Our Experienced Seattle Injury Lawyer Helps Clients Harmed by Medical Negligence Understand Their Rights and Options
Dealing with medical issues can be concerning, but you can typically trust that your doctors and other providers have the proper education, training, and skills to administer appropriate care. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Medical errors and misconduct are more common than most people realize, and even well-trained, experienced medical professionals can make careless mistakes.
Understanding the legal landscape is essential if you or a loved one suffered physical or financial harm due to medical negligence. At Kode Law Firm, skilled Seattle medical malpractice lawyer Preet Kode helps clients and their families explore options and protect their right to recovery. Discover how our dedicated team could assist you.
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Get the Facts on Medical Malpractice Cases in Washington State
Washington insurers, self-insurers, and attorneys resolved more than 3,000 medical malpractice claims and lawsuits between 2018 and 2022, according to the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Nearly half—47.7 percent—of those cases closed with indemnity payments to claimants or plaintiffs. Medical malpractice litigation can be challenging. Here’s what you should know about these complex cases and how Kode Law Firm can help you navigate unfamiliar legal processes.
Recognizing Medical Negligence
Medical malpractice is more than a bad health outcome. Winning a medical negligence claim requires proving that:
- The provider owed you or your family member a professional duty of care, meaning that, as a nurse, doctor, or other medical professional, they were obligated to provide an appropriate standard of care based on their training, qualifications, and the situation’s circumstances.
- The medical provider breached their professional duty by deviating from the expected standard of care.
- The breached duty of care harmed you or your loved one.
- You or your family member suffered physical, emotional, or financial harm as a result.
Common Types of Medical Errors and Misconduct
Serious medical mistakes can happen in numerous ways. Some of the most common types of medical malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose
- Failure to order the right tests or respond appropriately to results
- Unnecessary surgery or incorrect procedure
- Surgery performed on the wrong part of the body
- Leaving surgical tools or materials inside the patient
- Premature discharge
- Failure to follow up
- Pressure sores or potentially fatal infections acquired in the hospital
- Prescribing the wrong medication or dosage
- Device or equipment failure
- Improper supervision
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Facility fires
Filing Deadlines for Medical Malpractice Claims in Washington
Washington’s filing deadline for medical negligence claims is not a simple three-year rule, and assuming it is can cost you your claim in either direction—by filing too late, or by giving up on a claim you still have time to bring.
Under RCW 4.16.350(3), a civil action based on alleged professional negligence by a health care provider must generally be commenced by the later of:
- Three years after the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition; or
- One year after the date the patient or their representative discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that the injury or condition was caused by that act or omission.
Because the statute applies whichever period expires later, this “discovery rule” can preserve a claim well beyond three years when neither the injury nor its cause could reasonably have been identified sooner—a common situation in misdiagnosis and delayed-diagnosis cases.
What Happened to Washington’s Eight-Year Deadline
RCW 4.16.350(3) also contains an eight-year outer limit—a “statute of repose”—stating that in no event may an action be commenced more than eight years after the alleged negligence. That provision is no longer enforceable. In Bennett v. United States, 2 Wn.3d 430, 539 P.3d 361 (2023), the Washington Supreme Court held that the eight-year statute of repose violates the privileges and immunities clause of article I, section 12 of the Washington Constitution. The court had struck down the earlier 1976 version of the same provision in DeYoung v. Providence Medical Center, 136 Wn.2d 136, 960 P.2d 919 (1998).
The eight-year limit still appears in the published statute, which is why you may still see it cited online. It is not currently a bar to filing. If you were told years ago that your claim was too old, that advice may no longer be correct, and it is worth having reviewed.
Circumstances That Can Extend or Pause the Deadline
- Fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign body. Where a provider committed fraud or intentionally concealed the error, or where an object with no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose was left in the patient’s body, RCW 4.16.350(3) sets the deadline at one year from actual knowledge of the fraud, concealment, or object.
- Injured minors. RCW 4.16.190 tolls the limitations period for claimants under 18. The 2006 subsection that had carved medical malpractice claims out of that protection was struck down in Schroeder v. Weighall, 179 Wn.2d 566, 316 P.3d 482 (2014).
