ALBANY, N.Y.: Both houses of the state Legislature have approved a proposal to make significant changes to New York’s medical malpractice law by allowing patients to sue years after an alleged misdiagnosis or mistreatment for cancer.
The Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-controlled Assembly passed the measure two days after Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders – Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Speaker Carl Heastie – announced an agreement on the legislation.
Dubbed “Lavern’s Law” after Lavern Wilkinson, the bill changes the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit for a missed cancer diagnosis to 21/2 years after the time when a patient first learns of the medical error. The current law’s limitation is 15 months after a misdiagnosis.
Wilkinson, of Brooklyn, died in 2013 after a missed cancer diagnosis. -AP
