How Long Do You Have to Sue a Doctor After Surgery?
If you suffered preventable complications related to surgical errors and malpractice, you could have a viable medical malpractice case. However, you must act quickly. Florida law sets strict deadlines for suing your doctor after a surgical complication. You could have as little as two years to file the complaint, and there are other steps you will need to take before taking your case to court.
To learn the applicable statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice claim in your case, discuss your options with a surgical errors lawyer.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice Surgical Errors in Florida?
Florida’s statute of limitations on filing a lawsuit is set by Florida Statutes § 95.11. Under this statute, victims generally have two years to file a lawsuit based on medical malpractice. The clock begins running when:
- The patient discovers or should have discovered the surgical injury or
- The patient links their injury to the doctor’s negligence
However, Florida also has a law known as a statute of repose. This is generally four years from the date the surgical error occurred. This sets a strict deadline in most cases regardless of how long it takes to discover the malpractice. However, exceptions do exist, and a medical malpractice lawyer can determine how long you have to act.
What Can Extend or Toll the Statute of Limitations for My Surgical Errors Lawsuit?
Exceptions to the statute of limitations and statute of repose could include:
- The Doctor Conceals What Happened: If the doctor or facility makes an effort to deliberately conceal the surgical error, you could have longer to file your lawsuit. This could give you up to seven years to sue.
- The Victim Is a Young Child: If the victim is a young child—age seven or under—the statute of limitations may give you until the child turns eight years old if the malpractice is not discovered sooner.
Under some circumstances, you could have longer to sue a doctor for a surgical error than you think. However, it is still important to act quickly, and only an experienced medical malpractice attorney can make this determination. Talk to an attorney as soon as possible for a free case evaluation and to ensure you understand the timeline.
How Do Surgical Errors and Malpractice Occur?
You could have a surgical error medical malpractice case if you experienced:
- Wrong-Site Surgery: A negligent surgeon might operate on the wrong body part, such as repairing a torn ligament on the wrong knee or removing the wrong kidney.
- Wrong Surgery: A surgeon performs the wrong surgery—often one planned for another patient—or an unnecessary surgery due to a misdiagnosis.
- Items Left Inside: The surgical team leaves sponges, retractors, or other materials inside the body following surgery.
- Avoidable Injuries: The surgeon makes a mistake and injures nerves, organs, or unrelated tissue during a procedure.
- Anesthesia Errors: The surgical team gives the patient the wrong dose of anesthesia or fails to properly monitor the patient during surgery, causing a preventable injury.
- Preventable Infections: Doctors fail to take the necessary and expected steps to prevent, diagnose, or treat post-surgical infections.
- Failure to Obtain Informed Consent: The doctor fails to inform the patient about the risks of their surgery, not giving them the opportunity to make an educated decision about their health.
- Failure to Discover a Perforation: Following surgery, if the surgeon fails to recognize the signs of a perforated organ, this may lead to serious complications or even death.
Each of these errors can lead to serious health complications. Most require the doctor to act negligently, meaning the patient might have a viable surgical malpractice case. If you experienced any of these, contact a medical malpractice lawyer. The law firm can assess the facts of your case and determine if you have enough evidence to pursue a surgical error lawsuit.
Medical Experts Are Essential for Suing Your Doctor for a Surgical Error
When you work with a surgical malpractice attorney, they will need to develop a strong case strategy and develop a convincing case. They will use evidence to show:
- Duty of Care: You had a doctor-patient relationship with the surgeon, meaning they had a legal duty to provide competent medical care to the standard of care expected of their profession and field.
- Breach of Duty: The doctor failed to provide an accepted standard of care.
- Causation: The surgical error caused your symptoms, injury, or complications.
- Damages: You suffered harm, possibly including additional medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering.
Building almost any type of medical malpractice case in Florida requires expert witnesses. Under Florida Statute § 766.203, plaintiffs must have an affidavit from a qualified medical expert who has reviewed the case and agrees that malpractice likely occurred. This is necessary to proceed with a surgical error malpractice case in Florida.
A medical malpractice attorney will have a network of medical professionals, doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other experts who they can call on to review your case and determine what an acceptable standard of care would look like. Their testimony could be crucial to winning your case and getting justice.
Your Surgical Malpractice Attorney Will Manage the Case for You
When you hire a Florida medical malpractice attorney, you can count on them to assess your case, develop a plan, gather evidence, ensure you meet deadlines, and guide you through the legal process. You will be able to focus on your treatment and healing while they navigate the complexities of the Florida medical malpractice process and fight for justice for you.
You want to work with an experienced attorney familiar with these cases. Florida law does not make it easy to hold doctors responsible, but it is possible with a knowledgeable, skilled, and resourceful lawyer.
You generally only have two years after the discovery of your injuries to begin a lawsuit, but no more than four years from the date of the negligent act (unless an exception exists), so it is important to act quickly to recover compensation for your additional medical care, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Talk to Our Medical Malpractice Team About Your Legal Options
Freidin Brown, P.A. provides free case evaluations for those who believe they suffered injuries due to surgical errors in Florida. We will review your case and determine how our surgical malpractice attorneys can help. Contact us today to get started.
