Hawaii Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

Medical malpractice is another term for medical negligence.  It describes the negligent action or inaction of a healthcare professional that does not meet the accepted standard of care in the medical community and causes injury to a patient.  When such injury occurs, every state has laws allowing the patient to file a lawsuit against the medical professional to receive compensation for their suffering and costs.  However, every state also has a statute of limitations within which the victim must file a lawsuit or lose the opportunity to do so.  In Hawaii, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is 2 years.

Time Limits for Filing a Claim in Hawaii

While the standard statute of limitations in Hawaii is 2 years, if the patient did not immediately discover the injury, they have 1 year from the date they discovered, or the date they should have discovered, the injury to file a suit.  The suit can by no means be filed more than 6 years after the date of the injury, however.  For a minor under 10 years of age injured by the negligence of a medical professional, they have until the victim’s 10^th birthday to file a medical malpractice suit or the 6-year statute of limitations, whichever period is longer.  The time limit is tolled, or put on hold, if the minor’s injury was not discovered, and could not reasonably have been discovered.  If the malpractice injury led to the wrongful death of the patient, the family has 2 years from the date of death to file suit. 

Negligence Laws

In negligence lawsuits, the state of Hawaii also requires that all attorney fees be approved by the court.  They also mandate that all damage claims that are $150,000 or less must be referred to nonbinding arbitration.  Finally, all medical malpractice claims are referred to a medical claim conciliation panel; however, the results of their analysis are not admissible in court.  For additional applicable negligence laws, please reference the following table:

Award Limits in Hawaii

In accordance with tort reform efforts, the state of Hawaii has set a limit on damage awards for pain and suffering of $375,000.  However, this limit does not apply to any other types of non-economic awards, such as disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of consortium, or hedonic damages (also known as loss of enjoyment of life).

Legal Help

There are many details and requirements to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Hawaii or any state in this country.  Knowing the state laws that apply, especially those that differ from similar laws in other states, and being careful to file all paperwork and evidence correctly are difficult for someone who is not familiar with the system and procedures.  It is unwise to attempt to pursue a difficult malpractice case without the help of an experienced attorney in this field.