California medical malpractice law
In California, you generally have 3 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the injury. See the damage caps and expert rules for 2026.
Sources checked
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5.Start the claim in time
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6.Settlement or trial
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Your deadline: 3 years from the injury
California rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 3 years from the injury
- Damage caps
- $470,000 for injury cases filed in 2026…
- Before you file
- Written notice before you sue
- Shared fault
- Pure comparative
Full California law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineMay 7, 2029
- The clock startsOn the day of the injury
- Time to start a claim3 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- At the very most3 yearsafter the treatment, with a few exceptions
- Pain and sufferingCapped at $470,000
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in California
Filing deadline
3 years
Counted from the injury. File within 3 years of the injury or 1 year after you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) it, whichever comes first.
Discovery rule
Applies
Yes, but it shortens rather than extends: once the injury is discovered you have 1 year, and the 3-year limit still applies.
Outer limit
3 years
The 3 years from injury is an outer limit that can be extended only for fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign body left in the patient.
Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 340.5
Damage caps
$470,000 for injury cases filed in 2026, rising $40,000 each January 1 to $750,000 in 2033. Separate limits can apply to health care providers, to health care institutions and to unaffiliated defendants.
California's MICRA caps non-economic damages only; the amount in force at judgment, award or settlement applies. Economic damages are not capped.
- Wrongful death
- $650,000 for wrongful death cases in 2026, rising $50,000 each January 1 to $1,000,000 in 2033, then 2 percent a year from 2034.
Children
Different clock
A child must sue within 3 years of the wrongful act, except that a child under 6 has until the later of 3 years or the eighth birthday.
Affidavit of merit
Not required
No certificate of merit is required to sue a health care provider for negligence. Court permission is needed before claiming punitive damages (Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.13).
Notice before suing
Required
Give the provider at least 90 days' written notice of intent to sue. Notice served in the last 90 days before the deadline extends the deadline by 90 days from service.
Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 364
Shared fault
Pure comparative
Pure comparative fault: your award is reduced by your share of fault
Experts
Expert evidence
Expert testimony is normally required to prove the standard of care; no special statutory qualification rule beyond the general Evidence Code standards.
Contingency fees in medical malpractice cases are limited to 25 percent of a recovery before a lawsuit is filed and 33 percent after (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6146).
Sources
- California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5, California Legislative Information
- California Civil Code § 3333.2, California Legislative Information
- California Code of Civil Procedure § 364, California Legislative Information
- State Enactments of Selected Medical Liability Reforms (as of 8/27/2026), Medical Professional Liability Association
- Contributory Negligence/Comparative Fault Laws in All 50 States (updated 6/10/2026), Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C.
Other states
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Alabama (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Alaska (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Arizona (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Arkansas (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Colorado (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Connecticut (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Delaware (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in District of Columbia (2026)
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