Every state has a deadline for which someone can file a medical malpractice lawsuit, this is called the “statute of limitations.” In Georgia, you must start a lawsuit within two years of the injury or death, or within five years if you did not discover the injury until later after the fact.

There are exceptions to the deadline for fraudulent concealment of malpractice, for malpractice occurring before the plaintiff was five years old, and for mentally disabled plaintiffs.

Georgia previously had damage caps that limited a medical malpractice plaintiff’s total recovery of non-economic damages, but those caps were ruled unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2010 and are no longer effective, however, the punitive damage caps are limited to $250,000 in most cases.