When you go to the hospital or doctor’s office, you expect them to treat you with dignity and care. There is a level of trust that comes with healthcare, and having that trust broken can be jarring.
Medical malpractice claims allow you to fight back against any mistreatment by medical professionals.
However, if you are considering a medical malpractice claim, you need to file it relatively soon after the event.
In Ohio, there is a time limit for filing most medical malpractice claims. This deadline is called the statute of limitations. State law requires people to file most claims within a year of an incident.
This statute of limitations discourages people from waiting to pursue claims. The older the claim, the harder it can be to prove. Waiting too long means crucial evidence or information may no longer be available.
There is a small extension to the statute if you provide written notice to the defendant. Ohio law allows claims up to 180 days after sending a notice.
There is also an exemption for claims alleging foreign objects left in a person after surgery.
It’s possible a person can go years without noticing these objects. Issues caused by the object can be misdiagnosed or take time to materialize.
The state understands this and allows exceptions to be made with these types of cases.
You can file a foreign object malpractice claim up to a year after you discover the object or the issues it has caused. In these instances, you must prove that you did not previously know about the object.
Most medical malpractice claims in Ohio must be pursued soon after the issue occurs. Delaying a claim not only risks violating the statute of limitations but can impact the success of your case.
If you feel you may have been a victim of malpractice, speak with an attorney experienced in medical malpractice cases in Ohio.