# Medical malpractice · Washington — Civil statute of limitations by state and type of claim

For Medical malpractice · Washington, limitation period is within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or one year of the time the patient or his or her representative discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act or omission, whichever period expires later; how the statute describes it is based upon alleged professional negligence, verified against its source on 2026-08-25.

- **Type of claim:** Medical malpractice _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **State:** Washington _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Limitation period:** within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or one year of the time the patient or his or her representative discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act or omission, whichever period expires later _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **How the statute describes it:** based upon alleged professional negligence _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> based upon alleged professional negligence shall be commenced within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or one year of the time the patient or his or her representative discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act or omission, whichever period expires later, except that in no event shall an action be commenced more than eight years after said act or omission

## Source

- https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.350

Last verified: 2026-08-25. Review by: 2027-08-25.
Part of [Civil statute of limitations by state and type of claim](https://referencesource.org/state-civil-statute-of-limitations/).