June 23, 2015

Question

Brother died 6/3/14, in nyc mental care facility, Gracie Square Hospital (found with no pulse) after been give an injection and becoming unresponsive, but was transferred to and pronounced dead in nyc hospital, Cornell Weill medical center. His cause of death was pending further studies for almost a year and his death certificate was amended on 4/17/15. He doesn't have any children, and never married. He was an electrician for the mta, railroad.

Answer

A lot more details would be required. The SOL for wrongful death in NY is two years. However, if the claim is against a Municipal or State entity, special rules relating to a Notice of Claim and other issues apply. In addition, someone has to be appointed the Administrator of the estate to bring the action. There are a lot of procedural hurdles. Since this is a case of alleged medical malpractice, other special requirements apply. These case are not undertaken lightly. Only after the medical records have been obtained, and you have a definitive cause of death, can you begin to assess the merits of the case. Because he had no spouse or dependents, recovery would be limited to 'conscious pain and suffering' he may have experienced before death. If you have the medical records, and an autopsy report, my advice would be to have the case looked at by a medical malpractice attorney.


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