Florida Medical Malpractice Deadline Calculator

Under FL § 95.11(5)(c), an action for medical malpractice must be commenced within 2 years from the time the incident occurred, or within 2 years from the time the incident was discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence — but in no event later than 4 years from the incident. That 4-year outer limit is a statute of repose: it applies even if the injury could not have been discovered in time. Two exceptions extend it — fraud or concealment (to 7 years) and claims on behalf of a minor (to the child's 8th birthday).

Whichever is later, subject to the outer limit. The period runs from discovery, and "discovery" means the point at which a reasonable person had notice of an injury and a reasonable possibility that it was caused by medical negligence — not the day a lawyer or a second doctor confirmed it. That date is contested in nearly every case where it matters, and the defense will argue it was earlier than you think. The four-year repose caps the discovery rule regardless.

A claimant may petition the clerk of the court where suit will be filed and, on payment of a fee of up to $42, receives an automatic 90-day extension of the limitations period to allow the presuit investigation. No court order is required, and the extension is in addition to any other tolling. It cannot revive a claim on which the period has already run, so it has to be filed while the clock is still running.

Yes. Under FL § 766.106(4), mailing the notice of intent to initiate litigation tolls the limitations period as to all prospective defendants for the 90-day presuit period, and for any extension of that period the parties stipulate to. When negotiations are terminated, the claimant has 60 days or the remainder of the limitations period, whichever is greater, to file suit. The notice cannot be served without first completing the presuit investigation and obtaining a verified written expert opinion under FL § 766.203(2).

The 4-year statute of repose — and the 7-year concealment period — do not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child's 8th birthday. The 2-year limitations period still applies, measured from when the parents or guardian discovered or should have discovered the injury, so a birth injury discovered at birth does not automatically wait until the child is eight; the eighth-birthday rule lifts the outer limit, not the two-year period.

Where fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation of fact prevented discovery of the injury, FL § 95.11(5)(c) extends the limitations period forward 2 years from the time the injury is discovered or should have been discovered, but never beyond 7 years from the incident. Concealment has to be proven; an unexplained bad outcome or a chart that omits the error is a starting point, not a conclusion. Treat the 4-year date as the safe deadline unless counsel confirms the extension applies.

A wrongful-death claim has its own two-year period measured from the date of death under § 95.11, and the presuit requirements of chapter 766 still apply when the death was caused by medical negligence. Florida also limits which survivors may recover non-economic damages in a medical-negligence death — the survivor checker walks through those rules.