Statute of Limitations for Louisiana

The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice case is a serious deadline in all states. No matter how strong your evidence that a doctor’s negligence caused your injuries, if you show up to file your claim even one day after that statute of limitations has expired, it is very likely that your case will be dismissed. You will likely lose your legal right to seek damages for any harm you have suffered.

Generally, the “clock” on the statute of limitations starts on the date that the health care provider’s negligence happened. However, in some cases, you might not recognize that you were a victim of medical malpractice for months or even years. This is why many states have established a discovery rule, which states that the clock does not begin ticking on the date the malpractice occurred, but instead when you discover that it occurred. For instance, if a doctor made a surgical mistake, but you had no way of knowing that this mistake occurred until a year later when you started to experience complications, the statute of limitations may begin when you discovered the problem, or later depending on your case. However, as a New Orleans death compensation attorney explains, if there is evidence that you should have noticed the complications sooner, the claim still may be dismissed by the court.