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

Wyoming has one limitations statute for claims arising from an act, error, or omission in the rendering of licensed or certified professional or health care services. Such a claim must be brought within the greater of several time periods, and the starting point is 2 years from the date of the alleged act, error, or omission (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)).

The pieces that change that number:

• Late discovery: if the problem couldn’t reasonably have been found within 2 years, or wasn’t found despite due diligence, the claim may be brought up to 2 years after it was discovered.
• Discovery in the second year: the filing period gets 6 more months.
• Children: a child’s claim can be brought by the 8th birthday or within 2 years of the care, whichever period is greater.
• Other legal disability: 1 year after the disability is removed.
• Separate rules: a death, a public hospital or government provider, and a federal facility each have their own steps.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your own deadline turns on dates and facts that only an attorney licensed in Wyoming can weigh.

Wyoming starts the count on “the date of the alleged act, error or omission” (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(i)). That is the date of the care itself: the surgery, the missed reading of a scan, the wrong prescription. It isn’t the day you first felt worse or the day another doctor told you something was wrong.

Because the clock usually runs from the care, it can be well underway before anyone suspects a problem. A diagnosis missed in March may not be caught until a follow-up visit the next winter, and by then much of the 2 years is gone.

Keep a written note of each date you received care from the provider involved, not only the date things went wrong. An attorney will want the full timeline.

The statute lets a claim be brought “not more than two (2) years after discovery” of the alleged act, error, or omission, but only if the claimant can establish one of two things: that it was not reasonably discoverable within the 2-year period, or that the claimant failed to discover it within that period despite the exercise of due diligence (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(i)(A), (B)).

Notice who carries the load: the claimant has to show it. A later discovery date isn’t automatic, and a defense can argue the problem should have been noticed sooner.

A separate rule covers a problem found partway through. If the alleged act, error, or omission is discovered during the second year of the 2-year period, “the period for commencing a lawsuit shall be extended by six (6) months” (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(iv)). So learning of a problem 20 months after the care doesn’t leave only 4 months: the statute adds 6.

Section 1-3-107 doesn’t set a separate fixed cap measured from the date of the care. The discovery extension itself is limited to 2 years after discovery. The section also has no special written rule for a surgical item left in the body, for fraud, or for concealment (W.S. § 1-3-107). If you think something was hidden from you, raise it with an attorney promptly and keep every record you were given.

For an injury to a minor’s rights, the claim must be brought by the child’s 8th birthday or within 2 years of the date of the alleged act, error, or omission, “whichever period is greater” (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(ii)). Put simply, a baby injured at birth has until age 8, while a child injured at age 7 has 2 years from the care.

The same late-discovery rule applies to children: up to 2 years after discovery, if the claimant can show the problem wasn’t reasonably discoverable within the 2-year period or wasn’t found despite due diligence. The 6-month extension for a problem found in the second year applies too (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(ii), (iv)).

Don’t count on age 18. Wyoming’s general rule that gives minors extra time after they come of age expressly excludes actions arising from licensed professional or health care services (W.S. § 1-3-114), and the medical section says it applies to all persons regardless of minority (W.S. § 1-3-107(b)). For a child injured at age 8 or older, the 2-year period and its discovery rule govern. See birth injuries for more on concerns about a baby’s care.

For a plaintiff suffering from a legal disability other than minority, the claim may be brought within 1 year of the removal of the disability (W.S. § 1-3-107(a)(iii)). Like the other periods, it is one of the options the statute compares, and the claim can be brought within whichever of them is greater.

The section doesn’t define “legal disability,” and Wyoming’s general disability rule doesn’t reach these claims (W.S. § 1-3-114). Whether a particular condition, such as a brain injury or a period of incapacity after the care, counts is a question for an attorney. A family member or guardian shouldn’t wait for the person to recover before asking.

Wyoming allows a wrongful death action when a death is caused by a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have entitled the injured person to sue had they lived (W.S. § 1-38-101).

• Who brings it: the action must be brought by and in the name of the wrongful death representative of the person who died, for the exclusive benefit of beneficiaries who have sustained damage (W.S. § 1-38-102(a)).
• The deadline: a wrongful death action must be commenced within 2 years after the death (W.S. § 1-38-102(d)).
• Appointing the representative: a district court appoints the representative in a separate action brought only for that purpose, in the county where the person lived or died, where the claim arose, or where a defendant resides or may be summoned. When that appointment action is properly filed, the wrongful death deadline and any other applicable limitation periods are tolled from the filing until 30 days after the appointment order is entered (W.S. § 1-38-103(a), (b)).
• Notice to family: within 30 days of filing the appointment action, notice must be published once a week for 3 consecutive weeks in a newspaper in the county where the person lived, so others who qualify can intervene (W.S. § 1-38-105(a)).

Two clocks can matter here: 2 years from the death, and the rule in W.S. § 1-3-107 measured from the care. Which governs a death that followed medical treatment is a question for an attorney licensed in Wyoming. Until you have an answer, treat the earlier date as the real one.

For years, Wyoming required many malpractice claims against health care providers to go to a medical review panel before a lawsuit. That law, the Wyoming Medical Review Panel Act of 2005, has been repealed: the official code lists W.S. 9-2-1513 through 9-2-1523 as “Repealed by Laws 2021, ch. 99” (W.S. §§ 9-2-1513 to 9-2-1523).

• The timing. Under the 2021 act, no malpractice claims could be filed with that panel once the act became law, and its other provisions, including the repeal, took effect July 1, 2022 (Laws 2021, ch. 99, §§ 3, 4).
• No panel pause for deaths. The same act amended the wrongful death statute, which today contains only the 2-year rule, with no tolling tied to a panel (W.S. § 1-38-102(d)).

