When a New Jersey woman went in to see her doctor during the second trimester of her pregnancy, a sonogram was taken that she later argued should have shown that her baby had a right choroids plexus cyst, a condition that is said to have later caused her baby to become retarded. The woman’s baby was born, and the family has settled with the delivery hospital for $1.7 million. The baby can’t walk, is legally blind, is fed daily through a tube and attends a school for disabled children.
The attorney for the family learned that the hospital hadn’t saved any of the sonograms during the pregnancy. But to prove the case, her attorney cited a physical examination of the baby upon birth that states “neck folds” and that an ultrasound on the baby showed the right choroids plexus cyst. This cyst, experts agreed, should have been caught during the second trimester of the pregnancy. This was enough evidence to cause the hospital to settle with the family.
New Jersey Liability
In a New Jersey malpractice lawsuit, a judge or jury can assign joint or several liability. If more than one party is deemed liable for medical malpractice, the judge or jury can decide that one party is more responsible for the malpractice than another. For example, a nurse administering improper medications might be found to be 75 percent responsible for the error, because it is her job to check that the correct medications are used. But the doctor who determined that the medications should be used in the first place might also be found to be responsible by some 25 percent. If this type of joint liability is determined, the responsible parties must pay that percentage of the awards.
New Jersey Statute of Limitations
According to the New Jersey Statute, a New Jersey malpractice lawsuit must be brought by the victim within two years of the malpractice occurring. Because New Jersey law recognizes that a mistake may not be caught by the victim for more than two years in many circumstances, the law states that this statute of limitations does not start as long as the individual is unaware of the malpractice situation.
A reputable New Jersey malpractice attorney can work on behalf of the injured party. If someone is injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, he has a right to be compensated for lost wages, medical bills, rehabilitation fees and any costs associated with the malpractice.
