D.C. medical malpractice deadlines: how long you have to act.

The District of Columbia has no limitation period written only for medical malpractice. These claims generally fall under the D.C. Code’s catch-all: an action “for which a limitation is not otherwise specially prescribed” may not be brought more than 3 years after the right to maintain the action accrues (D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8)).

What else shapes the deadline in D.C.:

• A notice of intent comes first. Each healthcare provider you plan to sue must be notified at least 90 days before the lawsuit is filed.
• A late notice can stretch the deadline. If that notice is served in the final 90 days before the deadline, the time to file runs 90 days from the date of service.
• Children and people who are non compos mentis generally have the time counted from when that disability ends.
• Deaths, the District government, and federal facilities each have their own rules.

This is general information, not legal advice. The right deadline depends on the facts, so talk with an attorney licensed in the District of Columbia about your own dates.

The D.C. statute counts the 3 years “from the time the right to maintain the action accrues” (D.C. Code § 12-301(a)). It doesn’t say when a claim about medical care accrues, and the Code has no written discovery rule for these claims. So the starting date isn’t something the statute answers by itself.

Two points about the statute’s structure are worth knowing. First, the 3-year period applies only where no other period is “specially prescribed.” Second, the same section sets just 1 year for a short list of claims that includes assault and battery (§ 12-301(a)(4)). Whether any part of a claim about medical care falls under a different period is a question for an attorney.

Because the start date can be contested, don’t count from the day you found out and assume that’s safe. Write down the date of the care, the date problems appeared, and the date you first suspected the care was the cause, and give all three to an attorney.

An outer limit, or statute of repose, is a hard stop counted from the date of the care no matter when the harm was found. The limitations chapter of the D.C. Code and its medical malpractice chapter contain no such outer limit (statute of repose) for these claims (D.C. Code § 12-301; §§ 16-2801 to 16-2804). That doesn’t mean a claim can wait: the 3-year period still applies once the right to sue accrues.

The Code also has no written exception for a provider who hides a mistake. It does address a different situation. If a D.C. resident is outside the District, or has absconded or concealed himself, when a claim accrues against him, the period doesn’t begin until he returns or while he stays hidden. And if he absconds or conceals himself after the claim accrues, that time isn’t counted (§ 12-303(a), (b)). This rule is about a defendant’s whereabouts, not about hidden records. If you think facts about your care were kept from you, tell an attorney and keep copies of everything you received.

If the person entitled to bring the action is under 18 when the right of action accrues, the D.C. Code lets that person “or his proper representative” bring the action “within the time limited after the disability is removed” (D.C. Code § 12-302(a)(1)). Read with the general 3-year period, that generally means the time runs from the 18th birthday rather than from the date of the care (§ 12-301(a)(8)).

What matters is the person’s age when the right of action accrued. The statute also names the child’s “proper representative” as someone who may bring the action, and the notice of intent and mediation rules described below still apply whenever the case is brought.

Waiting has real costs even when the deadline is years away: records get harder to collect and memories fade. Parents should talk with an attorney licensed in D.C. about the dates rather than relying on a birthday. See birth injuries for more on concerns about a newborn’s care.

The same section covers two other conditions. If, when the right of action accrues, the person is non compos mentis (the statute’s Latin term for someone without sound mind) or is imprisoned, that person or a proper representative may bring the action within the time limited after the disability is removed (D.C. Code § 12-302(a)(2), (3)).

The condition has to exist at the time the right of action accrues. A disability that begins later isn’t covered by the statute’s words. Whether someone’s condition after medical care qualifies, and when it ended, are questions to raise with an attorney early, with any medical documentation that bears on them.

D.C. allows an action when a death caused by an injury within the District results from a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have let the injured person sue had they lived (D.C. Code § 16-2701(a)).

• Who brings it: the action must be brought by and in the name of the personal representative of the person who died (D.C. Code § 16-2702). Any recovery benefits the spouse or domestic partner and next of kin, and apart from the part covering last-illness and burial expenses it can’t be used to pay the estate’s debts (§ 16-2701(b); D.C. Code § 16-2703).
• The deadline: within 2 years after the death (D.C. Code § 16-2702). The period was 1 year until a 2012 amendment (D.C. Law 19-177) made it 2, so older summaries may be out of date.
• A bar: no wrongful death action may be maintained if the injured person recovered damages for the same act during their life (§ 16-2701(b)).

Separately, a right of action the person already had at death survives in favor of their legal representative (D.C. Code § 12-101). That survival statute doesn’t set its own deadline. How the two claims, the 2-year death period, and the 90-day notice fit together is something to work out with an attorney soon after a death, including who will serve as personal representative.

