Washington medical malpractice law
In Washington, you generally have 3 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the treatment. See damage caps and expert rules for 2026.
Sources checked
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Your deadline: 3 years from the treatment
Washington rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 3 years from the treatment
- Damage caps
- No cap
- Before you file
- No notice or affidavit needed
- Shared fault
- Pure comparative
Full Washington 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 treatment
- Time to start a claim3 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- Pain and sufferingNo cap
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in Washington
Filing deadline
3 years
Counted from the treatment. File within 3 years of the act or omission, or 1 year from when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury was caused by it, whichever is later. A good-faith request for mediation extends the deadline by 1 year.
Discovery rule
Applies
Yes, 1 year from discovery if that is later than 3 years from the act. Fraud, concealment or a foreign body tolls the time until actual knowledge.
Outer limit
None found
The statute's 8-year outer limit was held unconstitutional by the Washington Supreme Court in Bennett v. United States (2023), so it is not enforced.
Rev. Code Wash. § 4.16.350(3) (held unconstitutional)
Damage caps
No cap. Washington's non-economic cap was struck down in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp. (1989).
Washington does not cap damages in medical malpractice cases.
- Punitive
- Washington does not allow punitive damages unless a statute authorizes them.
Children
Different clock
The deadline is paused until the child turns 18. The provision imputing a parent's knowledge to the child was struck down in Schroeder v. Weighall (2014).
Affidavit of merit
Not required
Not required: the certificate of merit statute was struck down in Putman v. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center (2009).
Notice before suing
Not required
Not required: the 90-day notice requirement was struck down in Waples v. Yi (2010).
Shared fault
Pure comparative
Pure comparative fault: your award is reduced by your share of fault
Experts
Expert evidence
Expert testimony is generally required to establish the standard of care.
Several Washington tort reform provisions have been held unconstitutional; check current case law with a lawyer.
Sources
- Revised Code of Washington § 4.16.350, Washington State Legislature
- Bennett v. United States (Wash. 2023), Washington Courts
- 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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