Washington

Statute of Limitations

Medical Claim Generally:

A medical malpractice claim “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: PROVIDED, That the time for commencement of an action is tolled upon proof of fraud, intentional concealment, or the presence of a foreign body not intended to have a therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect, until the date the patient or the patient's representative has actual knowledge of the act of fraud or concealment, or of the presence of the foreign body; the patient or the patient's representative has one year from the date of the actual knowledge in which to commence a civil action for damages.” [RCW § 4.16.350]

Minors:

“The time of such disability shall not be a part of the time limited for the commencement of action.” [RCW § 4.16.190]

Wrongful death:

Wrongful death actions have a statute of limitations of 3 years [RCW § 4.16.080]

Damage Caps

Washington currently does not have any damage caps

Attorney Fee   Caps

Washington currently has no attorney fee caps other than the general requirement of reasonableness.

Pre-suit

Requirements

Washington has mandatory mediation of health care claims in which “the making of a written, good faith request for mediation of a dispute related to damages for injury occurring as a result of health care prior to filing a cause of action under this chapter shall toll the statute of limitations provided in RCW 4.16.350 for one year.” [RCW § 7.70.110]

Expert

Qualifications

For experts, “a physician must demonstrate that he or she has sufficient expertise in the relevant specialty.” However, the expert doesn’t have to specialize in the exact same specialty. [Young v. Key Pharmaceuticals, Inc (1989)]

Negligent

Credentialing Claims

Washington courts have not definitively recognized negligent credentialing.