California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Ashworth v. Memorial Hospital, 206 Cal.App.3d 1046, 254 Cal.Rptr. 104 (Cal. App. 1988):
Section 340.5 creates two separate statutes of limitations, both of which must be satisfied if a plaintiff is to timely file a medical malpractice action. First, the plaintiff must file within one year after she first "discovers" the injury and the negligent cause of that injury. Secondly, she must file within three years after she first experiences harm from the injury. This means that if a plaintiff does not "discover" the negligent cause of her injury until more than three years after she first experiences harm from the injury, she will not be able to bring a malpractice action against the medical practitioner or hospital whose malpractice caused her injury. (Hills v. Aronsohn (1984) 152 Cal.App.3d 753, 199 Cal.Rptr. 816, and authorities cited therein.)
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