Medical malpractice in Indiana
Act-date total recovery ceiling
Indiana medical malpractice claims against providers who qualify under the Medical Malpractice Act generally face a two-year filing clock, a required medical review panel before ordinary court suits, and a statutory total recovery ceiling paid partly by the provider and partly by the Patient's Compensation Fund.
Last reviewed September 22, 2026
- Total recovery
- $1,800,000
- Provider share
- $500,000
- Usual filing window
- 2 years
Acts after June 30, 2019, injury or death
Qualified provider limit for those later acts
From the act, omission, or neglect
Damage caps
For malpractice acts after June 30, 2019, total recovery for a patient's injury or death generally may not exceed $1,800,000. A qualified provider's own liability is generally limited to $500,000, with excess up to the total ceiling paid from the Patient's Compensation Fund. Older acts use lower statutory bands. This is a total-damages ceiling for qualified providers, not a separate noneconomic cap.
Inside the total
Economic damages
Economic losses are part of the single total recovery ceiling for a qualified provider. Indiana does not set a separate noneconomic-only cap under the Act. The act date selects the band.
Amounts above the qualified provider's share, up to the total ceiling, come from the Patient's Compensation Fund. Recovering that excess follows the statutory fund petition and court approval path after settlement or judgment establishing provider liability.
Combined total
Noneconomic damages
Pain and suffering and other noneconomic losses are not capped on their own schedule. They sit inside the same total recovery ceiling as economic losses. For an act after June 30, 2019, that total may not exceed $1,800,000 for injury or death of a patient.
Do not treat Indiana as a noneconomic-only cap state. The act date controls the schedule. Acts after June 30, 2017 and before July 1, 2019 use a $1,650,000 total. Older acts use lower totals in the statute, including $1,250,000, $750,000, and $500,000 bands.
The total ceiling is on the amount recoverable for the patient's injury or death. A qualified provider is not liable above the provider share for that act date: $500,000 after June 30, 2019, with earlier provider bands of $400,000 and $250,000. A provider who does not qualify under the Act is outside this structure. Confirm qualification, including proof of financial responsibility and the surcharge, before treating the ceilings as controlling.
Total recovery by act date
The act date selects the band. The row for acts after June 30, 2019 matches this review. These are statutory ceilings, not payment averages.
| Milestone | Total recovery | Qualified provider share |
|---|---|---|
| Acts after June 30, 2019Review year | $1,800,000 | $500,000 |
| After June 30, 2017 and before July 1, 2019 | $1,650,000 | $400,000 |
IC 34-18-14-3 also sets older total ceilings, including $1,250,000, $750,000, and $500,000 bands, and an earlier qualified-provider share of $250,000. The statute's act-date windows control those older bands. The Patient's Compensation Fund pays amounts above the provider share, up to the total ceiling, through the statutory petition path. Providers who are not qualified under the Act are outside these ceilings.
Filing deadlines
File within two years of the alleged act or omission in most cases. Children under six generally have until their eighth birthday. Filing a proposed complaint typically tolls the deadline through the panel process. Confirm whether each defendant is a qualified provider under the Act.
- General rule
A claim based on professional services or health care that was provided, or that should have been provided, generally may not be brought unless it is filed within two years after the date of the alleged act, omission, or neglect. The statute is framed as an occurrence deadline. Latent injury and discovery questions are fact specific. Do not treat Indiana as having a broad discovery rule.
- Young children
A minor less than six years of age has until the minor's eighth birthday.
- Panel tolling
Filing a proposed complaint with the Department of Insurance generally tolls the limitations period until 90 days after the claimant receives the medical review panel opinion.
- Medical review panel
Except for narrow statutory exceptions, including certain small claims under the Act, an action against a qualified health care provider generally may not be commenced in court before the proposed complaint is presented to a medical review panel and the panel gives an opinion.
What cases often look like
These notes describe public legal patterns. They are not case counts, win rates, or rankings.
The act date sets a total ceiling
The valuation headline for a qualified provider is an act-date total cap, with the Patient's Compensation Fund as the backstop above the provider share. Do not split that ceiling into a separate noneconomic average.
The panel comes before court
For an ordinary claim against a qualified provider, the proposed complaint goes to a medical review panel, and the panel gives an opinion, before a court case starts.
Qualification changes the case
A provider who does not qualify under the Act is outside the panel and ceiling structure. Qualification can change both procedure and the recovery that is available.
Payout context
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 Indiana case, use MedMalPredict AI - Medical Malpractice Outcome Prediction.
Outcomes turn on Act qualification, panel review, proof of damages, and the act-date total ceiling.
Sources
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. The Indiana Medical Malpractice Act, Indiana Code article 34-18, uses an act-date total recovery ceiling and a qualified-provider front-end limit, with excess paid from the Patient's Compensation Fund. For an act after June 30, 2019, the total is $1,800,000 and the qualified provider share is $500,000. Earlier acts use lower statutory bands. A medical review panel opinion is generally required before an ordinary court case against a qualified provider. The filing period is two years from the occurrence, with a young-child rule to the eighth birthday. Confirm qualification, the act-date band, and panel exceptions on the facts.
- IC 34-18-14-3 (recovery limitations) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
- Indiana Code Title 34, Article 18 (Medical Malpractice) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
- IC 34-18-7-1 (limitations) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
- IC 34-18-7-3 (tolling) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
- IC 34-18-8-4 (medical review panel) (opens in a new tab)Accessed September 22, 2026
Review a case with MedMalPredict
Use MedMalPredict to organize records and timelines. Speak with an Indiana attorney about panel filing, Patient's Compensation Fund procedure, and which act-date cap band applies.