- A written request for mediation. Under RCW 7.70.110, making a written, good-faith request for mediation before filing suit tolls the RCW 4.16.350 limitations period for one year. Washington courts apply this provision strictly, and claims have been dismissed over how and when the request was made—this is not a step to attempt without counsel.
- Continuous course of treatment. Under Caughell v. Group Health Cooperative, 124 Wn.2d 217, 876 P.2d 898 (1994), ongoing treatment for a single condition may be treated as one claim, with the clock running from the last negligent act rather than the last date of treatment.
- Legal incapacity and military service. Separate tolling provisions may apply under RCW 4.16.190 and RCW 38.42.090.
- Government and military providers. Claims involving public hospitals, state or county entities, or federal facilities carry their own notice requirements and shorter internal deadlines that operate independently of RCW 4.16.350.
These rules interact in ways that are difficult to apply without reviewing your specific records and treatment history. If you are unsure whether your claim is still viable, the safest step is to have it evaluated rather than to assume the deadline has passed.
How Our Washington Malpractice Attorney Helps Clients Hold Health Care Providers Accountable for Medical Negligence
Medical malpractice claims can lead to complex litigation that entails strict deadlines and complicated statutes and pits victims and their families against savvy corporate counsel. At Kode Law Firm, our exceptional legal team helps clients level the playing field and fight for the financial recovery they deserve. Here’s how we could help your case.
- Review your case and determine whether you have grounds for an insurance claim or lawsuit
- Identify the appropriate defendant; potentially liable parties include doctors, specialists, nurses, surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, pharmacists, paramedics, hospitals, health clinics, and nursing homes
- Gather vital evidence to support your medical malpractice claim, such as patient medical records, provider training and employment documentation, damage estimates, and receipts
- Interview witnesses and arrange for experts such as medical specialists, rehabilitation professionals, and life care planners to testify on your behalf
- Handle communications with insurers, defense attorneys, and other parties
- Analyze and negotiate settlement offers
- Determine which filing deadline applies to your claim under RCW 4.16.350 and preserve it
- Take your case to trial
Most importantly, Preet Kode works diligently to relieve your stress, taking on the day-to-day burdens of litigation so you can focus on your health and healing.
What You Might Recover in a Washington Medical Malpractice Case
Depending on the facts and evidence, your medical malpractice recovery might include compensation for:
- All malpractice-related medical expenses, including the estimated cost of future or ongoing care for severe injuries
- Lost wages and reduced or lost earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Anxiety, depression, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Permanent disability
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Reduced quality of life
- Reduced or lost enjoyment of life
No Cap on Damages—and No Punitive Damages
Two features of Washington law are worth understanding, because both are commonly misstated.
Washington does not cap noneconomic damages. The Legislature enacted a statutory limit on noneconomic damages in 1986, but the Washington Supreme Court struck it down in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636, 771 P.2d 711 (1989), holding that it interfered with the jury’s function and violated the right to a jury trial under article I, section 21 of the Washington Constitution. Unlike many states, Washington places no statutory ceiling on what a jury may award for pain, suffering, disability, or loss of enjoyment of life in a medical malpractice case.
Punitive damages are not available. Washington does not permit punitive damages unless a statute expressly authorizes them, and no statute authorizes punitive damages for medical negligence. Washington courts have treated punitive damages as contrary to state public policy since the earliest days of statehood. See Dailey v. North Coast Life Insurance Co., 129 Wn.2d 572, 919 P.2d 589 (1996); Barr v. Interbay Citizens Bank, 96 Wn.2d 692, 635 P.2d 441 (1981). This means that no matter how careless or troubling a provider’s conduct was, recovery in a Washington medical malpractice case is compensatory—it is measured by the harm you actually suffered, not by a penalty imposed on the provider. Any website suggesting otherwise is describing another state’s law.
Talk With Our Seattle Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you believe you or a family member was harmed by a medical error, the sooner your records are reviewed, the more options you are likely to have. Kode Law Firm offers a free, confidential consultation to discuss what happened and what deadlines apply to your situation.
Reviewed for legal accuracy by Preet Kode, Kode Law Firm, on August 10, 2026.
This page provides general information about Washington medical malpractice law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and case law change, and the deadlines and rules that apply to your claim depend on its specific facts. Nothing on this page is a prediction, promise, or guarantee about the outcome or value of any claim.
