Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

The deadline rule, discovery rule, minor tolling, and notice-of-claim requirements — in plain English, with a calculator at the bottom.

Baseline SOL — Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice
2 years

42 Pa.C.S. §5524; MCARE Act §1303.513

What the rule actually says

2 years from injury OR discovery (discovery rule fully recognized). **7-year statute of repose** — hard cap unless the case involves a foreign object OR a minor. Minor tolling: generally tolled until age 18, full SOL then runs. Government-entity (VA, county, state hospital): 180-day notice of claim. PA has **MCARE** which specifies certain pre-suit procedures (certificate of merit under Rule 1042.3).

Missed-SOL risk

Missing a statute of limitations is the #1 malpractice claim against plaintiff attorneys. In Pennsylvania, the baseline is 2 years — but the tolling doctrines above can extend or shorten that. Calculate the exact deadline for YOUR case facts using the free tool:

Run the calculator for your Pennsylvania case

Enter the 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 (CourtListener-grounded).

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