Getting medical treatment from a doctor or at a hospital should mean that you get better. However, when care providers make mistakes like diagnosing you with the wrong condition or committing errors during surgery, you could be left with additional injuries or damages, all while the original condition goes untreated.
For help getting justice for what happened to you, work with a lawyer. Doctors and hospitals are often reluctant to admit what happened, and their insurance companies and legal teams will caution against admissions and settlements to protect the hospital from liability. Our attorneys can help you uncover the evidence you need to prove your case and get the compensation you deserve from your claim.
Call (732) 838-9769 for a free case review with Legal Care New Jersey’s medical malpractice attorneys.
Identifying and Discovering Medical Malpractice in Paterson, NJ
Victims of medical malpractice might not know right away that they were the victim of malpractice. In many cases, the doctor who treated you will not admit that what happened was necessarily a “mistake” or that anything truly “went wrong.” It often takes a second opinion before you understand that your outcome was bad or inappropriate. Even when an outcome is obviously bad, it might not be malpractice.
Grounds for Malpractice Claims
In order to make a claim that what happened to you qualified as medical malpractice, you need proof that the care you received fell below the “standard of care.” Many medical procedures have risks and complications that can and do occur. Your doctor should inform you of these risks before you undergo treatment, and when some of these risks arise through chance or because of the limits of our current science and technology, there is not much to be done except to continue trying to treat the negative outcome. However, if the bad outcome is the doctor’s fault because they made a mistake, that is malpractice.
It can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between an acceptable complication and true malpractice, and it often takes a medical expert to analyze what happened and determine whether the doctor’s care did indeed fall below the standard of care or not.
Fraudulent Concealment and Denials of Fault
If you ask your doctor about the pain or discomfort you feel after a procedure, you will often be met with the response that it is a normal part of the procedure, even if that is not accurate. Sometimes, doctors might not know about the error or mistake that they made, such as leaving a sponge or surgical tool inside a patient during surgery. Other times, they might know perfectly well that they made a mistake, and they tell you that it is normal anyway.
This kind of denial of fault can rise to the level of what is called “fraudulent concealment.” In these cases, a doctor or representative from the facility where you received treatment will tell you an alternative reason for the pain or negative outcome, hiding the true cause. This lulls patients into not inquiring further. In many cases, this concealment of the malpractice is intentional, but in others, it is merely an accident. In either case, it could make it harder to promptly discover what happened to you.
Getting a Second Opinion
If you suspect that something went wrong with your procedure and you are not getting the answers you need from your doctor, call a medical malpractice lawyer and get a second opinion from another doctor. Once you suspect that something went wrong, the clock might begin ticking on your ability to file a lawsuit. It is important to get legal counsel from a lawyer and get your condition treated to prevent it from worsening or leaving you with additional pain and suffering.
Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice Claims in Paterson, NJ
As mentioned, there is a filing deadline for medical malpractice claims, and that clock will eventually start ticking on your case. In general, N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-2(a) says that injury victims have 2 years to file their injury claim for any type of personal injury, which includes medical malpractice claims. However, when the clock starts ticking can change based on certain issues:
Discovery Rule
When you cannot reasonably discover the injury and its cause, you are allowed an extension under NJ’s “discovery rule.” New Jersey Supreme Court cases like Lynch v. Rubacky (1981) have upheld and affirmed that the discovery rule applies to both the cases where the victim’s injury and cause could not be discovered, as well as the cases where a physician assures the victim the pain or discomfort is “normal,” and malpractice is not discovered until after seeking a second opinion.
When using the discovery rule, the 2-year filing clock starts ticking from the time you did or reasonably should have discovered the injury and its cause rather than the date of the initial malpractice. This could potentially give you longer than 2 years to file, especially if the injury was not even discovered until after 2 years had passed since the treatment.
Injuries to Minors
In some special cases involving child victims of malpractice, the deadline to file might be different. For example, birth injury cases often need to be filed before the child turns 13. Otherwise, people injured as minors typically get to wait until they turn 18 before the 2-year limitations clock starts running.
Mental Disabilities
Under the same rule that extends the filing deadline for minors, the deadline is extended for filing if you have a mental disability. The disability must keep you from either understanding your rights or filing your claim, and the 2-year clock starts when your disability ends.
Call Our Medical Malpractice Lawyers for Help in Paterson, NJ
If you were injured by a doctor’s negligent care, call Legal Care New Jersey’s medical malpractice lawyers at (732) 838-9769 for a free case review.
