Malpractice claims - Medical Negligence Time Limit

When receiving medical attention, everyone expects a high level of care. Sadly, because of the negligent actions of certain medical providers, patients sometimes end up feeling worse after a procedure. 

In fact, just a small mistake can cost thousands of dollars to treat. Additionally, you may not be able to work while recovering, and in the worst-case scenario, may even struggle with the effects of the injury for the rest of your life.

If you or your loved one suffered harm from a careless medical professional, you owe it to yourself to start a malpractice claim against them and recover damages for all the pain and financial harm you endured. 

Keep reading to learn basic information about malpractice claims, including the medical negligence time limit (statute of limitations).

What constitutes medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice or medical negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the prevailing professional standards of care regarding the treatment or diagnosis of a patient. 

According to a textbook definition, the prevailing professional standard of care is a level of skill, care, and treatment that is recognized as appropriate by healthcare providers of the same level of skill and educational background in relevant surrounding circumstances. 

Furthermore, the standard of care that a healthcare provider owes you depends on details such as their training, specialty, and location. For example, standards of care for a surgeon in Denver may differ from standards of care by a general practitioner in Miami, regardless of whether they’re treating the same condition and the same patient. 

What makes a malpractice claim valid?

For a malpractice claim to be valid, it’s necessary to show a causal relationship between the breach of the professional standards of care and the injury. Yet, Florida laws mandate that the existence of an injury doesn’t automatically create any presumption of negligence against the health provider. The only exception is if the injury is considered a discovery of a foreign body used in diagnostic or surgical procedures.

If there’s a claim that the injury resulted from a negligent affirmative medical intervention, proving the breach of duty is tough. The claimant must demonstrate that the injury didn’t fall within the reasonably foreseeable result of the medical procedure if the procedure during which the injury happened was completed according to the prevailing professional standard demonstrated by a similar care provider. 

In other words, the injury doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria for malpractice if it is within expected risks in case the procedure was performed correctly. 

Medical negligence time limit in Florida

Medical negligence time limit, more commonly known as a statute of limitations, is a period during which a claimant must take legal action. Missing medical negligence time limit generally takes away the claimant’s right to bring forth a malpractice claim. 

Florida's statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is four years, though the medical negligence time limit is much shorter. A person who has suspicions that they were harmed through the actions of a healthcare provider has two years to start legal action after they discover (or should have reasonably discovered) that the physician acted negligently. 

In addition, there’s a hard limit of four years from the health provider’s actions on taking legal steps. Meaning, it’s necessary to bring a claim within this time frame regardless of the date of discovery or you’ll lose your right to sue. 

Exception for the regular statute of limitations applies to the following circumstances:

• If the negligent healthcare provider partakes in fraud, intentional misrepresentation, or concealment, the maximum time limit for filing a lawsuit will be extended to seven years from the date of the incident. 
• If the victim of negligence was under the age of eight when the incident took place, the clock for filing a suit will start running only when the victim turns eight. 
• If the negligent healthcare provider was acting fraudulently and the victim was underage, the medical negligence time limit will be extended to seven years from the date of discovery. 

As you can see, the legal requirements for medical malpractice are fairly confusing. Victims must first accurately establish the earliest when they learned, or should have learned, that a physician’s actions caused their injury. Still, this isn’t always easy but makes all the difference in whether the claim will go through the court or not. 

To protect your rights and seize the opportunity to seek compensation, you should consult a medical malpractice attorney ASAP. 

Why you should hire an attorney

Along with meeting all the filing deadlines, attorneys also have the expertise to investigate the claims and prove them in court. Make no mistake, while a personal injury lawyer may be familiar with the basics of medical malpractice, to maximize your chances of winning, you should hire an attorney specializing in medical malpractice. 

Medical malpractice law is very intricate and a legal professional with limited experience in this area won’t be able to deliver the same quality of service a medical malpractice specialist would bring to the table. 

As said previously, you should also take action as quickly as possible. This provides your attorney with a bigger window of opportunity to fully investigate the case - something that isn’t easy to do. 

Don’t lose time - act now

Pursuing justice and holding the negligent medical provider accountable will help you recover the costs for damages incurred by the injury. Your legal action may also stop the said physician from harming other people so in a way, you’ll be fighting for the greater good. 

In this endeavor, you’ll need an experienced legal team supporting you every step of the way. Attorneys at Sowell Chakour have both the knowledge and the resources to start working on your case right away and support it to the very end. 

Furthermore, some of our attorneys come from a medical background, which means we can bring rare insider knowledge into every case we handle - and we believe that you won’t find a more experienced malpractice legal team in the whole of Florida. 

Call (833) 633-6257 or fill out our contact form, and we’ll review your case free of charge. 

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.