My husband had surgery almost four years ago and he has been sick ever since. I don’t think the surgeon did a very good job and we want to sue the surgeon for pain and suffering. We can still sue, can’t we?

No, you can’t!

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is only three years from the date of the alleged malpractice. In your case, this means three years from the date of the surgery.

If your husband had reason to believe that the surgeon did something wrong, he first should have gotten a second opinion from another specialist who could have looked over your husband’s medical records and advised him about his medical condition.

If you had medical evidence that the surgeon was negligent and that the surgeon caused your husband harm, your husband would have been required to file a “Notice of Claim” against the surgeon within three years of the act of malpractice.

The surgeon’s lawyer would have had the right to take your expert’s deposition and your attorney could have taken the surgeon’s deposition and the deposition of any other expert the surgeon might use.

Then the case would have been presented to a medical malpractice panel which would determine if the surgeon did something wrong, whether the surgeon’s wrongdoing was a deviation from the medical standard of care and whether your husband’s continuing medical problems were proximately caused by the surgeon’s negligence.

Only then would your husband be allowed to go to court to seek compensation for his medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and the like.

The statute of limitations is shorter for medical malpractice cases than for most other torts because the legislature wanted to control health care and malpractice insurance costs.

So remember, when it comes to bringing a claim, if you snooze, you lose!

It’s the law!