Were you recently injured at the hands of a negligent doctor, surgeon, anesthesiologist, or other medical professional?
If so, you may be a victim of medical malpractice, which happens far more often than many people are aware. While most healthcare professionals have good intentions, they are still human and they make mistakes just like everybody else.
Unfortunately, when it’s a medical professional who errs, the consequences can be life-threatening, if not deadly. When a healthcare professional makes a mistake that results in patient harm, it’s referred to as “medical negligence” or “medical malpractice.” Medical malpractice is exceedingly common, especially in the hospital setting and it’s common knowledge among healthcare professionals and medical malpractice attorneys that it is “grossly underreported.”
When a patient suffers undue injury as a direct result of medical malpractice, he or she may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim.
In order for a medical professional to be held liable for a patient’s injuries, the following elements of a medical malpractice claim must exist:
- A doctor-patient relationship must exist;
- The healthcare professional must have been negligent;
- The patient was injured as a direct result of the provider’s negligence; and
- The injured patient suffered damages as a result of the injury (e.g. pain and suffering, additional surgeries, lost income, etc.).
Examples of Medical Malpractice
From a delayed cancer diagnoses, to an overdose in painkillers, to a surgical error, to a misdiagnosis of a disease, there are a multitude of ways that medical mistakes can take place.
Here are some common examples of medical malpractice:
- Anesthesia errors (too much or too little medication)
- Surgical errors
- Misdiagnoses of a disease
- Delayed diagnoses of a disease
- Emergency room errors
- Post-operative complications
- Errors that lead to birth injuries during labor and delivery
If you suffered undue harm because of medical negligence, you must file a claim within South Carolina’s statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim. A “statute of limitations” refers to the deadline for filing a lawsuit against a liable party. Under South Carolina 15-3-545, you have three years from the date of injury or discovery, or when it should have been discovered to file a claim for medical malpractice.
If you delay filing a claim until after the statute of limitation expires, you lose your right to file a claim permanently, thus, it’s important to file a claim sooner than later so you don’t forfeit your right to valuable compensation!
Contact our office to speak with a Columbia injury attorney about your medical malpractice case for free. We are here to help in every way possible!