What is the statue of limitations on medical malpractice?

Statute on med mal is 3 years. Death 2 years. Malpractice is simply negligence or carelessness of a doctor. Don't let the term buffalo you. You sound ,like you are trying to do this alone. You wont do very well alone. Hire you the best med mal lawyer you can find and let him decide what kind of claims you have.

In Indiana, there are administrative procedures to follow before a medical malpractice claim is filed in court. The applicable statute of limitation may be tolled while relief is beingsought before that State's agency.Check with your State's medical board to obtain a copy of its procedures for filing a medical malpractice claim within its prescribed time limits.

I would not count on being able to amend the pleadings to add medical malpractice after the SOL date. I believe there is a provision that allows you to file the expert affidavit after you file the case if you must do this because of an impending Statute of Limitations deadline. Also, keep in mind that the SOL is three years unless you are suing a governmental entity or charity (most hospitals are one or the other). Regarding your question about a "bright line" distinction between malpractice and other actions, this is difficult to answer without knowing your facts. Malpractice is a form of negligence action. The elements that you have to prove are a deviation of the standard of care to be expected of an ordinary doctor under the circumstances (negligence) and that the negligence cased some injury to the patient (damages caused by the negligence). There are times where this malpractice case might blend into other types of cases. For example, if you paid a doctor a fee to treat a problem and the doctor was negligent, and because of the doctor's negligence, you had to pay another doctor to provide the same treatment to fix the same problem, this could be malpractice or it could be breach of contract. In the example I gave, I am assuming that the first doctor did not make the problem worse, he just did not fix the problem. Thus he cause no injury except charging a fee for nothing, and perhaps some minor suffering for the patient having to wait longer for the problem to be fixed. You could sue for breach of contract to get your money back, or negligence to get your money back. In any type of case, there are often several different legal theories under which you can bring your case. Usually, however, malpractice is a single distinct cause of action.

The Statute of Limitations for medical malpractice cases in the State of New York is two and one-half years. It can be extended by continuous treatment after the malpractice was committed. Sometimes notices of claim must be served within 90 days. For example against a municipal hospital, and then the action must commenced within one year and ninety days. Filing you non-med mal claims on time will not save your untimely filed med-mal claims. There is no bright line between regular negligence and med mal. If the service rendered was medical in nature, then med mal rules will apply.

I would not screw around with the 2 year S/L at all. The law reads 2 years from the med mal or 2 years from the date you discovered the med mal, not to exceed a total of 4 years in Florida. You can also file a petition to extend the S/L for a small fee. The idea you're trying to handle these on your own is not a great idea. The cases are way too tough.

Generally, medical malpractice cases in Washington must be brought within three years of the claimed malpractice. There are exceptions and mandatory steps so you should definitely have legal counsel to pursue a med mal case. You will not be alright if you file the non malpractice claims and later amend the complaint, if the statute has run. Whether malpractice has occurred is a matter of expert opinion, and those opinions often differ. Rare is the case that is undisputed.

You must file your med mal claim within 2 years of the alleged negligence.

Medical malpractice laws are different in every state but there are some common areas. If the statute of limitations in your state is two years and an affidavit is required before filing, then you probably have to comply with this requirement if you want to pursue your claim. I do not think you will be able to add the malpractice counts after the statute expires. So do not count on being able to amend your suit to add time barred claims. I also think that there is a fairly bright line when it comes to medical malpractice cases versus other tort claims. If you are suing a doctor or other health care provider for failing to comply with a standard of care, it is a malpractice claim. I think you need to get to n experienced lawyer and see if an expert can be retained to review the file and offer an opinion on whether there was a violation of the standard of care. Don't wait and good luck.

