New York Assembly Passes Bill to Allow 10 Year Period to File Medical Malpractice Claims

New York’s state Assembly has passed legislation that would let victims of medical malpractice file claims later than allowed now.

Current law requires filing claims within two-and-a-half years after the act, omission or improper treatment.

The legislation would start that clock when an injured patient discovers, or should have discovered, that the injury was caused by malpractice.

It would cap the claims period at 10 years after the alleged malpractice.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says the amendment will help victims, who too often have no symptoms or remain unaware of their illness until the current claim period has expired.

A companion bill with 34 co-sponsors, a majority of the Republican-controlled Senate, hasn’t advanced from the chamber’s Codes Committee.