Are you struggling with pain, health issues, lifestyle changes, and other problems because a doctor made a mistake in Lake Wylie, SC? It can be tough to hold negligent medical providers liable for their mistakes without an experienced Lake Wylie medical malpractice lawyer by your side.
Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys is here to help you stand up to the insurance companies and fight for every dollar you deserve. Our lawyers have over 150 years of experience between us. We’ve already recovered over $100 million in settlements and verdicts.
Don’t let your negligent doctor off the hook. Call our law offices in Lake Wylie, South Carolina at 803-324-7574 to schedule a free consultation today.
How Can Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys Help You Get Justice After a Medical Error in Lake Wylie, SC?
Thanks to laws that protect doctors and hospitals, medical malpractice cases are difficult to prove. It might feel like you have to jump through hoops before you even get started. Hospitals and their insurance companies will fight tooth and nail to avoid taking full responsibility.
An experienced Lake Wylie personal injury lawyer at Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys can help you win the financial award you deserve. Injured patients have trusted us to protect them since we started our law firm back in 1980.
Hire us, and you’ll have an attorney to:
- Investigate and pinpoint the exact mistake that caused you to suffer
- Hire experts in various fields as needed to prove your case
- Document your damages
- Calculate your full case value
- Handle the paperwork and make sure everything is properly filed
- Negotiate fiercely with the insurance companies for a fair deal
You don’t have to handle your case alone. Our Lake Wylie personal injury attorneys are prepared to stand by your side throughout the process. Contact us today to learn more about an attorney-client relationship.
Medical Malpractice is a Serious Problem in the U.S.
Medical malpractice is common in both South Carolina and across the U.S. One study found that medical errors are responsible for about 251,000 deaths each year in the United States.
The National Practitioner Data Bank provides information on medical malpractice claims for each state. In 2022 alone, 154 claims were filed in South Carolina. Victims in medical negligence cases recovered about $63.3 million by taking legal action that year.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a type of negligence. If you’re injured in a car crash, you can hold a negligent driver liable if they caused the accident. Similarly, when doctors make serious mistakes, they can be held liable for the damage they’ve caused.
Not every mistake counts as malpractice. Medical providers are only liable if they fail to satisfy the standards the medical community has developed. These “medical standards of care” exist to protect patients.
When doctors and healthcare professionals deviate from what’s expected of them, patients suffer. That’s why the law allows patients to hold them accountable.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Negligence in South Carolina?
Medical mistakes can happen at any point in a patient’s treatment. All healthcare professionals are expected to adhere to certain standards.
Depending on the facts of your case, the responsible party may be a:
- Surgeon
- Emergency room doctor
- Primary care physician or family doctor
- Pediatrician
- Medical specialist, such as an OBGYN, oncologist, or dermatologist
- Nurse
- Anesthesiologist
- Pharmacist
- Radiologist
- Hospital administrator and staff
- Chiropractor
- Medical facility or surgical center
- Hospital
Hospitals and medical facilities can be held liable for the acts of their employees. That’s one reason why they carry massive insurance policies.
However, certain types of medical professionals can also be held individually liable for malpractice. Surgeons, for example, are often independent contractors who carry their own malpractice insurance coverage.
Why Do So Many Medical Errors Occur in South Carolina?
Medical errors become more likely when doctors and nurses are tired, overworked, and in a hurry.
Some of the most common causes of medical malpractice include:
- Ordering the wrong diagnostic tests
- Failure to diagnose a disease
- Misdiagnosis
- Reading lab results wrong
- Mixing up patients’ lab results
- Mistaken patient identity
- Surgical errors, including wrong-site surgery
- Medication errors, including administering the wrong dosage or the wrong medicine
- Charting and communication errors
- Failure to take a full patient history
- Failure to obtain a patient’s consent
- Failure to provide proper pre- and post-operative instructions
- Not recognizing a patient’s symptoms
- Failure to refer the patient to an appropriate specialist
- Anesthesia errors
- Birth injuries caused by errors during labor and delivery
Doctors and other healthcare professionals have a serious responsibility. Your health and well-being depend on how well they perform their jobs.
If your doctor ignored their professional responsibility and you were harmed, contact our Lake Wylie medical malpractice attorneys today. We’ll find out exactly what happened and fight to hold them accountable.
What is My Lake Wylie Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
Before you take the insurance company’s settlement, you should know how much you deserve. Otherwise, you risk letting the negligent doctor off the hook for some of your damages.
While we’ll have to examine the facts of your case to give a more detailed estimate, the following factors will influence your case value:
- The nature of the harm the mistake causes
- The type of medical error involved
- How much it will cost to correct the mistake
- Whether you will suffer any permanent or long-term medical impairment
- Whether your earnings have suffered
- How the ordeal has impacted your mental health
- The types of physical pain you have suffered
While you might not understand how much your medical negligence claim is worth, we have decades of experience handling similar types of cases. We’re ready to fight for you. Contact Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys to learn more about your case value.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Malpractice in South Carolina?
Your final compensation award should account for all of the harm you have suffered, including both economic damages and non-economic damages. To recover a full settlement, you must identify the types of losses you’ve experienced. You’ll also be expected to fight to establish the value of those losses.
Economic damages compensate for the verified financial losses you’ve incurred, including:
- Past medical expenses
- Future expenses, including ongoing medical care, rehabilitation, and assistance
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Nursing care
- Rehabilitation
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-economic damages compensate for the more personal losses you’ve suffered due to the mistake, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Reduced life expectancy
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement or scarring
- Loss of fertility
- Loss of consortium
You’re entitled to recover the full value of your economic damages. However, the value of your non-economic damages claim will be limited by South Carolina law. The amount you can recover increases slightly each year.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Lake Wylie?
Our fees depend on how much compensation we recover in your case. Once your case has settled or reached a verdict, we take a percentage of your compensation. This is known as a contingency fee structure. It lets you hire an experienced lawyer without worrying about upfront costs.
What Must I Prove to Recover Damages for Medical Malpractice in South Carolina?
Medical malpractice claims are based on negligence.
To recover damages, you must prove:
- The defendant owed you a legal duty of care because you were a patient
- The scope of the defendant’s duty, or the medical standard of care in your case
- The defendant deviated from the standard of care, so they breached their duty
- That breach directly caused you to suffer some type of harm
- The damages you suffered as a result
In the end, you must prove that the level of care you received was different from the level of care that a reasonable, trained professional would have provided in the same situation.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in South Carolina?
Under South Carolina law, you have three years from the date the medical error occurred to file a lawsuit. Once this statute of limitations runs out, you can no longer seek compensation.
However, if you didn’t discover the error immediately, you have three years from the earlier of:
- The date you actually discovered the mistake
- The date you reasonably should have discovered the mistake
Regardless of when you learn about the medical error, you must file your lawsuit within six years of the date the malpractice occurred. This six-year time limit is called a “statute of repose.”
Arrange a Free Consultation With an Experienced Lake Wylie Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
You were harmed because a trusted doctor made a critical mistake during your treatment. Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys can help you fight for justice. To learn about your legal options, call today for a free consultation with a skilled Lake Wylie medical malpractice lawyer.