Maryland medical malpractice law
In Maryland, you generally have 5 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the injury. See the damage caps and expert rules for 2026.
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Your deadline: 5 years from the injury
Maryland rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 5 years from the injury
- Damage caps
- $920,000 for causes of action arising in 2026
- Before you file
- Written notice, and an expert's sign-off
- Shared fault
- Contributory
Full Maryland law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineMay 7, 2031
- The clock startsOn the day of the injury
- Time to start a claim5 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- At the very most5 yearsafter the treatment, with a few exceptions
- Pain and sufferingCapped at $920,000
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in Maryland
Filing deadline
5 years
Counted from the injury. File within 5 years of when the injury was committed or 3 years of when it was discovered, whichever comes first. Filing with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office counts as filing the action.
Discovery rule
Applies
Yes, but it can only shorten the time: once discovered you have 3 years, and the 5-year limit still applies.
Outer limit
5 years
5 years from when the injury was committed is the outer limit.
Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-109(a)(1)
Damage caps
$920,000 for causes of action arising in 2026 (the limit rises $15,000 each January 1).
Maryland caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, by the year the cause of action arose. Economic damages are not capped.
- Wrongful death
- In a wrongful death case with two or more claimants, total non-economic damages are capped at 125 percent of the limit ($1,150,000 for 2026).
Children
Different clock
For a child under 11 when injured, the 5-year and 3-year periods start at age 11. For injuries to the reproductive system or from a foreign object, they start at age 16 if the child was under 16.
Affidavit of merit
Required
Within 90 days of filing the claim, file a certificate of a qualified expert attesting to a departure from the standard of care that proximately caused the injury, with the expert's report.
Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-04(b)
Notice before suing
Required
Claims over the District Court's jurisdictional amount are filed first with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office; either party may waive arbitration and move the case to court.
Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 3-2A-04, 3-2A-06B
Shared fault
Contributory
Contributory negligence: any fault of yours can bar recovery
Experts
Expert evidence
The attesting expert must have clinical experience or teaching in the defendant's specialty within 5 years, be board certified in the same or a related specialty when the defendant is, and devote no more than 20 percent of professional activities to testimony in personal injury claims (Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-02).
Maryland keeps contributory negligence: a patient found even slightly at fault can be barred.
Sources
- Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-109, Maryland General Assembly
- Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 3-2A-09, Maryland General Assembly
- 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.
- Medical Liability/Malpractice Merit Affidavits and Expert Witnesses, National Conference of State Legislatures
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 California (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Colorado (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Connecticut (2026)
- Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Delaware (2026)
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