Riley Bennett Egloff Magazine January 2019 | Page 6

Originally Published July 2018
By: Laura K. Binford, RBE Attorney
Navigating Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act
Statute of Limitations
Originally Published November 2018
Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act (“Act”) statute of limitations for pursuing a claim against a qualified health
care provider reads as follows:
(a) This section applies to all persons regardless of minority or other legal disability, except as
provided in subsection (c).
(b) A claim, whether in contract or tort, may not be brought against a health care provider based
upon a professional service or health care that was provided or that should have been provided
unless the claim is filed within two (2) years after the date of the alleged act, omission, or neglect,
except that a minor less than six (6) years of age has until the minor’s eighth birthday to file.
(c) If a patient meets the criteria stated in IC 34-18-8-6(c) [claims not greater than $15,000], the
applicable limitations period is equal to the period that would otherwise apply to the patient under
subsection (b) plus one hundred eighty (180) days.
Ind. Code §34-18-7-1. This law is an “occurrence-based” statute of limitations, “meaning that an action for medical
malpractice generally must be filed within two years from the date the alleged negligent act occurred rather than
from the date it was discovered.” 1 While the Indiana Supreme Court has upheld “the facial constitutionality” of
Ind. Code §34-18-7-1, it has also held that if an act of malpractice and resulting injury cannot be discovered during
the limitations period given the nature of the asserted malpractice and the medical condition, the occurrence-based
statute of limitations cannot be enforced “without doing violence to the Indiana Constitution.” 2
Since Van Dusen and Martin, Indiana appellate courts have grappled with the application of the Act’s statute
of limitations under numerous factual scenarios and have attempted to provide some guidance for determining
the deadline for filing a malpractice claim. In 2008, the Indiana Supreme Court recognized the difficulty of
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Riley Bennett Egloff LLP - January 2019