Florida’s Top Court Clarifies Time Limit for Health-Care Suits

The time limit for filing a medical negligence suit in Florida is paused once a potential plaintiff mails a presuit notice to likely defendants, not when the defendants receive it, the state’s top court said.

Florida law generally gives medical negligence plaintiffs two years from the date of the allegedly wrongful conduct to file a lawsuit against providers, the Florida Supreme Court said.

But a special pleading rule requiring plaintiffs to give health-care providers notice of an intent to sue pauses that time period for 90 days, the court said. A suit filed within that period will be timely, even ...