Filing A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit When A Foreign Body Is Left Inside Of You In New York

If you live in the state of New York, and a foreign body was left inside of you during a surgery, you may have grounds to file a medical malpractice personal injury lawsuit against the medical team that left the foreign object inside of you. Here are a few things that you need to know about filing this type of lawsuit in the state of New York.  

What Constitutes A Foreign Object

The first thing you need to understand is what constitutes a foreign object. A foreign object is something that a doctor leaves behind inside of your body that they did not intend to leave behind. 

There are a variety of surgical items that can get left inside of patients. Generally, it seems that sponges, towels and gauze are the most common types of objects left inside of patients; however, foreign objects can also include large medical equipment and tools, such as forceps. 

However, not all items that are left inside of your body are considered foreign object. If an item was placed inside of you and was supposed to be left there because it served a medical purpose, even if it did not fulfill its purpose, does not count as a foreign object. For example, a catheter would not count as a foreign object. 

It is vital that you figure out what was left behind in your body so it can be determined if it indeed was a foreign object that served no medical purpose. 

When You Can File A Case

In New York, the statute of limitations in medical malpractice suits generally starts running down as soon as the malpractice mistake occurs. For example, if you were given the wrong medication and it results in complications, you have two and half years from the date of when that mistake occurred to bring a medical malpractice suit against the medical professional who gave you the wrong medication.

However, the statute of limitations for foreign objects is not the same as it is for other medical malpractice lawsuits. Often times, people do not know that a foreign body was left inside of them till years after the fact when they experience medical complications from the foreign object. Due to the fact that foreign objects are often found a significant time after the fact, you have one year after discovering the object to file a malpractice claim. 

If you found a foreign object inside of your body that was left behind by a medical professional, you need to speak with a New York lawyer right away. You have one year to file a malpractice suit; every second counts.