As a patient in Lancaster, South Carolina, you have rights. If you’re injured because your doctor or healthcare team makes a mistake, you can hold them accountable for your resulting medical bills, loss of income, and distress. The award-winning Lancaster medical malpractice lawyers at Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys can help you maximize your recovery.
Since 1980, Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys has been a dedicated advocate for victims of medical negligence in South Carolina. Our top-rated trial attorneys have 150+ years of combined experience taking on hospitals, healthcare professionals, and insurance companies in pursuit of justice. Our results speak volumes, with more than $100 million in damages recovered.
Don’t hesitate to contact our compassionate legal team in Lancaster, SC, at 803-902-7065 today to find out more about how we can help with your medical malpractice case. Your initial case evaluation is free.
How Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys Can Help If You’ve Been Harmed by a Medical Error in Lancaster, SC
You trusted your doctor to improve your health. Instead, they made it worse. Mistakes are simply inexcusable. Our Lancaster personal injury lawyers want to help you hold your doctor fully accountable for the harm, injuries, and suffering they’ve caused.
When you choose Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys, you put more than a century of combined legal experience in your corner. Our client-driven strategies and approachable representation have earned us top marks from The National Trial Lawyers, Super Lawyers, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.
You take this time to get better and figure out how to move forward. Our medical malpractice attorneys in Lancaster will handle the rest.
We will:
- Thoroughly investigate your medical care and establish exactly which errors were made and why
- Evaluate provider notes, communication between members of your medical team, lab results, photographs, video footage, witness statements, and other evidence we gather
- Bring in independent experts in medicine to help us understand how your provider deviated from accepted standards within the medical community
- Calculate what your medical malpractice case is worth
- Pursue a maximum settlement during negotiations with the hospital and insurance company
- File a lawsuit and bring your case to a Lancaster County jury if the defense won’t make you a reasonable settlement offer
There’s no out-of-pocket cost or upfront expense to hire our medical malpractice lawyers in Lancaster. We work on contingency. You only pay when we win compensation for your medical negligence claim.
Contact our law office serving Lancaster, SC, today. Your first consultation is free.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice involves a healthcare provider’s deviation from accepted standards of care.
Under South Carolina law, a doctor (or another type of provider) can be liable for medical malpractice if you can prove that they did not do what a reasonably prudent healthcare provider or institution would do in the same or similar circumstances.
In other words, the doctor failed to use the level of skill, care, and knowledge that’s generally expected of them and, as a result, caused a patient’s injury or death.
How Common is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of unintentional injury and death in the United States. Research suggests that medical errors are the third leading cause of avoidable death, responsible for between 250,000 and 440,000 fatalities annually.
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), nearly one out of every three doctors is sued for malpractice during their careers.
Despite this, government studies found that most medical errors – more than 86 percent – go unreported.
What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Medical Negligence Lawsuit?
Medical malpractice litigation involves proving that a healthcare provider was negligent. Like other types of personal injury cases founded on negligence, you must prove four distinct elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
- The doctor/healthcare provider owed you a duty of care because a doctor-patient relationship existed
- The doctor/healthcare provider breached the duty of care owed to you because their conduct failed to meet accepted standards as expressed by South Carolina state law
- The doctor/healthcare provider’s conduct was the direct and proximate cause of an injury that was not a reasonably foreseeable risk of the treatment provided, and
- You’ve suffered damages
Your claim must be backed by expert testimony supporting your allegations that your provider’s care fell short.
Our Lancaster medical malpractice attorneys have an extensive network of trusted specialists and experts on which we can rely as we build your case. We’ll use their testimony to help you establish liability and position you to get the compensation you need and deserve.
What Types of Compensation Can I Recover in a Medical Malpractice Claim in Lancaster, South Carolina?
If you suffer injuries because a healthcare professional makes a mistake, you can pursue compensatory damages through a lawsuit or insurance claim.
Compensatory damages include economic and non-economic awards, each serving a distinct purpose.
Economic damages are intended to help you handle verified financial losses or expenses related to your case, such as:
- Hospitalization, surgery, medication, medical devices, and other current medical bills
- Rehabilitation, prosthetics, follow-up care, and other future medical expenses
- Diminished earning capacity
- Lost wages
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Nursing care
Non-economic damages are intended to help you cope with trauma and losses that aren’t as easily valued, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Disability
- Chronic physical pain
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Reduced quality of life
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Inconvenience
- Embarrassment
Punitive damages may also be awarded in a limited number of situations. At trial, a jury can award punitive damages if they’re presented with convincing evidence of fraud, intentional misconduct, or gross negligence.
Your doctor and other defendants will work hard to stand between you and the compensation you deserve. They’ll downplay your injuries and deny liability. Our medical malpractice attorneys in Lancaster won’t let their unsupported tactics hurt the opportunity in front of you.
Working with trusted experts in medicine and other specialties, we’ll build a compelling claim that forces the defense to engage in honest and fair negotiations. If you don’t get a reasonable settlement, we’ll be fully prepared to bring your medical malpractice lawsuit to a jury.
Representing Clients in All Types of Lancaster Medical Malpractice Cases
At Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys, we know that a medical error can change the course of your life forever. It can potentially take loved ones from you far before it is truly their time. We’re here to help you demand accountability from a healthcare provider for the mistakes they’ve made.
Our law firm represents victims and families in medical negligence cases involving:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Surgical error
- Wrong site surgery
- Medication error
- Anesthesia error
- Birth injury
- Premature discharge
- Leaving foreign objects in a patient
- Emergency room error
- Dental malpractice
These types of errors can happen for a variety of reasons, from provider fatigue to understaffing to staff miscommunication. Our medical malpractice lawyers in Lancaster will carefully evaluate your case and work to uncover precisely what went wrong and why. When the cause is clear, we will work diligently to put together a case that helps you get accountability from those at fault.
Who Could Be Liable for Medical Malpractice?
In South Carolina, anyone who contributes to a medical error or negligent medical care can be liable for resulting damages.
Depending on the specific circumstances of your situation, liability might extend to a:
- Primary care physician
- Emergency room physician
- Specialist, including an OBGYN or oncologist
- Nurse
- Nurse practitioner
- Hospital staff member
- Hospital
- Urgent treatment center
- Anesthesiologist
- Pharmacist
- Dentist
- Chiropractor
- Midwife
One or more parties may be liable for medical negligence. Count on our medical malpractice attorneys in Lancaster to fight to hold each and every liable party accountable.
What is the Time Limit For Filing a Medical Negligence Lawsuit in South Carolina?
South Carolina gives patients three years from the date of their injury – or the date it’s reasonably discovered – to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
However, under the state’s statute of repose, you won’t have unlimited time to take legal action. Almost all medical negligence claims must be filed within six years of the date of injury.
If you’ve lost a family member to a fatal medical error, you’ll have three years from their death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
You must file your claim within the applicable timeframe to preserve your right to demand compensation. If you miss your window, you’ll be left without the ability to hold your negligent doctor responsible for the harm they’ve caused.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Lancaster Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Have you or a loved one been injured because of a healthcare provider’s mistake? Call the top-rated legal team at Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys for help. You have rights, and our Lancaster medical malpractice lawyers want to help you make the most of them.
Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys has been serving the Lancaster, SC, community for more than 40 years. Through tireless advocacy, we’ve helped clients win more than $100 million in damages. Let us fight for you, too.
Contact our law office today at 803-902-7065 to discuss your medical malpractice case. Your first consultation is free.