Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other health professional fails to provide adequate care or is negligent in providing care. If you suffer from the negligence of a medical provider, then you may be able to bring a lawsuit against that person or entity.
According to the Revisor of Missouri, you will need to bring your case to the court prior to the end of the statute of limitations, which is the time limit in which you can file a medical malpractice claim.
Statute of limitations
The law says you have two years from the date the malpractice situation occurred in which to file your case. If there is a delay in recognizing the malpractice, then the time limit will not begin until you discover the issue of negligence.
Another exception
Another exception to the two-year statute of limitations is if you are a minor and the malpractice is against you. In that case, you will have until you are age 12 to file the lawsuit. If you were over 12, then this does not apply to you and the regular time limit is in place.
Hard limit
The law also sets a hard time limit, regardless of other factors. For all cases, the statute of limitations prevents a case from coming to court more than 10 years after the malpractice occurred. In addition, for minors, the hard time limit is two years after the minor turns 18 years old.
If you fail to bring your medical malpractice case to court before the statute of limitations expires, then you can no longer make a valid claim. The court will dismiss your case and not even look into your claims against the provider or entity.