Not sure what you are referring to re 2 years. Personal injury cases have a two year statute of limitations. But medical malpractice cases have their own statute (Code of Civil Procedure 340.5) which provides: Action against health care provider; three years from injury or one year from discovery; exceptions; minors In an action for injury or death against a health care provider based upon such person's alleged professional negligence, the time for the commencement of action shall be three years after the date of injury or one year after the plaintiff discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. In no event shall the time for commencement of legal action exceed three years unless tolled for any of the following: (1) upon proof of fraud, (2) intentional concealment, or (3) the presence of a foreign body, which has no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect, in the person of the injured person. Actions by a minor shall be commenced within three years from the date of the alleged wrongful act except that actions by a minor under the full age of six years shall be commenced within three years or prior to his eighth birthday whichever provides a longer period. Such time limitation shall be tolled for minors for any period during which parent or guardian and defendant's insurer or health care provider have committed fraud or collusion in the failure to bring an action on behalf of the injured minor for professional negligence. For the purposes of this section: (1) Health care provider means any person licensed or certified pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code, or licensed pursuant to the Osteopathic Initiative Act, or the Chiropractic Initiative Act, or licensed pursuant to Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1440) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code; and any clinic, health dispensary, or health facility, licensed pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 1200) of the Health and Safety Code. Health care provider includes the legal representatives of a health care provider; (2) Professional negligence means a negligent act or omission to act by a health care provider in the rendering of professional services, which act or omission is the proximate cause of a personal injury or wrongful death, provided that such services are within the scope of services for which the provider is licensed and which are not within any restriction imposed by the licensing agency or licensed hospital. Keep in mind that before filing suit, you need to serve by certified mail your notice of the intent to sue for professional negligence (pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure 364, which requires 90 days notice before you file suit). This must be served on each defendant, including the hospital. If you are within 90 days of the statute date, serving the notice extends the statute to the 90th day from when you send it by certified mail. This is called tolling. To answer your question about your other causes of action that do not constitute professional negligence requires more information. It can get very tricky to ensure you file within the statute for those causes of action and do the 364 notice for the malpractice and then file that lawsuit. I highly encourage you to speak with an attorney that does medical malpractices cases.

No. You must file your med mal case within 2 years from when you realized the malpractice occurred. In Florida you can get an extension on the 2 year rule but you MUST file for the extension on or before 2 years expire. Feel free to call me at 561-266-9191 for more information and answer any further questions.

In Florida, you only have two years from the date you first had reason to believe a hospital employee was negligent within which to bring your lawsuit; while I have to commend you on thinking of suing the hospital for the "non medical malpractice counts" and then amending to bring the med mal counts after you go through the presuit screening, I don't think that will work, and am not aware of any case law which allows that. However, you can file a petition for automatic extension of time which will extend the statute of limitations for a period of ninety days. You may wish to consider doing that as it will give you three more months to obtain your affidavit and send it to the hospital by certified mail, return receipt requested as the statute dictates. While I am unaware of any "bright line" distinction (for example, there's a case that has held that someone who slipped and fell in a hospital did not have to comply with the presuit screening rules, but I have always believed it is better safe than sorry, and have always gotten an affidavit and presuited everything against any health care provider as defined under Florida Statutes. You also need to be aware that there is a four year statute of repose provision that requires you to bring your claim within four years of the health care provider's actual act of negligence, or you will be barred from sustaining your claim against the health care provider. It's always a safe bet to get an attorney familiar with the medical malpractice "hoops" which you have to jump through to represent you.

The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years from the time of the malpractice or whenever it was discovered or should have been discovered using the reasonable person test. In other words, would a reasonable person have discovered it. It appears you already have an attorney, so rely upon your attorney's advice. Good luck.

I do not practice medical malpractice, so this is not a question I feel comfortable answering for you. Medical malpractice cases are extremely complicated and expensive. Since you are asking his question, it is clear that you do not have an attorney assisting you in your lawsuit. That is a mistake. If you have a decent case you should have a med mal attorney assist you or else you will lose your case, even if it is a good case. If you have attempted to hire a med mal attorney and you have asked at least three reputable attorneys and they have turned you down, then you do not have a good case and it is time to move on.