New York medical malpractice deadlines: how long you have to act.

In New York, a lawsuit for medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice must be commenced within 2 years and 6 months of the act, omission, or failure complained of. If you were in continuous treatment for the same illness, injury, or condition that gave rise to the error, the 30 months run from the last treatment instead (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a).

The same statute adds two exceptions, and other laws change the count in specific situations:

• Something left in the body: 1 year from when it was found, or should have been.
• A missed cancer or malignant tumor: the clock can start at discovery, with a 7-year limit.
• Children and people the statute calls insane: extra time, capped at 10 years.
• Public providers: a city or county hospital, NYC Health + Hospitals, and the State each require a 90-day notice or claim and have shorter suit deadlines.

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

Section 214-a of the Civil Practice Law and Rules sets one period for three kinds of claims: medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice. The count begins on the date of “the act, omission or failure complained of” (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a). That is the date of the care itself, not the date you learned something went wrong.

For example, if a surgery that caused harm took place on March 10, 2025, and no continuous treatment followed, 2 years and 6 months from that date is September 10, 2027.

New York does have a general rule that adds time when a deadline is measured from discovery, but it expressly excepts § 214-a (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 203(g)(1)). So outside the two exceptions in § 214-a itself, finding out late doesn’t restart the malpractice clock. Malpractice by other professionals has a separate 3-year period, and that section expressly leaves out medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(6)).

When care goes on over time, § 214-a measures the 30 months from the “last treatment where there is continuous treatment for the same illness, injury or condition which gave rise to the said act, omission or failure” (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a).

Read closely, the wording has three parts:

• Treatment, not just contact. The statute says continuous treatment does not include examinations you asked for only to check on the state of your condition.
• The same condition. The ongoing care has to be for the illness, injury, or condition that the error grew out of. Visits for something unrelated don’t count.
• The last treatment. If the course qualifies, the date that matters is the final treatment in it.

Whether your visits qualify is a question for an attorney. Until you know, count from the date of the original care.

Where the claim is based on discovering a foreign object in the body, “the action may be commenced within one year of the date of such discovery or of the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to such discovery, whichever is earlier” (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a(a)).

• The earlier date wins. The year can start before the object is actually found, if you already knew facts that would reasonably have led you to it, such as an imaging report that mentions it.
• Not every implant counts. The statute says a “foreign object” does not include a chemical compound, a fixation device, or a prosthetic aid or device.

One year is short. If a scan or another doctor tells you something was left behind after a procedure, keep the report and talk with an attorney promptly. How this window fits with the main 2½-year period for your dates is a question for that attorney.

A 2018 amendment, often called Lavern’s Law, added a discovery rule for one kind of claim. Where the action is based on the alleged negligent failure to diagnose cancer or a malignant tumor, whether by act or omission, it may be commenced within 2 years and 6 months of the later of two dates (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a(b)):

• Discovery: when you knew, or reasonably should have known, both of the alleged negligent act or omission and that it caused injury. Under this branch, the action must be commenced no later than 7 years from the act or omission.
• Continuous treatment: the date of the last treatment where there is continuous treatment for that injury, illness, or condition.

An example shows how the 7-year limit can cut the discovery period short. Suppose a scan was misread in June 2020, there was no continuing treatment, and the cancer was found in January 2026. Thirty months from discovery would run to July 2028, but the 7-year limit from the misreading ends in June 2027.

The same rule applies to the notice deadlines for public providers covered below. A separate subsection says that for missed-cancer claims, the time to serve a notice of claim under the General Municipal Law or to file under the Court of Claims Act doesn’t start until the same later date (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 203(g)(2)).

New York’s tolling statute covers two disabilities: infancy and what the statute calls “insanity,” when either exists at the time the claim accrues (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 208(a)). An infant is anyone under 18 (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 105(j)).

• The extension. Because the malpractice period is shorter than 3 years, the time “shall be extended by the period of disability.”
• The cap. The extension can’t go beyond 10 years after the claim accrues. The statute exempts some childhood claims from that cap, but expressly not medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice.

Two examples, assuming the clock starts on the date of care:

• A 16-year-old harmed in May 2026 turns 18 in May 2028. Adding the 2 years of disability to the 30-month period gives November 2030.
• A 7-year-old harmed in May 2026 would not turn 18 until 2037, but the 10-year cap ends the time in May 2036, before the child’s 18th birthday.

So a parent shouldn’t assume a child’s claim can wait until adulthood. The same 10-year cap applies to an adult whose condition counts as a disability under § 208. See birth injuries for more on concerns about a baby’s care, and talk with an attorney licensed in New York early.

We found no New York statute requiring a notice-of-intent letter, a review panel, or mediation before suing a private provider. The check comes with the lawsuit itself. In any medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice action, the complaint must be accompanied by a certificate signed by the plaintiff’s attorney (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3012-a(a)). The certificate states one of three things:

• A consultation. The attorney reviewed the facts, consulted at least one physician (or dentist or podiatrist) licensed in New York or another state who the attorney reasonably believes knows the issues, and concluded there is a reasonable basis to start the action.
• Not enough time. The consultation couldn’t reasonably be obtained before the limitation period would bar the action. Then the full certificate is due within 90 days after the complaint is served.
• Three refusals. The attorney made three separate good-faith attempts with three separate practitioners, and none would agree to consult.

Other parts of the section matter too (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3012-a). If the attorney relies only on res ipsa loquitur, a different certificate saying so is filed instead. If the provider hasn’t produced requested treatment records, the certificate isn’t due until 90 days after they are. And the rule doesn’t apply to someone suing without an attorney.

