What is the deadline to sue for medical malpractice in California?

The shorter of two clocks: three years from the date of injury, or one year from the date you discovered — or reasonably should have discovered — the injury. Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 runs both periods simultaneously, and whichever expires first controls, which makes the one-year discovery rule the operative deadline in most cases. Three tolling doctrines extend the three-year outer limit: fraud, intentional concealment, and a foreign object left in the body with no therapeutic purpose. Children get special treatment — a minor injured before age six may sue until age eight or within three years, whichever is longer, with birth-injury claims measured from birth. One procedural overlay changes the math: section 364 requires 90 days' advance notice of intent to sue, and a notice served within the last 90 days of the limitations period extends the deadline. Given the interplay, the practical rule is simple: once malpractice is suspected, the one-year clock is likely already running.

Authority: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5