What is Georgia’s 5-year statute of repose for medical malpractice claims?

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A statute of repose is an outer time limit that ends the right to sue regardless of when the harm is discovered. In Georgia medical malpractice, that absolute cutoff is five years, and it operates as a hard backstop behind the ordinary filing deadline.

How the five-year cutoff functions

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71, a medical malpractice action generally must be brought within two years after the date on which the injury or death occurred, and in no event may it be brought more than five years after the date on which the negligent or wrongful act or omission occurred. The five-year provision is the statute of repose. Once five years pass from the underlying act, the cause of action is extinguished, not merely time-barred in the usual sense.

The critical feature is that the clock runs from the act or omission itself, not from when the patient learns of the injury. A person who discovers a malpractice-related injury only after five years have elapsed will, in most circumstances, find that the claim no longer exists. The repose period is designed to give providers and insurers certainty that liability cannot surface indefinitely.

Repose versus the ordinary deadline

It helps to separate two ideas. The two-year limitation period governs how long a known claim can sit before it must be filed. The five-year repose period sets the ultimate boundary beyond which even an undiscovered claim is gone. Both can be in play at once: a claim must satisfy the two-year rule and still fall within the five-year window measured from the negligent act.

Because repose is meant to be firm, it resists many of the arguments that can extend an ordinary limitation period. It is not generally subject to the discovery-based tolling that can delay accrual of other claims.

The bottom line

Georgia’s five-year statute of repose in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 is an absolute deadline that, with narrow exceptions, eliminates a medical malpractice claim five years after the negligent act, no matter when the injury comes to light. It works alongside the two-year limitation period as the outer limit on when a provider can be sued.

This article is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and Georgia law may change. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed Georgia personal injury attorney.

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