Back to Iowa

SF2 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

Healthcare
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
LOFGREN
Last action
2025-01-14
Official status
Subcommittee: Schultz, Bousselot, and Petersen. S.J. 71 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Schultz, Bousselot, and Petersen. S.J. 71 .

  2. 2025-01-13 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Judiciary. S.J. 35 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the statute of repose in medical malpractice claims.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

2

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

2

BY

LOFGREN

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

statute

of

repose

in

medical

malpractice

1

claims.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1059XS

(2)

91

cm/jh

S.F.

2

Section

1.

Section

614.1,

subsection

9,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

Except

as

provided

in

paragraph

“b”

,

those

founded

on

3

injuries

to

the

person

or

wrongful

death

against

any

physician

4

and

surgeon,

osteopathic

physician

and

surgeon,

dentist,

5

podiatric

physician,

optometrist,

pharmacist,

chiropractor,

6

physician

assistant,

or

nurse,

licensed

under

chapter

147

,

or

a

7

hospital

licensed

under

chapter

135B

,

arising

out

of

patient

8

care,

within

two

years

after

the

date

on

which

the

claimant

9

knew,

or

through

the

use

of

reasonable

diligence

should

have

10

known,

or

received

notice

in

writing

of

the

existence

of,

the

11

injury

or

death

for

which

damages

are

sought

in

the

action,

12

whichever

of

the

dates

occurs

first

,

but

.

However,

in

no

event

13

shall

any

action

be

brought

more

than

six

years

after

the

date

14

on

which

occurred

the

act

or

omission

or

occurrence

alleged

in

15

the

action

to

have

been

the

cause

of

the

injury

or

death

unless

16

a

any

of

the

following

are

true:

17

(1)

A

foreign

object

unintentionally

left

in

the

body

caused

18

the

injury

or

death.

19

(2)

The

licensee

or

the

licensee’s

staff

concealed

from

the

20

person

the

act,

omission,

or

occurrence

that

was

the

cause

of

21

the

injury

or

death.

22

EXPLANATION

23

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

24

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

25

This

bill

relates

to

the

statute

of

repose

for

medical

26

malpractice

claims.

27

Under

current

law,

medical

malpractice

claims

are

subject

28

to

a

two-year

statute

of

limitations

and

six-year

statute

of

29

repose.

A

statute

of

limitations

bars

the

right

to

bring

an

30

accrued

action

after

a

specified

time,

whereas

a

statute

of

31

repose

terminates

any

right

of

action

after

a

specified

time,

32

regardless

of

whether

or

not

an

injury

has

yet

occurred.

33

Specifically,

current

Code

section

614.1(9)(a)

requires

34

that

medical

malpractice

claims

be

brought

within

two

years

35

-1-

LSB

1059XS

(2)

91

cm/jh

1/

2

S.F.

2

after

the

date

on

which

the

claimant

knew,

should

have

known

1

through

the

use

of

reasonable

diligence,

or

received

notice

2

in

writing

of

the

existence

of,

the

injury

or

death

for

which

3

damages

are

sought

in

the

action,

whichever

of

the

dates

occurs

4

first.

Current

Code

section

614.1(9)(a)

bars

actions

brought

5

more

than

six

years

after

the

date

of

the

act

or

omission

6

alleged

to

have

been

the

cause

of

the

injury

or

death,

but

7

exempts

from

the

statute

of

repose

cases

where

a

foreign

object

8

was

unintentionally

left

in

the

body

and

caused

the

injury

or

9

death.

10

The

bill

provides

a

second

exception

to

the

six-year

statute

11

of

repose.

Under

the

bill,

if

the

cause

of

the

injury

or

12

death

was

concealed

from

the

person

by

the

physician

and

13

surgeon,

osteopathic

physician

and

surgeon,

dentist,

podiatric

14

physician,

optometrist,

pharmacist,

chiropractor,

physician

15

assistant,

nurse,

or

hospital,

or

their

staff,

the

six-year

16

statute

of

repose

does

not

apply.

17

-2-

LSB

1059XS

(2)

91

cm/jh

2/

2