Birth Injury: What Families Can Check in Florida

Florida's medical malpractice statute of limitations is two years from discovery, with a four-year repose period (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(b)). For minors, the 4-year repose (and the 7-year repose where fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation prevented discovery) does not bar an action brought on the child's behalf on or before the child's eighth birthday. Florida also maintains the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA), a no-fault compensation plan that may preempt civil suits for qualifying birth-related neurological injuries.

Florida now has no enforceable cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Economic damages including lifetime care costs, lost earnings, and rehabilitation remain fully recoverable without limitation.

Florida obstetric malpractice litigation commonly involves NICA eligibility disputes—defendants may move to transfer cases to the NICA compensation plan, which provides more limited benefits than civil jury awards. Outside NICA, key litigation patterns include delayed C-section decisions, fetal monitoring failures, shoulder dystocia mismanagement, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy resulting from prolonged labor.