Minnesota medical malpractice law
In Minnesota, you generally have 4 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the treatment. See damage caps and expert rules for 2026.
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Your deadline: 4 years from the treatment
Minnesota rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 4 years from the treatment
- Damage caps
- No cap
- Before you file
- An expert's sign-off on the claim
- Shared fault
- Modified comparative (51% bar)
Full Minnesota law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineMay 7, 2030
- The clock startsOn the day of the treatment
- Time to start a claim4 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- Pain and sufferingNo cap
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in Minnesota
Filing deadline
4 years
Counted from the treatment. File within 4 years from when the claim accrued. Minnesota courts generally treat the claim as accruing when treatment for the condition ends, not when the injury is discovered.
Discovery rule
Does not apply
No general discovery rule. Under the termination-of-treatment rule the 4 years usually start when the provider's treatment for the condition ends.
Outer limit
None found
We found no statute of repose for Minnesota.
Children
Different clock
The clock is paused while the patient is under 18, but the pause cannot last more than 7 years, and the extension ends no later than 1 year after the child turns 18.
Affidavit of merit
Required
Serve an affidavit of expert review with the summons and complaint, then an affidavit identifying each expert and the substance of their opinions within 180 days after discovery begins. Missing either can end the case.
Minn. Stat. § 145.682
Notice before suing
Not required
No pre-suit notice requirement.
Shared fault
Modified comparative (51% bar)
Modified comparative fault: barred above 50% of the fault
Experts
Expert evidence
The expert's qualifications must give a reasonable expectation that their opinions will be admissible at trial (Minn. Stat. § 145.682, subd. 3).
Some secondary sources report a 2025 change to 2 years; the official statute published by the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes still reads 4 years, last amended in 1999.
Sources
- Minnesota Statutes § 541.076, Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Minnesota Statutes § 541.15, Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- Minnesota Statutes § 145.682, Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- 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 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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