Douglas:

I think I see where you are going with this.  Conn. has incorporated the "discovery rule" into its medical malpractice statute of limitations which means its 2 year statute of limitations does not begin to run until the injury is (or reasonably should have been) discovered as opposed to when the negligent act occurred. However, the Conn med mal statute also provides for a maximum time of 3 years to file and the 3 years runs from the date of the negligent act. In effect, then, Conn. only gives you an extra year beyond the date of the act in which to file.  (Thanks to tort reform laws that have screwed plaintiffs.)

You are looking for ways to toll the statute of limitations under the doctrine of continuing treatment (or possibly even fraud). The continuing treatment theory isn't such a stretch from a legal point of view since YNHH has continued to provide your medical care. The problem you are having now is that you can't get the necessary information and records.  

You actually can get the records but you need an attorney who can compel YNHH to produce them via subpoenas.  I'm afraid that trying to do this on your own is an exercise in frustration and futility.  

Although your case is complex, your potential damages here are quite high.  If I was you I would either find an experienced med mal attorney or stop putting my energy into the med mal claim and focus on following up with the Baxter settlement, for which you do have an attorney.

You cannot bring a case of this complexity and magnitude without an experienced med mal attorney.  Additionally, you will need to be focusing your time and energy on treatment.  Get a lawyer or get out.  :)   Best regards.

Dear Douglas

Keep on fighting to the end because you deserve everything in life.  Writing letters to the donor family would be the hardest thing to do what do you say, I found it very difficult to put pen to paper so I walked the city to find the right card that said it all and I did.  The donor family are kept anonymous so we have to send to the hospital and then it goes to Donor Life and they pass onto the family.  It was two years in February this year and to date we have not heard anything...all we know it was a 24 year old that had passed over. 

You will be compensated in time Doug just try and stay stress free I know it can be hard but you do not want to be stressed everyday.  It may do more harm to your health.  Take care and all the best.

Warm regards

dianna

I would go with the solvidi/ riba if it was the 24 week  tx if not i would wate for the Polymerase/Protease/ inhibitor with riba, soon to be out.  Oct. I think.,

YES

Last week I have located the Post Doc Fellow from Immunology Dept. who was the Attending MD at the time of that incident nearly 1.5 decades ago.

Have not yet had opportunity to talk with him since.Presently, he is in transit, relocating practice from Topeka to N Dakota.

I heard that he recognized the story / time / incident / patient.

I believe he ordered a blood test immediately at that fateful IVIG session.

(subsequently, I am recently told that, testing would be most reliable 3 to 6 weeks after infection in order to detect the presence of the HCV antibody for diagnosis)

I only hope he will be forthcoming with all details remembered from 1993 /1994.

Meanwhile, I must rescan what medical records I have with due diligence. And look for any paperwork from my Settlement for the Boise Attorney who dealt with this BAXTER PHARMA crisis.

The Immunology Dept. does not have records dating back so far after three moves and many computer systems

YNHH cites risk management and will not share their proprietary internal documents. That should include notes from Personnel, Pheresis, Billing, Legal Departments. If there was no fraud, then it is all a moot point due to the fact that CT Statute of Limitations absolves the Hospital of any responsibility after 36 months. I wonder if its only a matter of policy to take such a defensive stance regarding such patient request for information. Their refusal to help indicates to me that the possibility of liability may exist somewhere...?  So much for the Hippocratic Oath, (appropriately called).

One approach that is alined with the fact that I was in continuous care, exclusively visiting YNHH Pheresis Unit monthly for nearly two decades for IVIG / GammaGuard. As I am told that there is not a possibility to set the clock starting at the time of recent diagnosis 10/2012, there just might be a way to push a continuing-care-without-timedout-liability approach. That hurtle would be quite a stretch.  Law Firms are a business first, and my personal injury claim is probably not viable enough to be of profitable interest.

Too many challenges on both fronts in regards to just when and how I acquired HCV.   ???   Certainly, I have no tattoos and fearful of needles.

This story is a source of distress additional to the pain of my medical morass.

Such as life.

I just want to do as much as possible to move forward to face the next challenges ahead.

                       -----------------------------------------------

I look forward to a reality ridding my HCV geno 1b from my life. albeit, quite anxious of the therapy.

SOLVALDI / OLYSIO  or   SOLVALDI / RIBAVIRIN is the question to be answered.

Curious, that ANTHEM approved only SOLVALDI and denied the coupling with either drug prescribed.

Any experience / advice on that future and side its effects ??

Cheers,  Doug

P.S.  Douglas:  I am curious to know what type of HCV blood test you had that resulted in the "exposure ONLY" determination and what year was it done?  

Hi Douglas:

I'm sorry you have experienced all of this.  My understanding is that you were a plaintiff in the Baxter Pharma (Gammaguard manufacturers) class action litigation. You have an attorney representing you in the Baxter lawsuit who you have contacted about pursuing additional damage claims under the open terms of the settlement. You discovered your HCV status in 2012.  Now you are seeking damages against YNHH as well because that is where the Gammaguard infusions were improperly administered.   

