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Washington law doesn’t front-load a medical malpractice case with the notice or certification steps some states require before a defendant is even served, though the standard-of-care evidence a case eventually needs is no lighter for it. 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.
Spokane's Trauma Care Landscape
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center is a Level II Trauma Center, one of only two Level II trauma centers anywhere in Eastern Washington, the other being Kadlec Regional Medical Center in neighboring Richland. Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, on the same campus, is separately designated a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center.
That concentration of care means the hospital draws patients from well beyond Spokane itself, transferred in from smaller Eastern Washington communities without a comparable level of trauma capability nearby. Whether care in a Spokane malpractice case started at Sacred Heart directly or arrived there after a transfer from elsewhere in the region is often one of the first facts worth establishing.
Which Court Handles This
Medical malpractice cases here are filed in Spokane County Superior Court. Venue depends on where the underlying care took place, not on where the patient lives now.
The 90-Day Notice Period Washington No Longer Requires
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.
Fewer Filing Hurdles Doesn't Mean a Lighter Case
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.
No Statutory Ceiling on What a Jury Can Award
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.
Three Years, One Year From Discovery, Whichever Is Later
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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn’t Washington enforce its own pre-suit notice statute?
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.
Is Washington’s malpractice case easier to win without a certificate of merit?
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.
Does Washington’s filing deadline ever get extended?
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.
Why doesn’t Washington cap malpractice damages?
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.
What’s the correct venue for a health care liability claim from Spokane?
These claims are filed in the Spokane County Superior Court.
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