Medical malpractice in Alabama

For injury claims, file within two years of the act or omission, or within six months of late discovery, and generally no later than four years after the act. For death claims, file within two years after death. Young children have special outer timing under the medical liability statute.

Injury claims

An action against a physician, surgeon, dentist, medical institution, or other health care provider for liability, error, mistake, or failure to cure generally must be commenced within two years after the act, omission, or failure. If the claim is not discovered, and is not reasonably discoverable, within that period, suit may be commenced within six months of discovery, or of facts that would reasonably lead to discovery. In no event may that path extend more than four years after the act, aside from a narrow historical exception for acts before 1975.

Ala. Code § 6-5-482 (opens in a new tab)

Young children

A minor under four years of age has until the eighth birthday, notwithstanding the four-year outer language.

Wrongful death

The personal representative must commence a wrongful-death action within two years after death. The medical-liability discovery and repose scheme does not extend that two-year-from-death deadline. Medical-liability timing can still matter to whether the decedent could have sued if death had not occurred.

Ala. Code § 6-5-410 (opens in a new tab)

Expert proof

Standard of care and causation generally require qualified expert evidence under the Alabama Medical Liability Act. There is no statewide medical review panel and no universal certificate-of-merit filing gate of the kind used in some other states. Expert qualification and similar-locality issues are heavily litigated. Confirm any local rule or later statutory change.

Ala. Code § 6-5-482 (opens in a new tab)

These notes describe public legal patterns. They are not case counts, win rates, or rankings.

1. The printed caps are not enforceable

   Moore struck the former noneconomic cap, and Smith v. Schulte struck the former medical-malpractice wrongful-death cap. Do not show either figure as a live Alabama cap.

   Smith v. Schulte (opens in a new tab)

2. Death awards are punitive only

   A wrongful-death recovery punishes and deters. It is not a standard award of medical bills or lost income. The two-year clock runs from death, not from the medical-liability discovery window.

   Ala. Code § 6-5-410 (opens in a new tab)

3. Two clocks are easy to confuse

   An injury claim uses two years, a six-month late-discovery window, and a four-year outer limit. A death claim uses two years from death. A minor under four has until the eighth birthday on the injury statute.

   Ala. Code § 6-5-482 (opens in a new tab)

Payment amounts vary by year, injury, and setting. This page does not state an average payout, a median, or a case count. To predict the payout for an Alabama case, use MedMalPredict AI - Medical Malpractice Outcome Prediction.

Without an enforceable noneconomic cap, injury outcomes turn on liability and damages proof. Death cases follow Alabama's punitive wrongful-death model.

Official statute and agency pages checked September 22, 2026. First research pass on September 22, 2026. This summary still needs legal review before it is treated as legal advice. There is no enforceable statutory noneconomic or wrongful-death medical malpractice dollar cap after Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Ass'n, 592 So. 2d 156 (Ala. 1991), and Smith v. Schulte, 671 So. 2d 1334 (Ala. 1995). Later attempts to revive printed caps have been rejected. This page does not print those former dollar amounts as current law. Ordinary medical-liability timing under Ala. Code 6-5-482 is two years, a six-month late-discovery window, and a four-year outer limit. A minor under four has until the eighth birthday. Wrongful death must be filed within two years of death under Ala. Code 6-5-410, and those damages are punitive only, not a compensatory package for medical bills or lost income. The Alabama Medical Liability Act discovery scheme does not extend that death filing deadline.

1. Ala. Code § 6-5-482 (statute mirror) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
2. Ala. Code § 6-5-410 (wrongful death) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
3. Smith v. Schulte (Alabama Supreme Court) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026