All states have limitations on when you can sue for a medical error. Ohio requires that you prove that the medical error harmed you and the doctor breached the standard of care that they owed you.
Knowledge limitations
No one has all of the answers on how to heal the human body. Research is ongoing to make new discoveries and improve upon current systems. A case isn’t medical malpractice when the doctor couldn’t have reasonably known with widespread medical knowledge what your health condition was. The success rates of treatments aren’t 100% either, so the court will take this into consideration when evaluating a claim. As long as the doctor didn’t make an error during the procedure, they aren’t responsible for a failure.
Statute of limitations
You have up to one year from when the cause of action accrues to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Ohio. The cause of action is the moment at which the patient should have reasonably known that they experienced an injury from their doctor’s treatment or lack of treatment.
If you were of unsound mind at the time when the cause of action accrued, then the one-year limitation doesn’t apply to you. Children have one year after their 18th birthday to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
If your loved one has died as a result of a medical error, your case would be a wrongful death suit. Ohio allows up to two years from the date of death for eligible plaintiffs to start a lawsuit.
Personal liability
The court takes into consideration the role that the plaintiff played in their injuries. If you didn’t follow your doctor’s recovery plan, then the court might find you liable for your injuries.
No harm
Ohio doesn’t allow lawsuits over medical errors that didn’t cause significant harm. The injury that you’re suing for must have resulted from the medical error as well.
When something goes wrong during health care, it’s not always a medical error that you can sue for. The law looks at the reasonable standard of care and takes into consideration limitations on what doctors know about the human body.