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★ Montana · medical negligence

Medical negligence settlements
in Montana.

By 9 min read

Montana raised its malpractice noneconomic cap: $350,000 for 2026, climbing $50,000 a year to $500,000 in 2029. Cases start with the Montana Medical Legal Panel. A family lost a claim over a foot mass that proved to be a rare cancer, and a woman won the right to a jury on when she discovered her knee surgery injury.

Facts that decide a medical negligence claim in Montana

Noneconomic cap$350,000 from January 1, 2026, then $400,000 in 2027, $450,000 in 2028, $500,000 in 2029, and 2 percent a year after that.Mont. Code Ann. § 25-9-411
Panel firstClaimants must submit the case to the Montana Medical Legal Panel before filing a complaint.Mont. Code Ann. § 27-6-301
DeadlineTwo years from the injury or its discovery, whichever is later, but never more than five years after the injury.Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-205
★ band · US federal frame
$30,000 to statutory cap
Medical negligence (non-fatal)
State medical-malpractice cap as in force on the date of injury

The US band is the starting point. Montana's fault rule and any applicable cap then adjust the figure.

united states · sister site
Your medical negligence claim in Montana. See the number for your own case.

The range above is a starting point. FairSettlement gives you a free estimate for your own medical negligence case in about two minutes, no cost and no obligation.

Check my case
★ MT · reported medical negligence outcomes

What Montana courts have awarded.

Real Montana decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Steffensmier v. Huebner
    Montana Supreme Court · 2018
    Defense verdict affirmed

    In December 2006 a podiatrist aspirated bloody fluid from a mass on Bushong’s right foot, called it a benign ganglion cyst and did not biopsy it. Five months later another podiatrist saw signs of malignancy, and doctors diagnosed extraskeletal osteosarcoma; Bushong died in 2009. His estate lost at trial, and the court held there was no error in refusing a loss of chance instruction.

  • Wilson v. Brandt
    Montana Supreme Court · 2017
    Summary judgment reversed

    Wilson twisted her knee at work in October 2007. After a meniscus repair, Dr. Brandt reconstructed her ACL in February 2008, drilling a tibial tunnel. She had new pain at the tunnel site but did not know its cause. The trial court held her claim time barred, and the Supreme Court reversed: a jury must decide when she discovered, or should have discovered, the injury.

★ MT · medical negligence · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a medical negligence settlement in Montana.

  1. 1

    File with the Medical Legal Panel before suing; skipping it can end the case.

  2. 2

    Keep a record of when you first learned a problem might be the doctor’s fault; it sets the clock.

  3. 3

    A loss of chance instruction is not given in every case; the court found no error in refusing it in Steffensmier.

★ MT · statute of limitations
3 years from date of injury

Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204

★ MT · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ MT · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a medical negligence settlement in Montana.

★ medical negligence · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Montana's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for medical negligence claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationMedical negligence page
Montana · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injury—
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · medical negligence →
OregonModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOR · medical negligence →
UtahModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeUT · medical negligence →
WashingtonPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryWA · medical negligence →
WyomingModified comparative, 51% bar4 years from date of injuryWY · medical negligence →
AlaskaPure comparative negligence2 years from date of injury or discoveryAK · medical negligence →
New HampshireModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryNH · medical negligence →
New JerseyModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryNJ · medical negligence →
OhioModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOH · medical negligence →
OklahomaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOK · medical negligence →
NebraskaModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeNE · medical negligence →
New MexicoPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryNM · medical negligence →
★ MT · medical negligence · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

Sources

Checked 2026-09-30. Every figure on this page comes from one of these documents.

★ all of MT
Montana overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Montana as a whole.

★ federal frame
Medical negligence in United States

Medical negligence band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Medical negligence · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of medical negligence bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are starting points: the US band adjusted for Montana's statutory framework. They are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Montana. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.