Missouri · Medical malpractice · Updated
Medical malpractice cases in Missouri: the rules and the lawyers
The deadline to file, the fault rule and the other Missouri rules that matter for a medical malpractice case, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
We don’t list firms in Missouri that take medical malpractice cases yet.
At a glance
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · Not legal advice
Deadline to file
2 years
In Missouri, an action against a health care provider for malpractice, negligence, error or mistake related to health care must be brought within two years from the date of the act of neglect1. Separate two-year discovery rules apply to retained foreign objects and to a negligent failure to report test results1.
That is the deadline for medical malpractice cases. The usual deadline for other injury claims in Missouri is 5 years.
If you were partly at fault
We don’t show Missouri’s rule for shared fault here until we have checked it against the official text. If you may have been partly at fault, ask a lawyer how that affects your claim.
Firms we list
0 firms
None yet for medical malpractice cases.
Know this first
Step 1: Five years to file in court
5 years(2 for medical mistakes; 3 for a death)
In Missouri, most injury lawsuits must be filed in court within five years2.
When the clock starts, and whether an exception applies, can depend on the facts. A lawyer can tell you your exact date.
The law, as written
Personal injury5 years
In Missouri, an action for “any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not herein otherwise enumerated” must be brought within five years2.
More detail
In Missouri, the cause of action accrues not when the wrong is done but “when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable of ascertainment”3.
If a government body was involved
Step 2: Claims against the state or a local government
If a government vehicle, government property or a public employee was part of what happened, a shorter notice or claim step may come first. Ask a lawyer about it early.
The law, as written
Claims against the state and local government90-day notice (city street defects)
In Missouri, sovereign immunity is waived for compensatory damages for injuries from public employees' negligent operation of motor vehicles in the course of employment and for injuries caused by a dangerous condition of a public entity's property4. Liability on those claims is capped at $2,000,000 for all claims from one occurrence and $300,000 for any one person5, adjusted each January 15, and no award may include punitive damages5.
More detail
In Missouri, no action for injuries from a defect in a bridge, boulevard, street, sidewalk or thoroughfare may be maintained against a city of 100,000 or more inhabitants unless written notice is given to the mayor “within ninety days of the occurrence”6. Third-class cities7 and fourth-class cities8 have the same 90-day written-notice rule for defects or unsafe conditions. Other city classes and charter provisions are outside this summary.
How fault is counted
Step 3: If you were partly at fault
We don’t show Missouri’s rule for shared fault here until we have checked it against the official text. If you may have been partly at fault, ask a lawyer how that affects your claim.
If a doctor, hospital or clinic was involved
Step 4: Medical malpractice has its own limits
Claims against a doctor, hospital or clinic often have their own deadline and extra steps before filing.
The law, as written
Medical negligence2 years
In Missouri, an action against a health care provider for malpractice, negligence, error or mistake related to health care must be brought within two years from the date of the act of neglect1. Separate two-year discovery rules apply to retained foreign objects and to a negligent failure to report test results1.
More detail
In Missouri, no medical-negligence action may be commenced more than ten years after the act of neglect or two years after a minor's eighteenth birthday, whichever is later1. If service is made after limitations has run, it must be made within 180 days of filing the petition or the court must dismiss1.
If they were a minor
Step 5: If the injured person is a child
The clock can run differently for a child’s claim.
The law, as written
Minors and incapacityTolled until 21 (except med-mal)
In Missouri, a person who is under twenty-one or mentally incapacitated when the cause of action accrues may sue within the normal period after the disability is removed, except for actions governed by § 516.1059. For medical negligence, a minor under eighteen has “until his or her twentieth birthday to bring such action”1.
Next
Step 6: What to do with this
- Write down the datesThe day you were hurt, the day treatment ended, and anything a government body or hospital sent you.
- Ask a lawyer about your factsThese rules have exceptions that depend on details. A lawyer licensed in Missouri can tell you which ones apply.
- Ask each firmWhich deadline applies to me, does a notice need to go out, and by when?
More Missouri rules
This page keeps to the rules that matter most for a medical malpractice case. The Missouri page has all of them.
Injured in Missouri: all deadlines and rules
Other case types in Missouri:
After a medical malpractice: the general guide
What to do if you think a doctor, hospital or clinic hurt you: get care, get your records, and learn the extra steps and short deadlines that medical-malpractice claims often have, state by state.
How to check a lawyer’s license in Missouri
Each state keeps a public list of lawyers. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up by name and read what the listing says about their license. If it isn’t clear, call the office that keeps the list.
How we list firms
How we list firms
We don’t rank firms. Listing is free and doesn’t depend on buying anything.
Firms are listed for free, in A–Z order, when they say they take medical malpractice cases. Every fact shows its source and date. We don’t recommend lawyers, and we don’t pass on your details.
Sources
Where the legal facts on this page come from
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.105Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.105
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.100Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.100
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.600Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.600
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.610Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.610
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 82.210Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 82.210
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 77.600Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 77.600
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 79.480Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 79.480
- Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.170Read the source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.170
This is general information, not legal advice.