Nassau County Birth Injury Lawyer: Suing Long Island Jewish (LIJ)

Long Island Jewish Medical Center

Long Island Jewish Medical Center is located at 270-05 76th Avenue, New Hyde Park, NY — straddling the border between Nassau County and Queens. It is the flagship medical center of the Northwell Health system and includes:

- LIJ's obstetric and maternal-fetal medicine service: One of the largest in the New York area, handling both routine and high-risk pregnancies. - Level III NICU: A regional referral center for premature and critically ill newborns, providing advanced respiratory support, including high-frequency ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, and ECMO capability. - Cohen Children's Medical Center: A dedicated pediatric hospital co-located with LIJ, providing pediatric specialty services including pediatric neurology, neurosurgery, and orthopedics. - Northwell Health affiliations: LIJ is part of the Northwell Health system, which includes multiple hospitals throughout Long Island, Queens, Staten Island, Westchester, and Manhattan.

When a birth injury occurs at LIJ, the specific providers involved — obstetricians, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, midwives, nurses, anesthesiologists, neonatologists — and the hospital corporation (Northwell Health) may all be liable for negligence.

Common Birth Injuries at LIJ

Birth injuries that may occur at Long Island Jewish due to medical negligence include:

• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE): Brain damage from oxygen deprivation during labor or delivery. [Link to: /medical-malpractice/hie-claims]
• Cerebral palsy: Motor disability caused by birth-related brain injury. [Link to: /cerebral-palsy-lawyer/new-york]
• Brachial plexus injury (Erb's palsy, Klumpke's palsy): Nerve damage from excessive traction during delivery. [Link to: /birth-injury/erbs-palsy-lawyer]
• Shoulder dystocia: [Link to: /birth-injury/shoulder-dystocia-lawyer]
• Birth asphyxia: Oxygen deprivation causing brain damage, organ failure, or death.
• Failure to perform timely cesarean: [Link to: /medical-malpractice/delayed-c-section]
• Forceps and vacuum injuries: [Link to: /birth-injury/forceps-vacuum-injury-lawyer]
• Group B Strep (GBS) infection: [Link to: /birth-injury/group-b-strep-malpractice]
• NICU negligence: Medication errors, infection, or failure to monitor in the Level III NICU.
• Preeclampsia/eclampsia mismanagement: [Link to: /birth-injury/preeclampsia-lawyer]
• Uterine rupture: Particularly in women attempting VBAC. [Link to: /labor-delivery-errors/vbac-negligence]
• Placental abruption: [Link to: /birth-injury/placental-abruption-lawyer]

Notice of Claim Requirements

Long Island Jewish Medical Center is a private, non-profit hospital — not a municipal hospital. Therefore, the General Municipal Law § 50-e Notice of Claim requirement (90-day deadline) does not apply to claims against LIJ.

This is important for families in Nassau County and Queens, as some hospitals in the area (like NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens) are municipal facilities subject to the 90-day Notice of Claim requirement. If your baby was injured at Elmhurst Hospital, the 90-day deadline does apply. If your baby was injured at LIJ or another Northwell facility, it does not.

For claims against LIJ/Northwell Health, the statute of limitations is governed by CPLR § 214-a: 2.5 years from the date of the negligent act. The infancy toll (CPLR § 208) extends the child's deadline to age 20 (18 + 2.5 years). However, parents' claims for economic damages must be filed within 2.5 years and are not tolled during the child's minority.

Building a Case Against LIJ

To build a successful birth injury case against Long Island Jewish / Northwell Health, MDLaw Firm will:

1. Obtain complete medical records: Including prenatal records, labor and delivery records, fetal monitoring strips (CTG), operative notes, anesthesia records, nursing notes, neonatal records, NICU records, and imaging studies. Northwell uses the Epic electronic medical record system.

2. Review fetal monitoring strips: The EFM strips are critical evidence showing the fetal heart rate pattern and uterine contraction pattern throughout labor. Expert review can identify periods of fetal distress that were not acted upon.

3. Consult with medical experts: Board-certified obstetricians, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists review the records.

4. Analyze the delivery timeline: Reconstruct what happened — when was fetal distress identified, when was the cesarean decision made, and was the delay below the standard of care?

5. File the lawsuit with a certificate of merit: Under CPLR § 3012-a, the complaint must include confirmation that a qualified medical expert reviewed the case.

6. Pursue discovery and trial preparation.

Statute of Limitations

Under CPLR § 214-a, the statute of limitations is 2.5 years from the date of the negligent act. The infancy toll (CPLR § 208) extends the child's deadline to age 20. Parents' economic claims must be filed within 2.5 years. [Link to: /birth-injury/statute-of-limitations]

Contact a lawyer as early as possible. Fetal monitoring strips and medical records can be lost or overwritten over time. The sooner an attorney is involved, the better the chance of preserving critical evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

The value of a medical malpractice case in New York depends on several factors, including the severity of the injury, the strength of liability evidence, and the economic and non-economic damages involved. New York is one of the few states with no caps on medical malpractice damages, meaning there is no artificial limit on what you can recover. Below are typical settlement ranges based on injury severity.