UTAH INJURY ATTORNEY EXPLAINS TIME LIMITATION FOR FILING SUIT

STATUTE OF LIMITATION:  MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

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A medical malpractice action against any health care provider must be brought within two years of the date when the injury was or should have been discovered, with a maximum limit of four years after the negligent act. Utah Code Section 78-14-4 (1996).

Note that this statute has two parts:

1) the first requires action within two years of the date when the injury was discovered or should have been discovered. This is a "statute of limitation."

2) the second part sets a limit of "four years after the negligent act." This latter part, which applies regardless of whether the injury has been discovered, is called a "statute of repose."

Here's an example, Dr Brown does an appendectomy on Mrs. White on Jan 2, 2002. He fails to remove a sponge and Mrs White suffers strange pains for five years when, during another unrelated surgery, the sponge is discovered. This falls outside the four year statute of repose.

Fortunately, notwithstanding the four-year statute of repose, an action filed by injury attorneys Utah based on a foreign object retained in the body may be brought within one year of the date when the object was or should have been discovered. Id.; Day v. Meek, (Utah March 30, 1999).

The medical malpractice statute of limitations applies to malpractice death actions. Jensen v. IHC Hospitals, Inc., 944 P.2d 327, 332 (Utah 1997).

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