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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEB. 17, 2019
Medical malpractice cases all
have at least one thing in common:
allegations that a healthcare provider
violated the governing standard
of care, resulting in injury,
or possibly even death. Here, that
standard involves the laws of the
State of New York. There are a variety
of cases that fall under medical
malpractice, all that result from
either an action taken by a healthcare
provider, or an omission from
action by a healthcare provider.
Nonetheless, it has led to irreparable
harm to a patient due to some
form of negligence, and therefore
legal redress will be owed to the
patient.
Examples of medical malpractice
cases include: failure to diagnose
a medical condition or disease
on time or at all, misdiagnosis of a
medical condition or disease, lack
of or inappropriate medical treatment,
and surgical errors and complications.
Damages for medical malpractice
include economic recovery
for the victim to make them whole
again for lost wages, the cost of
medical care, other out-of-pocket
medical expenses, and even for
pain and suffering resulting from
the injury. Not only can the victim
recover, but so can their spouse,
and, in death cases, the next of kin
can recover for their loss. Additionally,
in New York, there is no cap
for damages that can be awarded
for a medical malpractice case.
It is also important to note that
there is a Statue of Limitations on
medical malpractice claims, which
means that the claim must be
brought within a certain amount of
time within the injury having occurred,
or else the claim could be
barred. In New York, the Statute of
Limitations for a medical malpractice
claim is 30 months, or 2 years
and 6 months, from the date of injury.
This statute is different for minor
children, however, which does
not start running until the child
turns 18. There is an exception to
this, though: regardless of the age of
the child when the injury occurred,
the statute of limitations cannot extend
longer than 10 years.
Medicine can, at the same time,
be both a great, wonderful thing
and a scary, unknown set of twists
and turns. If you or your family
finds themselves victim to the perils
of medical malpractice, you may
want to speak to your attorney as
soon as possible to discuss your options.
In past years our law office has
obtained numerous settlements in
Medical Malpractice cases including
settlements for $17.9 Million
and $18.1 Million, as well as a verdict
for $62 Million in a medical
malpractice case. If you have suffered
from the medical malpractice
of a doctor or hospital, our office is
available to discuss what happened
for a free consultation to determine
if you may be entitled to money
damages.
GOWANUS
the open house format tonight
be turned into a real
public meeting.”
City planners on Jan.
30 dropped more details
about their scheme to rezone
swathes of the historically
industrial neighborhood
in order to pack more
residents into bigger buildings
there, roughly seven
months after revealing a
fi rst draft of the plan that
Mayor DeBlasio initially
fl oated back in 2016.
And locals on Feb. 6 expected
those offi cials to
lead a presentation about
the dramatic changes
they’re proposing — which
include allowing buildings
as high as 30 stories along
parts of the fetid Gowanus
Canal, and structures as
tall as 17 stories along a
stretch of Fourth Avenue.
But instead, leaders of
the Department of City
Planning and other agencies
stood behind booths
around the packed PS 32
auditorium, forcing folks
to stand in line in order to
seek out the information
they thought would be provided
to them, another attendee
said.
“I would like to know
why this is the format today.
The least we could
have is a presentation of the
draft that we participated
in, and I don’t see a lot of
things that we requested in
this draft,” said Gowanusaur
Helena Whitaker.
The frustrations with
the format quickly escalated,
with Blondel and
other members of the Gowanus
Neighborhood Coalition
for Justice bursting out
into chants of “Gowanus
rezoning is incomplete,
OUTRAGED: Gowanus public-housing resident Monica Underwood
joined the locals who disrupted the recent meeting by demanding
that offi cials formally present their plan. Photo by Julianne Cuba
City Hall take a seat,” and
“Before you rezone, fi x our
homes,” while other attendees
meandered around the
room nibbling on cheese
and crackers.
The group then demanded
the city planners
answer their questions,
including why the rezoning
proposal excludes the
neighborhood’s crumbling
public-housing complexes,
whose residents make up
a quarter of the community,
and why it does not do
more to create a so-called
eco-district to promote environmentally
friendly living
in the neighborhood
known for its notoriously
toxic canal.
“After two years of community
engagement in this
process, the city of New
York continues to exclude
any commitment to fi x the
environmentally unsafe
conditions in local public
housing, and provide equity
and environmental
justice to the long-standing
residents of Gowanus that
currently comprise more
than 25 percent of the residents
in the neighborhood,”
Blondel said.
Two city-planning offi -
cials eventually conceded
to the locals’ loud demands,
addressing the crowd and
assuring that Gowanusaurs
are part of the overall
plan for their neighborhood.
The agency employees
said residents will get more
opportunities to discuss
the scheme at two upcoming
meetings, a yet-to-bescheduled
session with the
Coalition for Justice, and
a presentation of the proposal
to Community Board
6’s Land Use Committee on
Feb. 28.
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