Medical Malpractice Laws in Connecticut (2026): Deadlines & Caps

Connecticut treats medical malpractice as a negligence claim against a health care provider, and the rules that decide a case often have less to do with the injury than with the deadlines and filing requirements. A patient generally has two years from when the injury is discovered to sue, with a three-year outer limit, under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-584, and the complaint must include a written certificate of good faith under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-190a.

This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and it is part of our Medical Malpractice Laws by State series. Deadlines and exceptions turn on the specific facts, so confirm your situation with a licensed Connecticut attorney.

What counts as medical malpractice in Connecticut?

Medical malpractice in Connecticut is professional negligence by a health care provider, meaning care that fell below the accepted standard of care and caused injury. Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-184c frames the standard as the level of care, skill, and treatment that a reasonably prudent similar health care provider would have used in the same circumstances. Doctors, surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, advanced practice registered nurses, hospitals, and sanatoria are all named in the limitation statute, so any of them can face a claim. A bad outcome alone is not malpractice; the patient must show the provider breached the standard of care and that the breach caused the harm.

The statute of limitations to sue in Connecticut

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-584, a malpractice action must be brought within two years from the date when the injury is first sustained or discovered, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered. This is a discovery rule, so the two-year clock can start when a reasonable patient would have connected the harm to the treatment, not necessarily on the date of the procedure. Connecticut courts often refer to this two-year period as the statute of limitations.

The same statute sets a separate, harder outer limit. No action may be brought more than three years from the date of the act or omission complained of, regardless of when the injury is discovered. That three-year cutoff is the statute of repose, discussed below.

Connecticut's statute of repose

The three-year limit in Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-584 is an absolute deadline. Even if a patient discovers an injury years after the treatment, the action is generally barred once three years pass from the act or omission. The practical effect is that the discovery rule helps only within that three-year window, so a slow-developing injury can be time-barred before the patient ever learns of it. A continuing course of treatment can affect when the clock starts, and petitioning the clerk under 52-190a can add 90 days, but the basic structure is two years to sue and never more than three.

Damage caps in Connecticut

Connecticut does not cap compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases. There is no statutory ceiling on economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages, and no cap on non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. Connecticut also limits common-law punitive damages to the plaintiff's litigation expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, which is a feature of state law rather than a malpractice-specific cap. Because there is no damages cap, the value of a case turns on the evidence of harm rather than a fixed statutory number.

Certificate of good faith and pre-suit requirements

Connecticut requires a pre-suit screening step. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-190a, before filing, the attorney or party must make a reasonable inquiry to determine that there are grounds for a good-faith belief that negligence occurred, and the complaint must attach a certificate saying so. To support that certificate, the claimant must obtain a written and signed opinion from a similar health care provider that there appears to be evidence of medical negligence, and a copy of that opinion is attached to the certificate.

The same statute provides extra time to complete that inquiry, but only if the claimant asks for it. Under 52-190a(b), upon petition to the clerk of any superior court or any federal district court, an automatic 90-day extension of the statute of limitations is granted to allow the reasonable inquiry required by subsection (a). The extension is not earned by filing the opinion; it is triggered by the petition to the clerk, which has to be made before the limitation period expires. Failure to attach a proper opinion to the complaint can be grounds for dismissal of the case.

Who can be liable and the expert requirement

Liability can reach individual clinicians and the institutions that employ them. Physicians, surgeons, dentists, advanced practice registered nurses, and other licensed providers can be sued directly, and hospitals can be liable for their own negligence or for the conduct of their employees. Connecticut almost always requires expert testimony to establish both the applicable standard of care and the breach, because these questions are outside the knowledge of an average juror. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-184c, the standard-of-care expert generally must be a similar health care provider, meaning someone trained and experienced in the same specialty.

Comparative negligence in Connecticut

Connecticut follows modified comparative negligence under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-572h. A plaintiff can recover as long as the plaintiff's own negligence is not greater than the combined negligence of the defendants and other responsible parties, which is often described as a 51 percent bar. If the plaintiff is partly at fault, the recovery is reduced in proportion to that share of fault. If the plaintiff's fault is greater than the combined fault of the parties from whom recovery is sought, the plaintiff recovers nothing.

Wrongful-death medical malpractice in Connecticut

When malpractice causes death, the claim is brought under Connecticut's wrongful-death statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-555, which has its own deadlines. The action must be brought within two years from the date of death, and in no event more than five years from the date of the act or omission complained of. The claim is typically brought by the executor or administrator of the deceased patient's estate. Because the wrongful-death timeline differs from the standard two-year malpractice limit, confirming the correct deadline early matters.

How to evaluate and preserve a possible claim

While every situation is different and this is general information rather than legal advice, people who suspect malpractice in Connecticut often start by requesting complete medical records and noting key dates, because the two-year and three-year clocks under 52-584 can be unforgiving. Preserving records, test results, and a timeline helps an expert evaluate whether the standard of care was met. Connecticut requires a supporting written opinion from a similar provider before the certificate of good faith can be filed, and if that opinion cannot be obtained in time, the 90-day extension has to be requested by petitioning the court clerk under 52-190a before the deadline passes, so consulting a licensed Connecticut attorney early is important. Malpractice cases are commonly handled on a contingency-fee basis, and no attorney can promise a particular outcome or dollar amount.