# Texas — Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule

For Texas, document required is expert report; filing deadline is not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant’s original answer is filed; who must sign is an expert qualified to testify under the requirements of Section 74.401 (Qualifications of Expert Witness in Suit Against Physician); consequence of non-compliance is dismisses the claim with respect to the physician or health care provider, with prejudice to the refiling of the claim; statute or rule citation is Tex. Civ. Practice & Remedies Code Section 74.351, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Texas _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Document required:** expert report _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Filing deadline:** not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant’s original answer is filed _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Who must sign:** an expert qualified to testify under the requirements of Section 74.401 (Qualifications of Expert Witness in Suit Against Physician) _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Consequence of non-compliance:** dismisses the claim with respect to the physician or health care provider, with prejudice to the refiling of the claim _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute or rule citation:** Tex. Civ. Practice & Remedies Code Section 74.351 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> If, as to a defendant physician or health care provider, an expert report has not been served within the period specified by Subsection (a), the court, on the motion of the affected physician or health care provider, shall, subject to Subsection (c), enter an order that: (1) awards to the affected physician or health care provider reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of court incurred by the physician or health care provider; and (2) dismisses the claim with respect to the physician or health care provider, with prejudice to the refiling of the claim.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Document required

> In a health care liability claim, a claimant shall, not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant’s original answer is filed or a later date required under Section 74.353 (Preliminary Determination for Expert Report Requirement) , serve on that party or the party’s attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report for each physician or health care provider against whom a liability claim is asserted.

### Filing deadline

> In a health care liability claim, a claimant shall, not later than the 120th day after the date each defendant’s original answer is filed or a later date required under Section 74.353 (Preliminary Determination for Expert Report Requirement) , serve on that party or the party’s attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report for each physician or health care provider against whom a liability claim is asserted.

### Who must sign

> with respect to a person giving opinion testimony regarding whether a physician departed from accepted standards of medical care, an expert qualified to testify under the requirements of Section 74.401 (Qualifications of Expert Witness in Suit Against Physician)

### Consequence of non-compliance

> If, as to a defendant physician or health care provider, an expert report has not been served within the period specified by Subsection (a), the court, on the motion of the affected physician or health care provider, shall, subject to Subsection (c), enter an order that: (1) awards to the affected physician or health care provider reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of court incurred by the physician or health care provider; and (2) dismisses the claim with respect to the physician or health care provider, with prejudice to the refiling of the claim.

## Source

- https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._civ._practice_&_remedies_code_section_74.351

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Medical malpractice certificate/affidavit of merit requirements by US state — quoted from the state statute or court rule](https://referencesource.org/medical-malpractice-certificate-of-merit-by-state/).