Wisconsin medical malpractice law
In Wisconsin, you generally have 3 years to file a medical malpractice claim from the date of the injury. See the damage caps and expert rules for 2026.
Sources checked
Malpractice lawyers in Wisconsin
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6.Settlement or trial
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Your deadline: 3 years from the injury
Wisconsin rules at a glance
Work out your deadline- Filing deadline
- 3 years from the injury
- Damage caps
- $750,000 per occurrence for all health care…
- Before you file
- Written notice before you sue
- Shared fault
- Modified comparative (51% bar)
Full Wisconsin law guidedeadlines, caps, children, experts and sources
Example: treatment and discovery six months ago
- TreatmentMay 7, 2026
- Likely deadlineMay 7, 2029
- Outer limitMay 7, 2031
- The clock startsOn the day of the injury
- Time to start a claim3 yearsMiss it and the claim is usually lost.
- At the very most5 yearsafter the treatment, with a few exceptions
- Pain and sufferingCapped at $750,000
- All damages togetherNo overall cap
The rules in Wisconsin
Filing deadline
3 years
Counted from the injury. File within 3 years of the injury, or 1 year from when it was or should have been discovered, whichever is later, but the discovery route cannot go beyond 5 years after the act.
Discovery rule
Applies
Yes, 1 year from discovery within 5 years of the act. Concealment and foreign objects allow 1 year from discovery.
Outer limit
5 years
5 years from the act or omission for the discovery route, except concealment and foreign-object cases.
Wis. Stat. § 893.55(1m)(b)
Damage caps
$750,000 per occurrence for all health care providers and the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund; the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld it in 2018.
Wisconsin caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice at $750,000, with separate wrongful death limits.
- Wrongful death
- In wrongful death cases, damages for loss of society and companionship are limited to $500,000 for a minor and $350,000 for an adult (Wis. Stat. § 895.04(4)).
Children
Different clock
A child must sue within the adult deadline or by the tenth birthday, whichever is later (Wis. Stat. § 893.56).
Affidavit of merit
Not required
No affidavit of merit is required.
Notice before suing
Required
A request for mediation must be filed with the medical mediation panel system before, or within 15 days after, filing the lawsuit; the deadline is tolled during mediation.
Wis. Stat. §§ 655.44, 655.445
Shared fault
Modified comparative (51% bar)
Modified comparative fault: barred above 50% of the fault
Experts
Expert evidence
Expert testimony is generally required to establish the standard of care (Wis. Stat. § 907.02).
Wisconsin's Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund pays amounts above a provider's primary insurance.
Sources
- Wisconsin Statutes § 893.55, Wisconsin State Legislature
- Wisconsin Statutes § 893.56, Wisconsin State Legislature
- Wisconsin Medical Malpractice Laws and Statutory Rules, AllLaw (Nolo)
- 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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