Even if medical negligence seems obvious, waiting too long to take action can kill a case legally because of limitation periods. Limitation laws fix time limits for bringing claims so that evidence doesn’t go stale and professionals are not exposed to lawsuits forever.
In civil claims for compensation, the clock often starts from when the patient first knew, or reasonably should have known, that something went wrong – like a foreign object left in the body, a clearly wrong procedure, or a misdiagnosis later discovered. In consumer forums, specific timelines apply from the date of cause of action.
For criminal complaints, limitation rules are different and depend on the seriousness of the offence. Very serious offences may have no limitation, but proving medical negligence beyond reasonable doubt is harder.
Because health issues and their causes can be complex, courts sometimes accept delayed filing if the patient shows that they genuinely discovered the negligence only later. Still, the safest approach is: once you suspect serious negligence, collect records, get an independent expert opinion, and consult a lawyer without delay.
Limitation is a technical defence, but once it applies, even strong emotional cases struggle to survive.
