Under our federal constitution, each of the 50 states have their own laws which pertains to various subjects that are particular to that state. These laws include all types of personal injury claims of which medical malpractice is one subset. The purpose of the statute of limitations as enacted by the various state legislatures is to try to have claims that are brought before the court in a timely matter, because people's memories pass and evidence can get lost, so it was initially designed to speed up the process.
However, because every state has a different statute of limitations for different types of cases, occasionally, people will have exceeded the time frame to file, because they realized too late that they may have a case. In situations like this, it is important to be aware of the exceptions to the statute of limitations, which can be used in some states for special circumstances. If a medical malpractice victim meets the requirements of these exceptions, they may be able to get around the statute of limitations in order to file a claim.
Many states also have special administrator rules for county hospitals or other types of administrative agencies, which actually lowers the time available for victims of medical malpractice to file a claim. This may require the medical malpractice victim to file the case within six months, even though the actual statute of limitations may be a year, two years, or longer in that state. These rules are very specific. All trial attorneys have to be aware of the statute of limitations that apply to a particular state, as the statute of limitations sets a maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may take place.
When it comes to the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit, the law requires the injured party to file a lawsuit within a specific time period. Failure to file a lawsuit or take the required legal action, such as filing a malpractice or negligence claim, with the proper government agency, could eliminate the injured parties' legal right to recover damages.
An example of statute of limitations, would be the state of California, whereby the injured party must start legal action within one year from the date the patient discovers or reasonably should have discovered the injury. There are certain circumstances where the deadline for filing may be extended. Visit statute of limitations for more information.
