New York medical malpractice law
In New York, you generally have 2 years and 6 months to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the treatment.
Sources checked
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Your deadline: 2 years and 6 months from the treatment
New York rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 2 years and 6 months from the treatment
- Damage caps
- No cap
- Before you file
- An expert's sign-off on the claim
- Shared fault
- Pure comparative
Full New York law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineNovember 7, 2028
- Outer limitMay 7, 2033
- The clock startsOn the day of the treatment
- Time to start a claim2 years and 6 monthsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- At the very most7 yearsafter the treatment, with a few exceptions
- Pain and sufferingNo cap
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in New York
Filing deadline
2 years and 6 months
Counted from the treatment. File within 2 years and 6 months of the act or omission, or of the last treatment when there was continuous treatment for the same condition.
Discovery rule
Applies
Limited: 1 year from discovery of a foreign object; and for a negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor (Lavern's Law), 2 years 6 months from when the patient knew or should have known, but no more than 7 years after the act.
Outer limit
7 years
Only for the cancer-misdiagnosis discovery rule: no claim more than 7 years after the act or omission.
N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a(b)
Children
Different clock
The period is extended by the time the patient is a minor, so it effectively starts at 18, but never more than 10 years after the malpractice.
Affidavit of merit
Required
The complaint must include the attorney's certificate of merit stating they consulted a licensed physician and concluded there is a reasonable basis for the action (or 90 days to file it if the deadline was near).
N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3012-a
Notice before suing
Not required
No general pre-suit notice. Claims against public hospitals (such as NYC Health + Hospitals) require a notice of claim within 90 days (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e).
Shared fault
Pure comparative
Pure comparative fault: your award is reduced by your share of fault
Experts
Expert evidence
Expert testimony is generally required; there is no special statutory qualification rule.
New York's 2026 move to a 51 percent bar applies only to motor vehicle cases under Insurance Law article 51, not to medical malpractice. Contingency fees follow a sliding scale (Judiciary Law § 474-a).
Sources
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a, New York State Senate
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 208, New York State Senate
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3012-a, New York State Senate
- 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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