Where Maryland cases begin: HCADRO
A Maryland medical malpractice case does not start in circuit court. It starts at the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (HCADRO), where the claim must be filed first (Md. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-04). Within ninety days, the claimant must file a certificate of qualified expert with an attached report: a board-relevant physician attesting that the standard of care was breached and the breach caused the injury. Maryland polices its experts closely: an attesting expert may not devote more than roughly a fifth of their professional time to testifying. Arbitration at HCADRO can be (and almost always is) waived (§ 3-2A-06B), sending the case to circuit court, but the filing and certificate gates are mandatory.
Deadlines and the age-eleven rule for children
Maryland’s malpractice deadline is the earlier of five years from the injury or three years from its discovery (§ 5-109). For children the statute holds the clock: it does not begin to run until age eleven, and for claims involving injuries to the reproductive system or foreign objects, age sixteen. A child injured at delivery therefore generally has until the fourteenth to sixteenth birthday, depending on how the five-year and three-year branches fall. That is generous by national standards, but the parents’ own claims follow adult deadlines, and evidence (fetal strips, witnesses’ memories, NICU staff) does not improve with age. Our statute of limitations guide puts Maryland’s rule in context.
Maryland’s rising non-economic cap
Maryland caps non-economic damages in malpractice cases by formula: $650,000 for claims arising in 2009, rising $15,000 every January 1 (§ 3-2A-09). For claims arising in 2026 the cap is $905,000, with wrongful death cases involving two or more claimants capped at 125% of that figure. Economic damages are uncapped: the lifetime cost of a child’s care (nursing, therapy, equipment, lost earning capacity) is compensable in full and, in catastrophic cases involving Maryland’s academic medical centers, is where the substantial verdicts and settlements are actually built.
Maryland deliveries, federal hospitals, and the network
Even well-run deliveries sometimes end in injury, and those injuries are not grounds for a malpractice claim. The claims that proceed involve preventable failures: fetal distress without a timely response, delayed cesareans, mismanaged shoulder dystocia, untreated jaundice. The diagnoses that drive these cases include hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, and kernicterus. Maryland’s delivery landscape runs from Baltimore’s world-known academic hospitals to the Washington suburbs’ high-volume systems, and it includes Walter Reed and other federal facilities, where claims proceed under the Federal Tort Claims Act’s two-year administrative rule rather than Maryland’s.
Birth Injury Advocate is the alliance of Banville Law (New York and Washington, D.C.) and The Weitz Firm, LLC (Pennsylvania and New Jersey). Neither is licensed in Maryland, and being licensed next door in D.C. does not change that. When you contact us about a Maryland delivery, we connect your family with the alliance’s vetted network of local birth injury attorneys: Maryland-licensed lawyers who file at HCADRO, meet the certificate rules, and try cases under the § 3-2A-09 cap, or with FTCA counsel when the delivery was federal. Consultation is free; a fee is charged only when the case ends in a recovery.
Maryland gives children time, but the case is built from records that will not wait. A free review now preserves what the claim will need later.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a birth injury lawsuit in Maryland?
The earlier of five years from the injury or three years from discovery (§ 5-109), but for children the clock does not start until age eleven, so a birth injury claim generally survives to the mid-teens. Parents’ own claims follow adult deadlines, and federal-facility deliveries follow the FTCA.
Does Maryland cap damages in birth injury cases?
Non-economic damages only. Under § 3-2A-09 the cap rises $15,000 each year ($905,000 for claims arising in 2026), while economic damages, including lifetime care costs, are uncapped.
What is HCADRO and do I have to file there?
Yes. Maryland malpractice claims must be filed first with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (§ 3-2A-04), with a certificate of qualified expert and report within ninety days. Arbitration is almost always waived to circuit court, but the HCADRO gates are mandatory.
Sources
- Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-109: limitations for health care malpractice; provisions for minors.
- Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-04: HCADRO filing and certificate of qualified expert.
- Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-06B: waiver of arbitration.
- Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2A-09: non-economic damages cap, increasing annually.
- Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq.: claims arising at federal medical facilities.
This page is for general education and is not legal advice; statutes and cases are cited by name and number so you can verify them, and deadlines depend on facts specific to your case. Legal statements reflect the reviewing attorneys’ professional experience. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.