Connecticut medical malpractice deadlines: how long you have to act.

In Connecticut, a lawsuit over malpractice by a physician, surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, advanced practice registered nurse, hospital, or sanatorium generally must be brought within 2 years from the date the injury is first sustained or discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered. Whatever the discovery date, no such action may be brought more than 3 years from the date of the act or omission complained of (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584).

What else affects the count:

• Fraudulent concealment: if the provider hid the claim, it accrues when you first discover it.
• A required opinion: the complaint needs a good-faith certificate backed by a signed opinion from a similar health care provider.
• A 90-day extension: a petition to the court clerk buys automatic extra time to get that opinion.
• Different clocks: a death, a state hospital or state-employed provider, a town employee, and a federal facility each follow their own rules.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your own deadline depends on dates and facts that only an attorney licensed in Connecticut can assess.

Connecticut’s main limitations section for injuries caused by negligence names medical malpractice directly. The 2 years begin on “the date when the injury is first sustained or discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered” (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584).

That wording gives three possible starting points, and the earliest one tends to matter:

• When the injury is first sustained. If the harm was obvious right away, such as a wrong-site operation, the clock usually runs from then.
• When it is discovered. If the harm only came to light later, for example on a follow-up scan, that date can start the count.
• When it reasonably should have been discovered. A later date doesn’t help if a reasonably careful person would have noticed the problem sooner.

Write down when symptoms began, when you first suspected the care was the cause, and who told you what. Those dates are often what an attorney looks at first.

The discovery rule has a hard edge. The same section says “no such action may be brought more than three years from the date of the act or omission complained of” (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584). This limit runs from the care itself, not from the injury or its discovery.

In practice, a problem found late can leave much less than 2 years. Suppose a biopsy result was misread in January 2024 and the error came to light in July 2026. The 3-year cap from the misreading would fall in January 2027, about 6 months after discovery, even though the 2-year discovery window would otherwise run to July 2028 (before any extension).

Section 52-584 doesn’t contain a separate written exception for a surgical item left in the body. Connecticut’s general tort section also measures 3 years from the act or omission (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577), but malpractice falls under § 52-584. If something about your care was unclear for a long time, raise the dates with an attorney promptly.

Connecticut has one statute that speaks to concealment. If a person liable to an action “fraudulently conceals” from the other person the existence of the cause of action, the cause of action is “deemed to accrue” against that person at the time the person entitled to sue first discovers its existence (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-595).

Two words carry the weight. The concealment has to be fraudulent, which is more than a provider failing to mention a mistake, and the rule runs against the person who did the concealing. Whether particular conduct meets that standard, and how it fits with the 3-year cap, are questions an attorney has to answer from the facts. If you believe records were changed or information was kept from you on purpose, keep every document you have and say so when you talk with an attorney.

Section 52-584 has no separate rule for children. Its text applies the same 2-year and 3-year periods to every action it covers, and we found no section in Title 52 of the General Statutes that extends those periods because the injured person is a minor (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584).

Connecticut’s longer deadline for injuries to young people in the limitations chapter is narrow: it covers personal injury caused by sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual assault of a person under 21 (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577d). It isn’t a general rule for medical care.

The same goes for adults whose condition leaves them unable to act, such as a person in a coma or with a serious brain injury. The limitations chapter has an incapacity rule for contract actions (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-576(b)), but § 52-584 contains none. Families shouldn’t assume extra time exists. Ask an attorney licensed in Connecticut about the dates as soon as you can, and see birth injuries for more on concerns about a baby’s care.

We found no Connecticut statute requiring a review panel or a notice-of-intent letter before suit. The statutes do require a check on the merits. No civil action for personal injury or wrongful death caused by a health care provider’s negligence may be filed unless the attorney or party filing it has made a reasonable inquiry to determine there are grounds for a good faith belief that there was negligence in the care or treatment (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a(a)).

• The certificate. The complaint must contain a certificate that the inquiry gave rise to a good faith belief that grounds exist against each named defendant.
• The written opinion. To show that good faith, the claimant or the claimant’s attorney must obtain a written, signed opinion of a similar health care provider stating that there appears to be evidence of medical negligence, with a detailed basis for that opinion.
• What gets filed. The original opinion is kept. A copy, with the author’s name and signature removed, is attached to the certificate.
• If it’s missing. Failure to obtain and file the written opinion is grounds for dismissal of the action (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a(c)).

Who counts as a “similar health care provider” depends on the defendant. If the defendant isn’t board-certified or trained in a medical specialty, it means a provider licensed with the same or greater qualifications, trained and experienced in the same discipline through active practice or teaching within the 5 years before the incident. If the defendant is board-certified in a specialty or holds out as practicing one, it means a provider trained, experienced, and board-certified in that same specialty, or, for a condition outside the defendant’s specialty, one trained in treating that condition (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-184c(b), (c)).

Getting that opinion takes time, and Connecticut builds some in. “Upon petition to the clerk of any superior court or any federal district court” in a personal injury or wrongful death action, “an automatic ninety-day extension of the statute of limitations shall be granted” to allow the reasonable inquiry. The statute adds that this period is in addition to other tolling periods (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a(b)).

Three things follow from the text. The extension comes only on a petition to the clerk. It exists to allow the inquiry the certificate requires. And it is one 90-day period, not an open-ended pause, so don’t wait until the last weeks to raise it. An attorney can tell you whether and when to file the petition in your situation.