The only way to determine whether you have a viable cause of action against YNHH is to contact a personal injury attorney in Connecticut.  

Most states have adopted the "discovery rule" exception to statutes of limitations.  Under the discovery rule the claim arises when the injury is or reasonably should have been discovered.  It is now well documented that Gammaguard contamination caused HCV in a significant number of patients. HCV was detectable by blood test in 1992.  I am inferring, based on your post, that you had a blood test at some point during the Gammaguard litigation and that HCV was not detected at that point.   

Because HCV was detectable when you had the blood test, and you did not test positive, you have not only a potential statute of limitations problem, but perhaps more significantly, a causation problem.  In other words, how do you intend to prove the Gammaguard exposure caused your HCV when you tested negative for it back then?  

This is not the type of problem you can resolve on a message board.  You must see a Conn attorney.  Your Boise atty should be able to assist you with locating one.  I wish you the best. 

DIANNA

So glad for your husband and you.

I am still emotionally fragile and frustrated

Last week I wrote the most difficult first letter to the donor family.

All so wrenching.

Next Thursday I will be 61 and angry. At this point, I should be at the top of my game not worrying about continuing care, HCV med approval. survival, life expectancy, disability and downsizing and such. I am a Graphic Designer, self-unemployed, as I have not felt the least bit creative through out my medical morass. We relocated to Indianapolis for nearly six months prepping for list, waiting and recovering from transplant procedure. Such is life.

Thank you for your reply

Sincerely,

Doug

I am finding this forum a hard to navigate when sending replies.

Douglas did you receive my response

 
SIX MONTHS TODAY !    LIVER TRANSPLANT ANNIVERSARY

STILL HAVE HCV  genotype 1B

WHAT DO I DO NEXT ??

Does anyone have experience/advice on Hepatitis C / Near Death / Liver Transplant injury?

GammaGuard contamination

I contend my HEPATITIS C (HCV) story and all started approx 16 years ago with a medical mistake that lead to near death that was staved off by a just-in-time liver transplant exactly 6 months ago. Subsequently, I found the Attorney in Boise, Idaho, who was involved in the class action suit against BAXTER PHARMACEUTICAL.
I believe he specifically wrote the section which I qualified as a patient who suffered exposure ONLY, at that time, to the product labeled as OFF MARKET due to potential HCV contamination.
My IGG immune deficiency requires monthly IVIG infusions. It was during one well documented occasion I was administered the wrong medication. Unfortunately, my prescribed medicine sat side by side next to the OFF MARKET bottle that was inadvertently selected.

I contend that my subsequent HCV diagnosis, as recent as 10/2012 and liver transplant, 12/2013, can be traced back to the medicine wrongly administered during an IVIG infusion at Yale New Haven Hospital approx. 14 years ago.
It is known that pathology lab test technology was not sophisticated enough for accurate determination of HCV at that time. Hence, the Exposure ONLY status was confirmed at that point in history. Is it true?; even today, I believe, such tests can also yield initial false negatives or positives??
It can take as much as two decades with many years of no apparent symptoms for HCV to manifest its self as liver cirrhosis. I am the worst case scenario requiring an organ transplant. The congenital immune deficiency combined with HCV and the myriad of medical maladies that followed, all created the perfect painful storm headed for my early demise.
 
I contacted the Idaho / Past Class Action Attorney to discover if I can pursue BAXTER within the the settlement's 30 year window for further injury claims. The Settlement has made funds available for further claims up to 30 years later of those with qualifying injury criteria. My award could potentially be calculated in excess of $650,000. Also, he is interested in finding a Connecticut firm to coordinate a possible further personal injury / medical negligence suit regarding the YNHH medical mistake.
Statue of Limitations absolves YNHH of any legal responsibility after 3 years for an injury that takes decades to manifest itself.
There must be a way to make ethics prevail over this law for such a compelling story.
 
Do you know anyone with experience with such issues?
 
Do I have a viable claim here?
 
Could the State of Connecticut 24/36 month personal injury statue of limitations start at the moment of diagnosis?
 
How can I creatively make such a legal hurtle?
 
How do I determine a value to my financial injury and emotional injury?

How to determine dollar value of an early demise for me / family?
 
I look forward to your response.
Thank you for any insight and interest you can share.

Douglas

ps
New liver came with Genotype 1B, much more serious than previous.
Also I am prone to autoimmune Hepatitis, as experienced pre- transplant
ANTHEM BX BS has approved SOLVALDI, but I need combo therapy for SVR success - must appeal !!

So far;
ANTHEM BX BS has denied OLYSIO  (just last week 2nd request)
ANTHEM BX BS has denied RIBAVIRIN 

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

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