Instantly Connect For Your Auburn Medical Malpractice Consultation When Filling Out Form
Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Auburn
Before getting into deadlines, one thing sets Washington apart: a medical malpractice claim can be filed without the pre-suit notice or certificate-of-merit steps several other states require, a difference in procedure, not in what the case ultimately has to show. Both of those requirements existed in Washington law at one point and were struck down by the state’s own Supreme Court, not simply left out of the statute.
Auburn's Trauma Care Landscape
MultiCare Auburn Medical Center holds a Level III Trauma Center designation, handling the substantial majority of trauma cases in the Auburn area directly.
Auburn also straddles two counties, with the small Lakeland Hills area falling in Pierce County while the rest of the city, including its hospital, sits in King County, the same split already relevant to which Superior Court has jurisdiction, and worth keeping in mind here too since it can affect which county’s emergency response and referral network actually served a given patient.
The Right Court for This Claim
Medical malpractice cases here are filed in King County Superior Court. Venue depends on where the underlying care took place, not on where the patient lives now.
Why There's No Waiting Period Before Filing
Washington law once required 90 days’ written notice to a health care provider before filing suit, under RCW 7.70.100(1), but the Washington Supreme Court struck that requirement down in Waples v. Yi, holding it conflicted with the state’s own court rules and violated separation of powers. The practical result: a Washington malpractice complaint can be filed the same way any other civil case is commenced, without a separate advance-notice step first.
What's Gone at Filing, and What Isn't
RCW 7.70.150 once required a certificate of merit, a signed statement from a qualifying expert, filed alongside the complaint itself, but the Washington Supreme Court struck it down in Putman v. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, PS, 166 Wn.2d 974, 216 P.3d 374 (Wash. 2009), on both access-to-courts and separation-of-powers grounds. That doesn’t mean expert involvement stops mattering, RCW 7.70.040 still requires proving, through expert testimony in nearly every case, that the provider failed to meet the standard of care a reasonably prudent provider would have met, and that the failure caused the injury.
Washington Doesn't Cap Malpractice Damages
Washington enacted a damage cap, RCW 4.56.250, in 1986, but the Washington Supreme Court struck it down in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636, 771 P.2d 711 (Wash. 1989), holding it violated the state constitution’s right to a jury trial by interfering with the jury’s own role in setting damages. No legislative attempt to reinstate a malpractice-specific cap has succeeded since, so there’s been no statutory ceiling on recoverable damages in Washington for well over three decades.
The Discovery Rule, and the Repose Clause That No Longer Applies
Under RCW 4.16.350, a Washington medical malpractice claim generally has to be filed within three years of the act or omission that caused the injury, or one year from when the injury and its cause were discovered or reasonably should have been, whichever period expires later. RCW 4.16.350’s text also sets an eight-year outer limit from the act or omission, but that repose clause was ruled unconstitutional by the Washington Supreme Court in Bennett v. United States (Dec. 7, 2023), under the state constitution’s privileges and immunities clause, so it’s no longer enforceable even though the statute’s printed text still contains it.
Also worth a look:
Get Matched With an Attorney
Tell us what happened, and our system matches your case details and location in Auburn to an attorney in our network who actually handles claims like yours. No call centers. No directories. Direct connection in seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a waiting period before filing a Washington medical malpractice claim?
Although RCW 7.70.100(1) still requires 90 days’ notice in its printed text, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that requirement unenforceable in Waples v. Yi. This is one of the clearer examples of a Washington statute whose text hasn’t caught up with how it’s actually enforced.
What happened to Washington’s certificate-of-merit requirement?
RCW 7.70.150 once required one, but the Washington Supreme Court struck it down in Putman v. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, PS, 166 Wn.2d 974, 216 P.3d 374 (Wash. 2009). The distinction between a filing-stage requirement and a trial-stage requirement matters here: one is gone, the other isn’t.
What’s the deadline to sue for medical malpractice in Washington?
Generally three years from the act or omission, or one year from discovery, whichever expires later, under RCW 4.16.350. Because the repose clause is unenforceable but still printed in the statute, relying on an outdated summary of Washington law that treats eight years as a hard cap would be a real mistake.
How much can I recover in a Washington medical malpractice claim?
Washington has had no enforceable damage cap since the Washington Supreme Court struck one down in Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636, 771 P.2d 711 (Wash. 1989). This has been the case since 1989, longer than either of Washington’s other two struck-down requirements, pre-suit notice and certificate of merit, have been off the books.
Which court handles medical malpractice cases in Auburn?
These claims are filed in the King County Superior Court.
The Clock Is Already Running
