Illinois Birth Injury Lawyers

Illinois Medical Liability/Malpractice Statutes of Limitation

All states have set deadlines for when a patient may file a civil claim, known as statutes of limitation, for medical liability and malpractice claims. The majority of the states have special provisions regarding the time limits for minors to file medical liability and malpractice claims. Twenty-two states have special provisions regarding foreign objects.

Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 735, §5/13-212 and §5/13-215 Two years from discovery but not more than four years from act. Minors: Eight years after act but not after age 22.
If a person liable to an action fraudulently conceals the cause of such action from the knowledge of the person entitled thereto, the action may be commenced at any time within five years after the person entitled to bring the same discovers that he or she has such cause of action, and not afterwards.

Illinois Medical Liability/Medical Malpractice Laws

Damage Award Limit or Cap

735 §5/2-1115. Punitive damages not recoverable in medical malpractice cases.

No limitations. Limits on noneconomic damages (§6-5-547) declared unconstitutional by state Supreme Court (see LeBron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, (Ill. February 4, 2010)).

Limits on Attorney Fees

735 §5/2-1114. Sliding scale, not to exceed 33-1/3 percent of first $150,000; 25 percent of next $850,000; 20 percent of any amount recovered over $1 million of the sum recovered.

Periodic Payments

735 §5/2-1701 et seq. A party to the action must elect not less than 60 days before commencement of a trial involving issues of future damages unless leave of court is obtained. For all future damages which the trier of fact has determined will accrue for the remainder of the plaintiff's life, payment for those damages shall continue until the later of the plaintiff's death or the time when the remaining life expectancy is reached. For all future damages which the trier of fact has determined will accrue for a definite number of years, payment for those damages shall continue for that number of years irrespective of the plaintiff's death.

Patient Compensation or Injury Fund

None provided.

Medical or Peer Review Panels

225 §60/5. Immunity for peer review committee

735 §5/8-2101 et seq. Confidentiality of records