What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in District of Columbia?

Free tool: calculate the District of Columbia medical-malpractice statute of limitations deadline. Covers discovery rule, minor tolling, and notice-of-claim. Statutory cite: §12-301.

District of Columbia Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

The deadline rules for District of Columbia med-mal claims, with a calculator below.

District of Columbia — Medical Malpractice SOL

3 years

Governing statute: §12-301

The rule at a glance

Baseline: 3-year statute of limitations from the act or injury.
Discovery rule: recognized.
Statute of repose: No statute of repose (discovery rule uncapped).
Minor tolling: tolled until 18
Government-entity notice of claim: 180-day notice required before suing a government entity.
Statutory reference: §12-301

Common pitfalls in District of Columbia

Missing the SOL is the #1 malpractice claim against plaintiff attorneys. The most common District of Columbia pitfalls:

Assuming the discovery rule extends the deadline when this state's rule is "recognized" — verify the current statute.
Missing the separate notice-of-claim deadline for government-entity defendants (VA hospitals, county facilities, state universities).
Miscalculating minor tolling — the rule ("tolled until 18") has carve-outs specific to med-mal.
Ignoring the statute of repose cap where one exists (none).

Calculate your District of Columbia case deadline

Enter incident date, discovery date, minor flag, and government-entity flag. Get the deadline in 10 seconds.

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Need more than a deadline?

MedLegal AI runs the same SOL analysis against your actual case files — then keeps going: chronology, damages model, demand letter, discovery drafting, expert opinion. 23 tools, single login, starts at $49/mo. Zero hallucinated citations.

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