Statute of limitations on medical malpractice suit

[lisa2000]

A friend of mine that lives in Wisconsin was hoping to take her ob/gyn to court. Long story short, she had a difficult delivery and as a result of the procedure needed to afterwards, she developed scar tissue in her uterus. She is now unable to conceive and has had many complications because of being ignored by the dr. when she complained of problems related. Her ob/gyn dismissed her as having some sort of post partum problems and never ran the few simple tests that might have saved her chances for having more children.

The problem is that it has taken 3 years for her to get to the point of having a correct diagnosis (mostly because she did not try to conceive again for a couple of years and it wasn't until then that she found out about the extent of her problem) and now it may be too late to fix the problem. She has been told by an attorney that the statute of limitations has run out and she can not sue. It doesn't make sense that for a medical condition that may not become apparent until years after a procedure, that the statute of limitations would have run out so quickly? Is this correct, or is it likely that this attorney just does not think she has a case and does not want to deal with it? Also, is there anything else she can do, like file suit in a different way (maybe not straight out malpractice)??

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Lisa

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

The funnny thing about the statute of limitations is this:

It is true that usually 3 years would probably end the statute of limitations. BUT if she was not aware of her injury until she tried to conceive a few years later, she may still have a case. The term is "tolling of the statute of limitations". This means that the statute of limitations doesn't begin until she became aware/had notice of her injury.


I am not sure if the cause of action would still be medical malpratice or some derivative of that.

I would suggest she speak with an attorney specializing in medical malpractice.