Nebraska

Statute of

 Limitations

 Medical Claim Generally:

“Any action to recover damages based on alleged professional negligence or upon alleged breach of warranty in rendering or failure to render professional services shall be commenced within two years next after the alleged act or omission in rendering or failure to render professional services providing the basis for such action; Provided, if the cause of action is not discovered and could not be reasonably discovered within such two-year period, then the action may be commenced within one year from the date of such discovery or from the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to such discovery, whichever is earlier; and provided further, that in no event may any action be commenced to recover damages for professional negligence or breach of warranty in rendering or failure to render professional services more than ten years after the date of rendering or failure to render such professional service which provides the basis for the cause of action.” [NRS § 25-222] 

 Minors:

“If a person entitled to bring any action … is, at the time the cause of action accrued, within the age of twenty years … every such person shall be entitled to bring such action within the respective times limited by this chapter after such disability is removed.” [NRS § 25-213] According to the Nebraska Supreme Court, upon turning 21, the two-year statute of limitations begins to run. [Brown v. Kindred (2000)] 

 Wrongful death:

A wrongful death claim must “be commenced within two years after the death of such person” [NRS § 30-810] 

 Damage Caps

“Under the Nebraska Hospital Medical Liability Act, the total amount of damages a plaintiff can recover in medical malpractice cases is capped at $2.25 million. Nebraska Revised Statute 44-2825.  This cap applies to both economic and non-economic damages combined. The law originally set the damage cap at $500,000 for occurrences before December 31, 1984. Over the years, this amount has increased, with the most recent increase occurring after December 31, 2014."

Attorney 

Fee Caps

Nebraska currently has no attorney fee caps other than the general requirement of reasonableness. However, Nebraska does have contingency fee restrictions. [NRS § 3-501.5] 

 Pre-suit   Requirements

“No action against a health care provider may be commenced in any court of this state before the claimant's proposed complaint has been presented to a medical review panel … and an opinion has been rendered by the panel.” [NRS § 44-28040]

Expert  

 Qualifications

The Nebraska court of appeals held that there “is no exact standard for determining when one qualifies as an expert, and a trial court’s factual finding that a witness qualifies as an expert will be upheld on appeal unless clearly erroneous.” [Hoffart v. Hodge (2000)]

 Negligent Credentialing   Claims

The Nebraska Court of Appeals recognized negligent credentialing as a cause of action  [Spalding v. Spring View Hosp., LLC]