Both the New York State Senate and Assembly have approved a proposal to change the state’s medical malpractice law.

Specifically, both houses have passed a measure that allows patients to file medical malpractice lawsuits years after an alleged misdiagnosis or mistreatment for cancer.

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Nicknamed “Lavern’s Law” after Lavern Wilkinson – a patient who died in 2013 following a missed cancer diagnosis – the bill changes the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit for a missed cancer diagnosis to two and a half years after a patient first discovers the medical error.

Currently, NY’s medical malpractice law limits the filing of lawsuits to within 15 months after a misdiagnosis.

The Associated Press reported that the legislation passed Tuesday after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Speaker Carl Heastie announced an agreement on the bill.


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