Medical Malpractice 12 year old child

[Foxy024]

My son was born with alot of medical problems (and tramatic birth), he was born with his face discolored and not crying (he was tangled in the cord) in 1997. I told the doctor's something was wrong during my 8th month because he stopped moving. They let me go another month and 2 weeks. I can not go back that far for help due to the statutes of limitation. After 11 years of running to 10 different doctors all his life we FINALLY have a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy! I moved to NY when he was one and left march 09 to get him better healthcare in Florida. Im being advised to contact someone in NY and ask the Statutes of Limitation in NY for a minor. He was seeing all these doctor's in NY and NO ONE gave he any hints that he has CP. I took him to a new dr that didn't know him and he was diagnosed Sept 08 at the age of 11!
He now has Scoliosis and leg braces and posture is Awful -i think if something was diagnosed ALOT sooner, some of these disabilities wouldn't be so bad? Due to leg diformities, he now has bad knees and chronic pain. Someone please give me advice of what i can do for my child's suffering. He IS on SSI/Disabled Child.

Thank you
Penny Fox

 

[iowaboy77]

Be glad you finally have a diagnosis and move on.

 

[dee_dub]

I told the doctor's something was wrong during my 8th month because he stopped moving. They let me go another month and 2 weeks. I can not go back that far for help due to the statutes of limitation.

Why do you think that? Medical malpractice is (I think) 2.5 years in New York, but the statute is tolled if the patient is under continuous care, and can be extended by 10 years in case of malpractice involving injury to a child.

i think if something was diagnosed ALOT sooner, some of these disabilities wouldn't be so bad?

Maybe, maybe not. Get a medical opinion and talk to a malpractice lawyer.

 

[Foxy024]

Thank You dee_dub, i appreciate your honesty. I wanted to make sure i wasn't going to be waisting anyones time. So you think i should go ahead with all of this then? The state told me i should. He has been recieveing continuing care the past 11 years non-stop and not one doctor had the guts to tell us what was wrong. He was under the care of 10 different doctors on a regular basis.
Penny

 

[Foxy024]

iowaboy77, Im trying to do that -in the meantime I think SOMEONE should pay for suffering for my son for the past 11 years of being bounced around all these doctors and the time, money, and stress we were put under. ya know??

 

[dee_dub]

You're not wasting anyone's time yet. I don't know whether you should pursue it; malpractice suits are difficult to win and costly to litigate. I don't know whether someone should pay for your child's suffering - maybe he would have suffered regardless of when he was diagnosed. All I know is that you should speak to a malpractice lawyer before you decide not to pursue it. If they tell you you have no case, then you should drop it.

 

[iowaboy77]

CP is treated symptomatically, and the initial diagnosis is often not made until the individual approaches 10 years. The brain damage of CP does not progress in severity, so earlier diagnosis does not necessarily mean harm would have been prevented by an earlier diagnosis. This coupled with the fact that we don't know what causes CP would make this a very difficult case from a medical standpoint. Did the 10 physicians offer symptomatic treatment over those 11 years? If so, this sounds like the normal progression of CP with the eventual diagnosis around the first decade of life.

The only area that would cause me concern as a medical professional would be the traumatic birth. Depending on the circumstances and the documentation of the birth, you may be able to tie the trauma with CP, but again, this is not a well established cause.