One older law is still printed in the official code: the Wyoming Professional Review Panel Act, W.S. 9-2-1801 through 9-2-1812, which carries no repeal note. Its text says no complaint alleging malpractice “shall be filed in any court against a professional before a claim is made to the panel and its decision is rendered,” and that the limitation period is tolled when the panel’s director receives the application, until 30 days after the panel’s final decision is served (W.S. § 9-2-1806(a)). It defines a “professional” as a person licensed under Title 33 whose licensure normally requires at least a year of specialized post-secondary education, or a hospital or nursing care facility (W.S. § 9-2-1803(a)(iii)).

Whether that panel exists in practice, and whether its requirement applies to your claim, isn’t something the statute text answers. Ask an attorney licensed in Wyoming before relying on it or skipping it. Separately, the Wyoming Supreme Court is authorized to adopt rules for a pretrial screening procedure for these claims (W.S. § 1-1-124). We found no statute in Titles 1 or 9 requiring a certificate or affidavit of merit before suing a private provider.

Wyoming’s limitations chapter says civil actions can only be commenced within its periods after the cause of action accrues, unless another statute sets a different limit (W.S. § 1-3-102). Under the court rules, a civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court (W.R.C.P. 3).

Filing isn’t the last step. If a defendant isn’t served within 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order service within a set time, unless good cause is shown (W.R.C.P. 4(w)). After such a dismissal, a new action counts as commenced on filing only if service is obtained within 90 days of the applicable statute of limitations (W.R.C.P. 3).

Wyoming also has a savings statute: if an action commenced in time fails other than on the merits after the limitation period has run, a new action may be commenced within 1 year after the failure (W.S. § 1-3-118). Treat it as a safety net to discuss with an attorney, not a plan.

Wyoming’s Governmental Claims Act makes a governmental entity liable for bodily injury or wrongful death caused by the negligence of public employees, acting within the scope of their duties, in operating a public hospital or providing public outpatient health care (W.S. § 1-39-109(a)). It also covers medical malpractice by health care providers employed by a governmental entity, including contract physicians, physician assistants, nurses, optometrists, and dentists serving state institutions or county jails (W.S. § 1-39-110(a)).

A “governmental entity” is the state, the University of Wyoming, or any local government. Local government includes counties, cities and towns, special districts, and entities formed by a county memorial hospital, special hospital district, rural health care district, or senior health care district that are wholly owned by governmental entities (W.S. § 1-39-103(a)(i), (ii)).

• A written claim within 2 years. No action may be brought unless the claim is presented to the entity as an itemized statement in writing within 2 years of the alleged act, error, or omission. The same late-discovery exception as the main statute applies (W.S. § 1-39-113(a)).
• What it must say. The time, place, and circumstances, including the public employee’s name if known; the claimant’s name, address, and residence and any representative or attorney; and the compensation or other relief demanded. The claimant signs it under oath in the format the statute prints (W.S. § 1-39-113(b), (e)).
• Where it goes. Claims against the state go to the general services division of the department of administration and information. Others go to the entity’s business office: the county clerk for a county and its institutions, the city or town clerk, the secretary of a special district or public corporation, the school superintendent, or the president of the University of Wyoming (W.S. § 1-39-113(c)).
• The lawsuit: 1 year after the claim. The action is barred unless commenced within 1 year after the claim is filed. For a child 7 or younger, it may be brought within 2 years after the occurrence or until the 8th birthday, whichever is greater. The period can never be longer than any other applicable statute of limitations (W.S. § 1-39-114).

The complaint itself must state that the claim was filed, the date it was filed, and that it met the signature and certification requirements (W.S. § 1-39-113(d)). A missing or late claim can end the case, so if a county or district hospital was involved, ask an attorney early.

• List every date of care with the provider involved, because Wyoming’s clock usually runs from the care itself.
• Write down when you found out, and how. If you learned of a problem late, those details may matter.
• Ask for your medical records and keep billing statements, discharge instructions, and anything else you were handed.
• Find out who ran the facility: a private practice, a county or district hospital, or a VA or military clinic. Public providers need a sworn written claim first.
• Talk with an attorney licensed in Wyoming soon. Only an attorney can tell you which period applies and how much of it is left.

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This guide summarizes the Wyoming Statutes (official Title 1 and Title 9 files dated May 8, 2026), the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure, and federal law, as read on October 27, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

• W.S. § 1-3-107: limitations for professional and health care services, discovery, minors, legal disability, and the 6-month extension
• W.S. §§ 1-3-102, 1-3-114, and 1-3-118: when actions may be commenced, the general disability rule and its exclusion, and the savings statute
• W.S. §§ 1-38-101 to 1-38-105: wrongful death, the wrongful death representative, tolling during appointment, and notice
• W.S. §§ 1-39-103, 1-39-109, 1-39-110, 1-39-113, and 1-39-114: Wyoming Governmental Claims Act definitions, medical liability, claims procedure, and limitations
• W.S. §§ 9-2-1513 to 9-2-1523 (repealed) and Laws 2021, ch. 99: repeal of the Medical Review Panel Act of 2005
• W.S. §§ 9-2-1801 to 9-2-1812: Wyoming Professional Review Panel Act
• W.S. § 1-1-124: pretrial screening rules
• W.R.C.P. 3 and 4(w): commencement of an action and time limit for service
• 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b): federal tort claims