Cleveland Medical Malpractice Lawyer Representing Victims of Surgical Errors
As an experienced Ohio medical malpractice attorney, I know how devastating surgical error injuries can be for patients. Nobody should ever have to wake up from surgery to learn that the surgeon made a serious mistake and operated on the wrong body part or perforated an organ during the surgical procedure. In some cases, patients do not realize for months or years that they have sustained a severe injury caused by a surgical error. Once they begin experiencing severe pain, they may discover that a surgeon left a sponge, a towel, or a medical instrument inside their body. No matter how your injuries arose after a surgical error, an experienced attorney can make sure you are able to file your claim in time to be eligible for compensation.
How Much Time Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
If you were harmed by a surgical error, you only have a short amount of time to file a lawsuit. Generally speaking, the statute of limitations in Ohio medical malpractice cases is one year. What this means is that a patient has only one year from the date of the surgical injury to file a lawsuit against the negligent healthcare provider (or providers, since more than one party may be liable).
However, sometimes patients do not immediately know that they have suffered an injury as a result of a surgical error. There are many surgical mistake cases in which a surgeon accidentally leaves a foreign object, such as a medical tool or a sponge, inside the patient’s body after the surgery. If the foreign object is small enough, it might not cause immediate symptoms. Yet months later, or sometimes even a year or more later, the patient might discover that she is in excruciating pain. Upon seeking a medical evaluation from another healthcare provider, that patient may then learn about the serious surgical mistake that occurred months (or even years) earlier. In these types of cases, Ohio has an exception to the statute of limitations.
Statute of Limitations Exceptions in Surgical Error Cases
In such surgical error situations, the law says that if you could not have reasonably discovered the surgical error immediately after it occurred, you can file a claim within one year from the date you discover the injury, as long as four years have not passed since the initial harm. A prime example is a situation in which a healthcare provider leaves a foreign object inside a patient’s body, and the patient could not reasonably discover the mistake until the foreign object starts to produce symptoms.
Contact Me for Assistance with Your Claim
In any case of a surgical error, I want to make sure you receive the financial compensation you deserve and that we hold the healthcare provider accountable for the mistake. As an experienced personal injury lawyer, I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at 877.944.4373 for assistance with your surgical error claim.
