South Carolina medical malpractice law
In South Carolina, you generally have 3 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the day the injury was discovered.
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Your deadline: 3 years from when you found out
South Carolina rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 3 years from when the injury was discovered
- Damage caps
- $350,000 per claimant against a single…
- Before you file
- Written notice, and an expert's sign-off
- Shared fault
- Modified comparative (51% bar)
Full South Carolina law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineMay 7, 2029
- Outer limitMay 7, 2032
- The clock startsWhen you found out, or should have
- Time to start a claim3 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- At the very most6 yearsafter the treatment, with a few exceptions
- Pain and sufferingCapped at about $596,001
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in South Carolina
Filing deadline
3 years
Counted from when the injury was discovered. File within 3 years of the treatment, omission or operation, or 3 years from when it was or reasonably should have been discovered, but no more than 6 years after it occurred. Filing the Notice of Intent to File Suit tolls the deadline.
Discovery rule
Applies
Yes, inside the 6-year outer limit. A foreign object or negligently placed device allows 2 years from discovery, and never less than 3 years from placement.
Outer limit
6 years
6 years from the date of occurrence, except foreign-object cases.
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-545(A)
Damage caps
$350,000 per claimant against a single provider or institution, and $1,050,000 per claimant in total, as enacted in 2005 and adjusted every year for inflation (about $596,001 and $1,788,002 in 2026). No cap for gross negligence, willful or reckless conduct, fraud, or altered or destroyed records.
South Carolina caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index.
Children
Different clock
A child's deadlines are paused for minority, but by no more than 7 years and no more than 1 year after the child turns 18.
Affidavit of merit
Required
The Notice of Intent to File Suit must be filed with an expert witness affidavit identifying at least one negligent act or omission.
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 15-36-100, 15-79-125(A)
Notice before suing
Required
File and serve a Notice of Intent to File Suit with the expert affidavit, then take part in mandatory prelitigation mediation before filing the lawsuit.
S.C. Code Ann. § 15-79-125
Shared fault
Modified comparative (51% bar)
Modified comparative fault: barred above 50% of the fault
Experts
Expert evidence
The affidavit expert must be qualified under the South Carolina Rules of Evidence and generally hold a license and practice or teach in the area at issue (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-36-100).
The indexed 2026 cap figures come from the MPL Association compendium; the statute sets the base amounts and the annual adjustment by the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.
Sources
- South Carolina Code § 15-3-545, South Carolina Legislature
- South Carolina Code § 15-32-220, South Carolina Legislature
- South Carolina Code § 15-79-125, South Carolina Legislature
- 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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