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New York generally allows “two years and six months” to file a misdiagnosis lawsuit under Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 214-a. The deadline usually runs from the date of the negligent act or omission, although there are exceptions.
Navigating these unforgiving deadlines requires guidance from an experienced White Plains medical malpractice lawyer. If a delayed diagnosis caused you preventable harm in Westchester County, protecting your right to file a claim is critical.
Does Discovering the Error Restart the Deadline?
For most noncancer misdiagnoses, learning about the mistake later does not restart the clock. If another doctor identifies the correct condition a year after the original error, that elapsed year generally counts against the filing period. The relevant date may be when a provider misread a scan, overlooked abnormal results, or failed to order necessary testing.
Ongoing Treatment Can Affect the Starting Date
Continuous treatment can delay the start of the filing period until the relevant course of treatment ends. The ongoing care must involve the same condition or complaints underlying the malpractice claim and the provider being sued.
Different Rules for Missed Cancer Diagnoses
A negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor can qualify for a discovery-based deadline. Under Section 214-a, patients generally have two years and six months from when they knew or reasonably should have known both that the provider negligently failed to diagnose the condition and that the failure caused injury. The statute uses the phrase “knows or reasonably should have known.” This discovery rule typically requires filing within seven years of the negligent act or omission.
What if the Patient Is a Child?
A child’s age can also extend the filing period. Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 208 provides an infancy extension but generally prevents it from continuing “beyond ten years after the cause of action accrues.” That means not every claim will remain available until the child reaches adulthood.
Public Hospitals Can Have Earlier Deadlines
Claims involving municipal hospitals often require a notice of claim before a lawsuit. General Municipal Law Section 50-e requires service “within ninety days after the claim arises.” A notice informs the public entity of the claim and does not replace filing the lawsuit. Certain municipal defendants also have a shorter lawsuit deadline of “one year and ninety days” under General Municipal Law Section 50-i.
What if a Misdiagnosis Causes a Death?
When a misdiagnosis leads to a patient’s death, the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate can file a wrongful death action. This type of lawsuit must often be filed “within two years after the decedent’s death” under Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 5-4.1. If the statute of limitations on the underlying medical malpractice claim expired before the patient died, the personal representative generally cannot revive that claim by filing a wrongful death action after the death.
Calculating the Deadline
A Westchester County medical malpractice attorney can review when the misdiagnosis occurred, whether you continued receiving treatment for the same condition, and when you discovered the mistake. Those dates help determine your filing deadline, along with whether a public hospital is involved. If several providers contributed to the misdiagnosis, the deadline may differ for each error.