Medical Malpractice · Statute of Limitations

How Long You Have to Sue a Doctor or Hospital, by State

The medical-malpractice statute of limitations, how long you have to sue a doctor or hospital after negligent care, for each state. Plus when the clock starts, the discovery rule, the statute of repose, and the shorter notice deadlines for public hospitals. Each cited to the statute.

10 of 50 states so far, starting with the largest. 8 verified against the official statute; the rest cited to corroborating sources while the official portal is confirmed.Malpractice deadlines are their own clock, not the general injury one: discovery rules, a statute of repose, and public-hospital notice periods all change your real deadline.

Read this first: malpractice is its own clock

The statute of limitations is the legal deadline to file suit. Miss it and the court can throw the case out no matter how strong it is. Malpractice runs on a different clock from an ordinary injury: the base period is two years in Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, two and a half years in New York, and in California the shorter of one year from discovery or three years from the injury. Do not reuse the general personal-injury figure for a malpractice claim.

Three things move the real deadline. First, when the clock starts: some states run it from discovery, others strictly from the negligent act or the end of treatment. Second, a statute of repose, an absolute outer wall, applies in several states (four years in Florida and Illinois, ten in Texas), while Pennsylvania’s was struck down in 2019. Third, who you are suing: a public hospital almost always carries a much shorter notice deadline, often a matter of months. Every figure here links to the statute, and pages still pending verification say so.

Every state in one table

The years to sue, the discovery rule, and the public-hospital deadline in each row.

All states (10)

State	Deadline	Discovery rule	Public hospital	Statute
California	1 or 3 years	Yes	6-month claim first	Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §340.5
Florida	2 years	Yes	Pre-suit notice first	Fla. Stat. §95.11(5)(c)
Georgia	2 years	No	1 year from discovery	O.C.G.A. §9‑3‑71
Illinois	2 years	Yes	1-year limit	735 ILCS 5/13‑212
Michigan	2 years	Yes	182-day notice	MCL 600.5805(8)
New York	2.5 years	Yes	90-day notice of claim	N.Y. C.P.L.R. §214‑a
North Carolina	3 years	Yes	Before you file	N.C.G.S. § 1‑15(c)
Ohio	1 year	Yes	Adds 180 days	Ohio Rev. Code §2305.113
Pennsylvania	2 years	Yes	6-month notice	42 Pa.C.S. §5524(2)
Texas	2 years	No	6-month notice	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §74.251

What these pages are, and what they aren't

Each state page is a reference for the malpractice limitations period and the neutral steps you can take after negligent care. They are deliberately not advice for your specific case: exceptions for minors, public hospitals, foreign objects, and continuous treatment can all change the answer, so each page links to the statute and a way to reach a licensed attorney. This is legal information, not legal advice.