertained facts that would lead to the discovery.  Therefore, this could be four, five, six, or many more years since the date of their last doctor’s visit.  Determining the date that the limitations period is due to expire needs the attention of an experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorney.

If you or a loved one is suffering as a result of the negligence of a medical professional, do not wait until it is too late to receive the compensation that you deserve.   Contact an experienced Kingston medical malpractice attorney today.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.

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