Statue of limitations in California?
What's the statue of limitations on filing a medical mal-practice lawsuit in the state of California? My friend had knee surgery and it was unsuccessfull. She is still in a lot of pain and still on medication for it. She said she was going to look into it a year after the surgery, but thought it may just take more time. It's been 4 years, I don't know what the laws are for things like this. Any help would be great.
Answers:
It's three years, or one year from the time the patient discovers the injury, whichever is sooner. There are some exceptions which don't appear to apply in your friend's case.
Keep in mind that malpractice means that the doctor negligently performed the surgery, or failed to follow acceptable medical standards, which led to the injury. An unsatisfactory result is not malpractice.
I would consult a medical malpractice attorney if you are serious about going forward. Why didn't she tell the doctor about her pain? In most cases, the doctor is willing to do anything to correct the error.
The stautory SOL for medical Malpractice in California is 2 years (MedMal, Neg, PL, WD) CCP ยง335.1 and can be found HERE: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displa...
FOR MAISEY:
SHE DID get an opinion from an attorney. Why do you think I gave her the legal citations to consult?
A person should never ever make a decision on the tolling of the statute of limitations themselves, they should ALWAYS consult an attorney. Only an attorney can determine whether she is within the statute of limitations based on the individual facts of her case.
She can probably get a free or low cost consultation with an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice. She should do that right away. People forget that attorneys need time to become familiar with the facts of the case, review records, and draft documents for filing, and usually have many other cases to deal with. This is not something you should take care of for your friend. It is kind of you, but you may be doing her a disservice.
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