A statute that still sits in the code, but no longer applies
New Hampshire once had its own dedicated statute of limitations for medical malpractice actions, RSA 507-C:4. In a case called Carson, the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck it down on equal protection grounds — specifically because it denied medical injury claimants under the age of 8 the same minority-tolling benefit that New Hampshire's general tolling statute, RSA 508:8, extends to every other personal injury claimant under 8. The old statute can still technically be found in the New Hampshire code, but it's no longer enforceable.
What governs malpractice claims instead
With the malpractice-specific statute gone, New Hampshire's general personal injury statute, RSA 508:4, now applies to medical malpractice claims as well — three years from the act or omission, or three years from discovery if the injury and its causal connection to the act weren't reasonably apparent right away.
New Hampshire's minor tolling rule
Under RSA 508:8, the statute of limitations is generally tolled while a person is a minor. Once they turn 18, they must commence their action within a specific window after that — historically understood to be 2 years, a notably shorter post-majority window than simply getting the full 3-year general deadline counted fresh from their 18th birthday.
A genuinely live, currently unresolved dispute
Here's where things get interesting. In a decision issued in February 2023, involving a personal action against the state, the New Hampshire Supreme Court held that equal protection requires reading RSA 508:8 to toll the full three-year general statute of limitations, not just the narrower 2-year window the statute's text appears to specify. As of now, there is a genuine, live split among New Hampshire's trial courts on how broadly this reasoning extends — meaning the exact number of years a minor gets after turning 18 is, at the moment, an actively unsettled question rather than a simple, fixed rule.
Why this genuinely matters
Because the precise post-majority window is currently contested rather than settled, a family assuming the older 2-year figure applies could file more conservatively than the law may actually require — or, conversely, someone assuming the newer 3-year reasoning automatically applies everywhere could miscalculate in the other direction. This is a genuinely good moment to confirm the current state of this specific question with a New Hampshire attorney rather than relying on either older or newer general guidance alone.
What doesn't pause the clock
A genuinely common and costly misunderstanding: actively negotiating a settlement with an insurance company does not toll or pause New Hampshire's filing deadline. The clock keeps running the entire time talks are ongoing, regardless of how close the parties seem to a resolution.