Orlando Children’s Hospital Malpractice Claims

A medical malpractice lawsuit must be started within 2 years from the time the incident occurred, or from the time it is discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence (opens in a new tab). There is also an outer limit, and it is a bar, never extra time: the action may not be started later than 4 years from the date of the incident (opens in a new tab), subject to the two exceptions below.

One exception, for fraud or concealment, carries a limit of 7 years from the incident (opens in a new tab) and is on the Florida law page. The other is for a young child.

For a child, the statute says only that the 4-year and 7-year limits do not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child’s eighth birthday (opens in a new tab). The general rule pausing a deadline for a minor with no parent or guardian able to sue does not apply to medical malpractice (opens in a new tab).

So the eighth birthday changes the two outer limits and nothing else: the clause is an exception to the 4-year period and to the 7-year period (opens in a new tab), and it does not mention the 2-year period. A birth injury may come under a separate state plan, described on the page about birth injuries.

The statute does not say whose discovery counts when the patient is a child, and the committee that drafts Florida’s standard jury instructions expresses no opinion as to whose knowledge may trigger the statute of limitations (opens in a new tab). So this page does not say whether a parent’s knowledge starts the period.

A child’s claim is brought by an adult on the child’s behalf. The court’s rule says a minor’s representative, such as a guardian, may sue or defend on behalf of the minor (opens in a new tab), and a minor with no appointed representative may sue by next friend or by a guardian ad litem (opens in a new tab). Florida law makes the parents jointly the natural guardians of their own children and of their adopted children, during minority (opens in a new tab), unless their parental rights have been terminated.

Once a lawsuit has been started, a court has to approve a child’s settlement. Florida’s guardianship law says that after an action has been commenced by or on behalf of a ward, no settlement is effective unless approved by the court having jurisdiction of the action (opens in a new tab).

As natural guardians, parents may agree to conclude a child’s claim without appointment, authority, or bond if the amounts received in the aggregate do not exceed $15,000 (opens in a new tab). When the net amount to the child is more than that, a legal guardianship is required (opens in a new tab), and where the gross amount agreed equals or exceeds $50,000 the court must, with one exception, first appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the minor’s interest (opens in a new tab).

When a patient dies, the claim is brought by the personal representative of the person who died (opens in a new tab), for the survivors and the estate.

Three hospitals in Orlando describe themselves as children’s hospitals. On October 13, 2026 the State’s licence records showed this. The record for Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida names THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION as owner and licensee (opens in a new tab) and classifies it as a Class 2 Hospital for Children.

A second calls itself Orlando Health Children’s Arnold Palmer Hospital (opens in a new tab). On October 13, 2026 a search of the State’s facility locator, with the facility type set to Hospital and the county set to Orange, listed 22 hospitals and none under that name (opens in a new tab). The record for Arnold Palmer Medical Center names ORLANDO HEALTH INC as owner and licensee (opens in a new tab), classifies it as a Class 1 Hospital, and carries the same licence number as Orlando Regional Medical Center (opens in a new tab).

The third, AdventHealth for Children, gives its address as 601 E Rollins Street, Orlando (opens in a new tab). The State’s record at that address is AdventHealth Orlando, with ADVENTIST HEALTH SYSTEM/SUNBELT INC as owner and licensee (opens in a new tab), also a Class 1 Hospital, and the same search listed no hospital named AdventHealth for Children.

A lawsuit over a child’s care in Orlando is generally filed in the circuit court for Orange County, which with Osceola County makes up Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit (opens in a new tab).

The county where the care was given is one place to file. Florida’s venue statutes allow a case in the county where the cause of action accrued, whether the defendant is a person (opens in a new tab) or a corporation (opens in a new tab).

The Orange County courts page covers the court and the appeal, and the Florida law page covers the steps before a lawsuit.