Connecticut’s wrongful death statute lets an executor or administrator recover, from the party legally at fault for injuries resulting in death, just damages together with the cost of reasonably necessary medical, hospital, and nursing services, including funeral expenses (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-555(a)).

• Who brings it: the executor or administrator of the person’s estate, not a family member in their own name.
• The deadline: within 2 years from the date of death.
• The outer limit: no action may be brought more than 5 years from the date of the act or omission complained of (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-555(a)).
• The opinion and extension still apply: § 52-190a covers actions for wrongful death, so the good-faith certificate and the 90-day petition are part of these cases too (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a).

A separate section gives an executor or administrator 1 year from the date of death to start a personal action that survives the person’s death, if the time to sue hadn’t already run out when the person died (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-594). How that section and § 52-555 fit together for a particular death is a question for an attorney licensed in Connecticut. Until you have an answer, plan around the earliest possible date.

Connecticut’s limitations statutes say an action must be “brought” within the period. Under the civil process statutes, civil actions are commenced by legal process consisting of a writ of summons or attachment, accompanied by the plaintiff’s complaint and signed by a commissioner of the Superior Court or another authorized person (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-45a).

One statute protects a claim when service happens just after the deadline: a cause of action is not lost because the time limit passed if the process was personally delivered to a state marshal, constable, or other proper officer within the time limit and is served within 30 days of that delivery. The officer must note the delivery date under oath on the return (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-593a). Because the protection depends on service, plan for the papers to reach a marshal well before the deadline.

Two safety nets exist for cases that fail on a technicality. If an action commenced in time fails to be tried on its merits for reasons such as insufficient service, lack of jurisdiction, or a matter of form, a new action for the same cause may be commenced within 1 year after the original action is determined (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-592(a)). And if a case fails because the wrong defendant was named, a new action isn’t barred if it is served within 1 year after the first one ends (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-593). Treat both as backstops to discuss with an attorney, not as a plan.

Claims against the State of Connecticut generally go to the Office of the Claims Commissioner, which hears and determines claims against the state except, among others, claims on which suit is otherwise authorized by law (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-142(a)). For these purposes, state officers and employees include physicians or psychologists employed by any state agency (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-141(5)).

• The time limit. A claim must be presented within 1 year after it accrues. A claim for personal injury accrues when the injury is sustained or discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered, but no claim may be presented more than 3 years from the date of the act or event complained of (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-148(a)).
• The notice of claim. It is filed with the Office of the Claims Commissioner and gives contact details for the claimant and any attorney, a concise statement of the date, time, place, and circumstances, the relief requested, and a request for permission to sue if sought (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-147).
• Malpractice has its own path. In a claim alleging malpractice against the state, a state hospital, or a licensed health care provider employed by the state, filing a good-faith certificate under § 52-190a with the Claims Commissioner means permission to sue is deemed granted. Instead of a notice of claim, a claimant may also start a medical malpractice action against the state before the § 4-148 period expires, and authorization is deemed granted (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-160(f)).
• After permission. The lawsuit must be brought within 1 year from the date authorization becomes effective or permission is granted, whichever is later, and other limitation periods are tolled until permission is granted (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-160(i)).

Notice that the state window is 1 year from injury or discovery, half of the private 2-year rule. Medical and dental interns, residents, and fellows of The University of Connecticut assigned to an affiliated hospital through an integrated residency program are not state employees for this purpose when that hospital provides equivalent liability protection (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-141(5)).

Town and city employees follow a different statute. When the care was given by an employee of a town, city, or borough, or of a district department of health, acting within the scope of employment, no action for personal physical injuries may be maintained against the municipality and the employee jointly unless it is commenced within 2 years after the cause of action arose and written notice of the intention to sue, with the time and place of the injury, was filed with the municipal clerk within 6 months after the cause of action accrued (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-465(a), (b)). Whether that section or another applies to your claim is a question for an attorney, so ask early.

• Note the date of the care that concerns you. Connecticut’s 3-year cap runs from it, no matter when you found out.
• Note when you discovered the injury and how, because the 2-year period can run from that date.
• Request your medical records and keep bills, discharge papers, and test results in one place.
• Find out who employed the provider: a private practice, a state hospital or agency, a town, or a VA or military clinic. The state window is shorter.
• Talk with an attorney licensed in Connecticut soon. The written opinion takes time to get, and only an attorney can tell you which deadline applies.

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This guide summarizes the Connecticut General Statutes (current revision and the 2026 Supplement, revised to January 1, 2026) and federal law, as read on October 30, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584: limitation of actions for negligence and malpractice, the discovery rule, and the 3-year limit
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-595: fraudulent concealment of a cause of action
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577, § 52-577d, and § 52-576: the general tort limit, the sexual abuse limit for people under 21, and the contract incapacity rule
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a and § 52-184c: good-faith certificate, written opinion, 90-day extension, and similar health care provider
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-555 and § 52-594: wrongful death and actions by an executor or administrator
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-45a, § 52-593a, § 52-592, and § 52-593: commencing an action, delivery to a marshal, accidental failure of suit, and wrong defendant
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-141, § 4-142, § 4-147, § 4-148, and § 4-160: claims against the state and the Office of the Claims Commissioner
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-465: municipal assumption of liability and notice
• 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b): federal tort claims