(a) The provisions of this article shall not apply to any cause of action which arose prior to July 1, 1976, and as to which the statute of limitations had not run prior to that date, regardless of the date any suit brought thereon is filed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in actions which accrued prior to July 1, 1976, if a claimant has filed notice under § 8.01-581.2 of this article, his cause of action and any defense thereto shall be governed by this article.
§ 8.01-581.12:2.Article not applicable to actions arising prior to July 1, 1976.
Chapter 21.1. Medical Malpractice · Article 1. Medical Malpractice Review Panels; Arbitration of Malpractice Claims · Last amended 1978 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceThis transition provision keeps the review-panel article off pre-July-1976 malpractice claims unless the claimant had already filed a panel-review notice before the statute of limitations ran, in which case the article’s procedures and defenses govern that claim retroactively.
Full Text of § 8.01-581.12:2
(b) The term "has filed," as used in this section, is deemed to include the filing of notice under § 8.01-581.2 (or under repealed § 8-912) of this article where such filing occurred prior to the expiration of any applicable statute of limitation when the cause of action arose prior to July 1, 1976. This subsection (b) shall be applied retroactively to such causes of action.
Plain-English Summary
Virginia’s review panel article took effect on July 1, 1976, and this section draws the line for claims that arose before that date. As a general rule, the article doesn’t apply to a cause of action that arose before July 1, 1976, so long as the statute of limitations on that claim hadn’t already run by then — and that holds true no matter when a lawsuit on that claim gets filed.
There’s an important exception. If a claimant filed a notice under § 8.01-581.2 of this article — requesting panel review — while the statute of limitations on a pre-1976 claim was still running, then that claim and any defenses to it are governed by this article after all. The section also clarifies that “has filed” reaches back to include notice filed under the old, repealed § 8-912, the predecessor to § 8.01-581.2, so long as that filing happened before the limitations period expired on a pre-1976 claim — and this retroactive reading applies regardless of when the question comes up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the review panel article apply to malpractice claims that arose before July 1, 1976?
Generally no, unless the claimant filed a panel-review notice under § 8.01-581.2 (or its predecessor, the repealed § 8-912) while the statute of limitations was still running on that claim.
Does the filing date of the lawsuit affect this cutoff?
No. The article doesn’t apply to pre-1976 causes of action “regardless of the date any suit brought thereon is filed.”
What triggers retroactive application of the article to a pre-1976 claim?
The claimant having filed notice under § 8.01-581.2 of this article.
Does the section’s clarification about “has filed” apply going forward only, or retroactively?
It is expressly applied retroactively to causes of action that arose before July 1, 1976.
What older, repealed statute does the section treat as equivalent to filing notice under § 8.01-581.2?
The repealed § 8-912.
Amendment History
Code 1950, § 8-924; 1977, c. 422; 1978, c. 262.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: virginia medical malpractice article effective date 1976pre-1976 malpractice claims virginia review panel article