Note what the 90-day option does: it moves the certificate’s due date. The statute doesn’t say it extends the time to commence the action.

Section 214-a says the action must be “commenced” in time. In New York, an action is commenced by filing a summons and complaint, or a summons with notice (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 304(a)). Filing means delivering those papers to the clerk of the court in the county where the action is brought, who date-stamps them and assigns an index number (§ 304(c)). In an action commenced by filing, the claim is interposed, which is what stops the limitation clock, when the action is commenced (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 203(c)).

In other words, the filing date is the date that counts against the deadline. Service on each defendant follows under separate rules that the attorney handles, so leave room for it rather than filing on the last day.

One more deadline follows. Within 60 days after issue is joined, the plaintiff must file a notice of medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice action with the court clerk, with proof of service on the other parties. A court can extend that time only on a motion (N.Y. C.P.L.R. Rule 3406(a)).

New York’s wrongful death statute lets the personal representative of a person who died, and who left distributees (family members who would inherit), sue anyone who would have been liable to that person if death had not occurred (N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 5-4.1(1)).

• Who brings it: the personal representative of the estate, appointed in New York or elsewhere. If an executor named in a will refuses to sue and the distributees aren’t part of the estate’s administration, they can have an administrator appointed to bring the action.
• The deadline: within 2 years after the death.
• A criminal case: if a criminal action was commenced against the same defendant over the same event, the representative has at least 1 year from its end, even if the 2 years have run (§ 5-4.1(2)).

You may have read that New York lengthened this period. The Grieving Families Act would have changed 2 years to 3, but the 2025–2026 version, Senate Bill S4423 (2025–2026), was vetoed by the Governor, and § 5-4.1 still reads 2 years.

A separate rule covers the person’s own claim. If someone with a timely claim dies before the period runs out and the claim survives, the representative may commence an action within 1 year after the death (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 210(a)). How that rule and § 5-4.1 apply to a particular death is a question for an attorney, so plan around the earliest date.

Care from a public provider adds an early notice step. Where a law requires a notice of claim before suing a public corporation or its employee, the notice must be served within 90 days after the claim arises; in a wrongful death action, the 90 days run from the appointment of a representative of the estate (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e(1)(a)). The notice is in writing and sworn, and gives the claimant’s name and address, the nature of the claim, when, where, and how it arose, and the injuries so far as then practicable (§ 50-e(2)).

• A city, county, town, or village: the action needs a notice of claim under § 50-e, at least 30 days must pass after it is served without the claim being paid or adjusted, and suit must be commenced within 1 year and 90 days after the event. A wrongful death action must be commenced within 2 years after the death (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-i(1)).
• NYC Health + Hospitals: a personal injury action against the corporation must be commenced within 1 year and 90 days after it accrues, and a notice of intention must be filed with a director or officer within 90 days, with § 50-e applying to that notice. A wrongful death action against it follows a different statute, the Public Authorities Law (N.Y.C. Health & Hosps. Corp. Act § 20(2)).
• Late notice: a court may allow a late notice of claim, but not beyond the time to sue the public corporation. It considers, among other things, whether the corporation learned the essential facts in time and whether the claimant was an infant or incapacitated (§ 50-e(5)).

Claims against the State of New York go to the Court of Claims. A claim for personal injuries caused by the negligence of a state officer or employee must be filed and served on the attorney general within 90 days after it accrues. If you serve a written notice of intention within those 90 days instead, the claim itself is due within 2 years after accrual (N.Y. Ct. Cl. Act § 10(3)). For a death, the claim or notice of intention is due within 90 days after the executor or administrator is appointed, and in any event the claim must be filed and served within 2 years after the death (§ 10(2)). A claimant under a legal disability may present the claim within 2 years after it is removed, and the court has discretion to allow a late claim before a like claim against a private citizen would be barred (§ 10(5), (6)).

If the hospital or clinic may be public, find out right away and tell an attorney.

• Find the date of the care you’re concerned about. The 2½-year period usually runs from it.
• List every later visit for the same condition, with dates. Continuous treatment can move the starting point.
• Note when you learned of the problem, especially for a missed cancer or an object left behind.
• Find out who ran the facility: a private practice, a city or county hospital, NYC Health + Hospitals, the State, or the VA or military. Public providers can start a 90-day clock.
• Request your medical records and keep bills, discharge papers, and reports together.
• Talk with an attorney licensed in New York soon. The certificate of merit needs a medical consultation, and that takes time.

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This guide summarizes New York statutes as published on the New York State Senate’s Open Legislation site, and federal law, as read on November 7, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a: the 2½-year period, continuous treatment, foreign objects, and missed cancer
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 203, § 304, and § 214: computing the period, interposing a claim, commencing an action by filing, and the 3-year period for other malpractice
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 208 and § 105: infancy and insanity, and the definition of infant
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3012-a and Rule 3406: certificate of merit and notice of malpractice action
• N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 5-4.1, C.P.L.R. § 210, and Senate Bill S4423 (2025–2026): wrongful death, death of a claimant, and the vetoed Grieving Families Act
• N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e and § 50-i: notice of claim and suits against cities, counties, towns, and villages
• N.Y.C. Health & Hosps. Corp. Act § 20: actions against NYC Health + Hospitals
• N.Y. Ct. Cl. Act § 10: claims against the State
• 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b): federal tort claims