Anyone who intends to file a medical malpractice action against a healthcare provider in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia must notify the intended defendant at least 90 days before filing, and the action can’t be commenced until this requirement is met (D.C. Code § 16-2802(a), (c); § 16-2801(1)).

• Who counts as a provider. The definition reaches individuals and entities licensed or otherwise authorized under District law, including hospitals, nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, pharmacies, clinics, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, and therapists (§ 16-2801(2)).
• How to give it. Notice may be served on the intended defendant at the last known address registered with the appropriate licensing authority (§ 16-2802(a)).
• What it says. It must give enough information to put the defendant on notice of the legal basis for the claim and the type and extent of the loss, including the injuries. Theories learned in discovery and injuries that become known later can still be added (§ 16-2802(b)).
• Exceptions. The requirement doesn’t apply to a defendant whose name is unknown, one who was unlicensed at the time of the occurrence or when notice is given, a claim unknown when notice was filed, or a defendant identified by a misnomer (§ 16-2804(a)).
• Excusing a missed notice. The court may excuse a failure to give timely notice on a showing of good-faith effort, or waive the requirement if the interests of justice dictate (§ 16-2802(a); § 16-2804(b)).

No certificate or affidavit of merit appears in the chapter, but the notice itself has to describe the claim, which takes record review. Count the 90 days into any plan.

The chapter has one written extension: if the notice is served within 90 days of the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, the time for commencing the action “shall be extended 90 days from the date of the service of the notice” (D.C. Code § 16-2803).

Because the lawsuit also can’t be filed until 90 days after the notice, a notice served late leaves very little room between the day filing is allowed and the day time runs out.

Exactly how those days are counted, and which deadline is “the applicable statute of limitations” in a given case, are questions for an attorney. The safe course is to serve notice well before the final months. The statute refers to commencing the action in the court, the Superior Court (§ 16-2802(c); § 16-2801(1)), so the filing must actually be made, not just prepared, before the deadline.

Once a malpractice action is filed against a healthcare provider, the court must require the parties to enter mediation before any further litigation (D.C. Code § 16-2821). This step doesn’t pause or replace the filing deadline, since it begins only after the case is filed.

• Timing. The mediation schedule goes in the scheduling order that follows the Initial Scheduling and Settlement Conference. Discovery is put on hold, or limited by agreement so mediation can finish within 30 days of that conference, and unless all parties agree the hold lasts no more than 30 days after it (D.C. Code § 16-2821).
• The mediator. The court assigns court-provided mediation and keeps a roster of medical malpractice mediators, who must be judges or lawyers with at least 10 years of significant experience in medical malpractice litigation. The parties may instead agree on someone else, and the court appoints one if they can’t agree (D.C. Code § 16-2823).
• Who attends. All parties must attend in person, along with their lead attorneys. An organization, and any insurance company involved, must send someone with authority over the funds to resolve the case (D.C. Code § 16-2824).
• Paperwork and privacy. Each side gives the mediator a confidential statement at least 10 days before the first session, and the mediator reports to the court within 10 days after the mediation ends. What’s said in mediation is confidential and privileged (§ 16-2825(a); D.C. Code § 16-2826; § 16-2827(a)).

• Put the key dates on paper: the care, when problems appeared, and when you first suspected the care was the cause. For a death, add the date of death.
• Identify every provider and who runs the facility. The District government, a federal facility, and a private provider each come with different notice rules.
• Ask for copies of your medical records, and keep bills, discharge instructions, and letters you receive. Hold on to your own documents.
• Talk with an attorney licensed in the District of Columbia without delay. The 90-day notice has to be served before anything is filed, and only an attorney can tell you which deadline governs and how much time is left.

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This guide summarizes the official Code of the District of Columbia, published by the D.C. Council’s Law Library, and federal law, as read on October 27, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

• D.C. Code § 12-301: limitation periods, including the general 3-year period
• D.C. Code § 12-302: persons under 18, non compos mentis, or imprisoned
• D.C. Code § 12-303: absence or concealment of a defendant
• D.C. Code § 12-309: notice to the Mayor before actions against the District
• D.C. Code § 12-101: survival of rights of action
• D.C. Code § 16-2701, § 16-2702, and § 16-2703: wrongful death
• D.C. Code § 16-2801 to § 16-2804: definitions, notice of intention to file suit, extension of the limitation period, and exceptions
• D.C. Code § 16-2821 to § 16-2827: mediation in medical malpractice actions
• 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b): federal tort claims