In any medical liability action, a summons shall be served on the defendant, or defendants, within one hundred eighty (180) days of the filing of the lawsuit or the case shall be deemed dismissed without prejudice.
§ 150.Medical Liability Actions - Summons
Chapter 6: Commencement of Actions · Last amended July 1, 2003 · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 150 requires that a summons be served on the defendant, or defendants, in a medical liability action within 180 days of filing the lawsuit, or the case is deemed dismissed without prejudice.
Full Text of § 150
Amendment History
Added by Laws 2003, SB 629, c. 390, §9, emerg. eff. 7/1/2003.
Plain-English Summary
Oklahoma gives plaintiffs in medical liability suits a service deadline most civil cases don't face: summons must reach the defendant, or defendants, within 180 days of filing. Miss that window, and the case doesn't just falter — the statute deems it dismissed without prejudice, so the plaintiff can typically refile, subject to whatever statute of limitations still applies, but has to start over.
The rule puts the burden on the plaintiff to track service closely once a malpractice claim is on file, rather than leaving the matter to the open-ended diligence standards that govern service in other kinds of actions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a defendant isn't served within 180 days in an Oklahoma medical malpractice case?
The case is deemed dismissed without prejudice, which generally lets the plaintiff refile, though the refiled case still has to satisfy whatever statute of limitations applies.
Does the 180-day clock start at filing or at some other point?
It starts when the lawsuit is filed, not when the alleged malpractice happened or was discovered.
Does this 180-day deadline apply to every civil lawsuit in Oklahoma?
No. Section 150 singles out medical liability actions; other civil cases follow different service timelines.
Can a court extend the 180-day service deadline in a medical liability case?
The text sets the deadline without listing any exceptions, so an extension would depend on other rules or case law rather than anything written into this section.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: 180 day rule oklahoma malpracticemedical malpractice summons deadline oklahomamedical liability action service of processoklahoma dismissal without prejudice malpractice