Short Answer

Yes. In North Carolina you can pursue medical costs and future care if you prove the hotel was negligent, the shattered door caused your injuries, and your treatment is reasonable and necessary. Waiting a month does not bar a claim, but the insurer will challenge causation and argue you failed to mitigate damages, which can reduce what you recover. You generally have three years from the incident to file suit.

Understanding the Problem

In North Carolina, can an injured hotel guest recover past and future medical costs when they waited about a month to start outpatient treatment? Here, the shower door shattered and you began medical care one month later. The issue is whether you can still recover your medical costs and ongoing treatment despite that delay.

Apply the Law

North Carolina negligence and premises liability law allow recovery of past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages if you prove duty, breach, causation, and damages. Hotels must use reasonable care to keep rooms reasonably safe and to warn of hidden dangers they know about or should discover. You also have a duty to act reasonably after the injury to limit your harm (mitigate damages). A lawsuit is filed in North Carolina state court, typically in the county where the hotel is located. Most personal injury claims must be filed within three years of the incident.

Key Requirements

• Unsafe condition and notice: The hotel created the hazard or knew (or should have known) the glass door was unsafe and failed to fix it or warn.
• Causation: The shattered glass must be a factual and legal cause of your cuts, embedded shards, infections, and ongoing complications.
• Damages: Medical bills must be reasonable and necessary; future care must be supported by medical opinion to a reasonable degree of certainty.
• Mitigation: You must act as a reasonably prudent person would to get care; delays can reduce recoverable damages if they worsened the injury.
• Time limit: File your lawsuit within three years from the incident or risk losing the claim.

What the Statutes Say

• North Carolina Gen. Stat. § 1-52 (Personal injury limitations period) - Most injury claims must be filed within three years.
• North Carolina Gen. Stat. § 44-49 (Medical provider liens) - Health care providers may assert liens against injury recoveries.
• North Carolina Gen. Stat. § 44-50 (Payment of liens from recovery) - Sets how provider liens are paid from settlements or judgments.
• North Carolina Gen. Stat. § 108A-57 (Medicaid lien) - Medicaid has a statutory lien that must be resolved from any recovery.

Analysis

Apply the Rule to the Facts: You can pursue medical costs and future care if you show the hotel failed to keep the shower door reasonably safe or to warn and that the shattering caused your injuries. The month-long delay will be scrutinized under mitigation; if the delay worsened infections, the defense may argue some damages should be reduced. Your ongoing complications support damages and future care if your providers link them to the incident.

Process & Timing

1. Who files: The injured guest. Where: North Carolina state court in the county where the hotel is located (District Court if $25,000 or less; Superior Court if more). What: File a civil summons (AOC-CV-100) and a complaint stating negligence and damages. When: File within three years of the incident.
2. Serve the hotel and any other responsible parties (like a management company or installer) under North Carolina Rule 4; then exchange medical records and evidence. Mediation is commonly required in Superior Court before trial.
3. Negotiate settlement or proceed to trial. If you recover funds, resolve any Medicaid and provider liens from the proceeds before disbursement.

Exceptions & Pitfalls

• Contributory negligence: If you were even slightly at fault for causing the incident, recovery can be barred under North Carolina’s contributory negligence rule.
• Mitigation challenges: Delayed treatment can reduce damages if the defense shows earlier care would have limited the harm.
• Causation gaps: Preexisting skin issues or intervening infections can be used to dispute that the hotel’s negligence caused all of your complications.
• Wrong defendant: Hotels may be owned, managed, and maintained by different entities; name all potentially responsible parties.
• Liens: Medicaid and provider liens must be addressed from any settlement or judgment to avoid payment problems.

Talk to a Personal Injury Attorney

If you're dealing with injuries from a shattered shower door and ongoing treatment questions after a delay in care, our firm has experienced attorneys who can help you understand your options and timelines. Call us today to discuss your case.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about North Carolina law based on the single question stated above. It is not legal advice for your specific situation and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, procedures, and local practice can change and may vary by county. If you have a deadline, act promptly and speak with a licensed North Carolina attorney.