Medical Malpractice and Understanding Florida’s Statute of Limitations
March 3, 2016
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is an unfortunate cause of serious injury and death in the United States.
Every year between 80,000 and 100,000 Americans lose their lives as a result of preventable medical mistakes. The families of these victims, as well as individuals who have suffered harm because of a medical error, may be entitled to be compensated for their damages.
What is a Statute of Limitations?
When a person suffers harm as a result of the negligence of a medical professional, they have the right to file a lawsuit against the responsible party to seek compensation for their injuries and losses.
The amount of time a person has to file a lawsuit is limited by what is called a statute of limitations.
A statute of limitations can be seen as a deadline for filing a lawsuit, and individuals who fail to file a lawsuit before this deadline expires may have to forfeit their right to file a lawsuit for that particular injury claim.
The purpose of a statute of limitations is threefold:
- To incentivize those who have been injured to file a lawsuit in a timely manner.
- To encourage lawsuits to be filed before the evidence grows old.
- To relieve the general public of the fear of unexpected lawsuits resulting from events that may or may not have happened far in the past.
The Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice in Florida
The statute of limitation to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida can vary depending on a number of different factors, but is generally two years from the time the malpractice was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
Florida’s Statute of Repose
Florida strictly limits the statute of limitation for medical malpractice lawsuits to a maximum of four years from the time the malpractice occurred, regardless of when it was discovered, unless “fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation of fact prevented the discovery of the injury”, in which case an individual has a maximum of seven years to file a medical a malpractice lawsuit.
So, even if an individual does not know of the malpractice, or had no way of knowing, there is a deadline of four years to file a lawsuit, regardless of when the malpractice was discovered, unless the individual can prove that there was fraud involved, in which case the individual has seven years to file.
Medical Malpractice Involving Children
Florida makes an exception to the above mentioned statute of repose for victims of medical malpractice who are under the age of eight years old. According to this exception, the four-year statute of repose cannot bar a lawsuit brought on behalf of a child before he or she reaches eight years old.
Bear in mind however, that this does not exempt the case from the limitation placed on it by the two-year statute of limitations. So, if the parents or guardians of the child knew or should have known of the incident, the statute of limitation will still be two years from the time the incident occurred.
To summarize, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida is either two years, four years, or seven years unless the lawsuit filed on behalf of a child under eight years old. What is important to understand in all of this is that whichever statute of limitations expires first will bar the lawsuit from being filed, regardless of whether or not the other limitations have expired.
Contact Florida’s Jodat Law Group about Your Medical Malpractice Case
At Jodat Law Group, we have decades of experience helping clients prove medical malpractice and win the financial compensation they deserve. For Medical Malpractice, we have established relationships with other law firms that will represent you in these matters. Contact us online or call (877) 563 2852 today.
