Iowa Code § 147.140 (2026)

1. a. In any action for personal injury or wrongful death against a health care provider based upon the alleged negligence in the practice of that profession or occupation or in patient care, which includes a cause of action for which expert testimony is necessary to establish a prima facie case, the plaintiff shall, prior to the commencement of discovery in the case and within sixty days of the defendant’s answer, serve upon the defendant a certificate of merit affidavit signed by an expert witness with respect to the issue of standard of care and an alleged breach of the standard of care. The expert witness must meet the qualifying standards of section 147.139.

b. A certificate of merit affidavit must be signed by the expert witness and certify the purpose for calling the expert witness by providing under the oath of the expert witness all of the following:

(1) The expert witness’s statement of familiarity with the applicable standard of care.

(2) The expert witness’s statement that the standard of care was breached by the health care provider named in the petition.

c. A plaintiff shall serve a separate certificate of merit affidavit on each defendant named in the petition.

2. An expert witness’s certificate of merit affidavit does not preclude additional discovery and supplementation of the expert witness’s opinions in accordance with the rules of civil procedure.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:26:19 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 147 (85, 1) §147.140, GENERAL PROVISIONS, HEALTH-RELATED PROFESSIONS 38\n\n 3. The parties shall comply with the requirements of section 668.11 and all other applicable law governing certification and disclosure of expert witnesses.

4. The parties by agreement or the court for good cause shown and in response to a motion filed prior to the expiration of the time limits specified in subsection 1 may provide for extensions of the time limits. Good cause shall include but not be limited to the inability to timely obtain the plaintiff’s medical records from health care providers when requested prior to filing the petition.

5. If the plaintiff is acting pro se, the plaintiff shall have the expert witness sign the certificate of merit affidavit or answers to interrogatories referred to in this section and the plaintiff shall be bound by those provisions as if represented by an attorney.

6. Failure to substantially comply with subsection 1 shall result, upon motion, in dismissal with prejudice of each cause of action as to which expert witness testimony is necessary to establish a prima facie case.

7. For purposes of this section, “health care provider” means the same as defined in section 147.136A. 2017 Acts, ch 107, §4, 5 Section applies to causes of action that accrue on or after July 1, 2017; 2017 Acts, ch 107, §5\n\n 147.141 through 147.150 Reserved.\n\n SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS \n 147.151 and 147.152 Repealed by 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §79. See §154F.1, 154F.2. \n 147.153 through 147.156 Repealed by 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §78. See §154F.3 through 154F.6. \n 147.157 through 147.160 Reserved.\n\n MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS \n