New York Medical Malpractice: will the Senate take up the Lavern’s Law Bill in their last session?

In New York the statute of limitations for medical malpractice starts from the time the medical error occurred. Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn) is sponsoring a bill that would start the statute of limitations from the time the medical error is discovered instead of the the time it occurred. The bill, named after Lavern Wilkinson, a mother who died of a curable form of lung cancer after doctors misdiagnosed her (see previous blog), has 38 Senate Sponsors , both Republican and Democrats according to Assemblywoman Weinstein. This is enough to pass as long as the Senate decides to take the bill to a vote this year. The time is ticking on the bill as there is only one week left before the session ends. Read more in New York CBS Local.

Our partner, New York Medical Malpractice Attorney Jeffrey Bloom is strongly supporting the bill. Jeff is representing Lissy MacMahon, a single mother of a 15 year old son who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Lissy had a previous surgery in 2012 in a New York Hospital. At the time of the surgery, doctors failed to diagnose her cancer. When she visited our office, Lissy learned that she was unable to sue because the statute of limitations had passed despite the fact that she had just learned about her cancer.  Lavern’s Law if it passed would allow Lissy to commence her lawsuit and make sure she and her son are taken care of.  Jeff traveled to Albany to support Lissy and many others who could benefit from the passage of this law. Below is a video of Lissy that will be shown to all New York State legislators.

Lavern’s Law was already presented to the New York State legislature last year. It was supported by Governor Cuomo and passed the Assembly but died in the Senate. Here is an ad that was run by the New York Sate Lawyers Association in support of this bill.