Minnesota Birth Injury Lawyer

According to Minn. Stat. § 541.076, you have four years to file a medical malpractice claim, which applies to parental birth injury cases. This statute designates that the statute of limitations starts at the date a “cause of action accrues.”

Minnesota rejects the discovery rule used in many other states, which applies to statutes of limitations, including for medical malpractice cases. Unfortunately, this restricts the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit against a doctor or another party responsible for your injury.

In other words, the statute of limitations for filing a Minnesota birth injury suit begins when the damage first occurred. This 4-year time limit is a harsh one since many families don’t even know an injury has occurred until their child begins to miss developmental milestones.

Fortunately, there are allowable extensions to this time limit that address some issues and sometimes pre-empt the statute of limitations. These are outlined in Minnesota’s tolling doctrines and include fraudulent concealment (healthcare professionals knowingly concealing a fact the plaintiff relied upon) as well as the termination of treatment.

The four-year time limit to file legal proceedings doesn’t begin until a doctor’s treatment for a specific condition is concluded. Per Minn. Stat. § 541.15(b), the four-year time limit for filing a suit is suspended for seven years or until the child turns 19-years-old, whichever is sooner, before the statute of limitations resumes; this applies to cases where the minor brings the claim.