Is there any way to file mal practice past one year of incident?

In CA, you have 1 year from the date you knew or should have known that a negligent act caused you harm in which to file suit. Even if your condition hasn't stablized and your damages are still somewhat unknown, you should preserve your rights by making sure you file suit before your year is up.

Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.

California Code of Civil Procedure section 340.6 allows for an extended period for filing a malpractice claim where a foreign body has been left inside your body that has no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect. Where this occurs, the one-year statute of limitations referred to above is tolled until the foreign body is discovered.

It is important to note that if you did not suspect or discover or a reasonable person would not have suspected or discovered your injury was due to medical negligence, then a three-year statute of limitations applies to malpractice claims: "the time for the commencement of a malpractice action shall be three years after the date of injury." If there is no tolling as discussed above (there are two other situations that may toll the statute), the three year portion of the statute presents the OUTSIDE LIMIT for filing suit.

Also, for general understanding of this area, there are different time limits for minors, depending upon the age at which they were injured and/or when such injuries are discovered.

Simple, no?

I suggest you contact a knowledgeable malpractice attorney to discuss how the statute applies in YOUR SITUATION.

John Mittelman

Sorry, the correct section for medical malpractice statute of limitations is Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.5, NOT 340.6.

John Mittelman