How long does a person have to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice?

Answer 1

This varies state to state so the laws of the state where it happened govern. However, in general it is two years after the malpractice occurs, unless the symptoms of the malpractice could not have been known at the time it did happen. Malpractice is a tort and normally the statute of limitations is 2 years after the commission of the act, but medical malpractice is different. This is because in some cases the injury caused by the malpractice does not become apparent till much later and sometimes even after the time limit has expired. For example if in childbirth some injury is done to the brain of the baby, the effects might not show themselves till years later when a child normally begins to develop and more complex cognitive functions are expected. Since all children develop at different rates, it might be impossible to know that a failure of some development was caused by malpractice that had been committed at the birth. It would be unjust to prevent someone from suing for damages caused by an act of malpractice because of the lapse of time, when it was impossible to realize during that time that there had even been any malpractice. This is why many states start the usual 2 year time period when it becomes reasonably apparent that malpractice had occurred earlier, not when the malpractice actually occurred.