Have you been harmed because of a medical error in York, South Carolina? Don’t let your doctor walk away without taking responsibility for your injuries, costs, and suffering. Call Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys, and trust our experienced York medical malpractice lawyers to help you fight for the financial justice you deserve.
Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys can offer the compassionate, skilled legal representation you need during this trying time in your life. For more than four decades, we’ve been trusted legal advocates for patients and families whose lives have been forever changed by careless healthcare providers and profit-driven hospitals. Our 150+ years of combined experience and cutting-edge legal strategies have helped us win $100 million (and counting) for clients just like you.
We offer a free consultation, so call our York law office at (803) 902-7399 or schedule a free consultation with our experts to discuss your potential legal options today.
How Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys Help Victims of Medical Negligence in York, SC
Hospitals and insurance companies won’t rush to make things right when a doctor, nurse, or another healthcare provider makes a mistake. Instead, they’ll use the considerable resources at their disposal to fight your medical malpractice claim.
Don’t let them control the claims process. Instead, force them to fight fairly by hiring an experienced York personal injury lawyer to take charge of your medical malpractice lawsuit.
Choosing Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys puts attorneys recognized for excellence in civil litigation by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, The National Trial Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum directly in your corner. We’re award-winning South Carolina litigators who can go toe-to-toe with multinational corporations and consistently win top-tier case results for our clients.
Hiring our personal injury law firm to handle your medical malpractice case can give you time to focus on moving forward while we:
- Investigate your medical malpractice case
- Evaluate evidence obtained during discovery, such as charts and medical records, correspondence between healthcare providers, provider notes, photographs, and eyewitness statements
- Hire independent expert witnesses to strengthen and support your fight for compensation
- File your legal claim with the local York County court clerk
- Aggressively pursue the best possible settlement agreement during negotiations with the hospital, defense attorneys, and/or insurance company
- Bring your medical malpractice lawsuit to trial if your doctor refuses to take accountability for the harm they’ve caused
The costs of a medical error can be catastrophic. You don’t have to shoulder them on your own. You shouldn’t have to stress about the added cost of asking for help, either, which is why our South Carolina medical malpractice lawyers in York will take your case on a contingent basis.
We won’t get paid until we recover compensation for your medical malpractice case.
Call our law office in York, SC, today to learn more. Your initial case evaluation is absolutely free.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is defined by South Carolina state law as “doing that which the reasonably prudent health care provider or health care institution would not do or not doing that which the reasonably prudent health care provider or health care institution would do in the same or similar circumstances.”
Put another way, medical malpractice refers to a provider’s failure to demonstrate the level of experience and skill expected of them within their specialty.
If a provider’s subpar care causes a patient’s injury or death, that provider and, in some cases, the hospital they work for, can be considered negligent and liable for resulting damages.
What Do I Have to Prove to Win a Medical Malpractice Case in York?
Medical malpractice lawsuits are based on the tort of negligence.
In order to win your medical negligence action, you must prove:
- The healthcare provider/institution owed you a duty of care (e.g., a doctor-patient relationship existed)
- The provider/institution breached this duty of care because they made an unreasonable mistake (e.g., failed to order standard laboratory tests or misinterpreted the results)
- The provider/institution’s actions caused an injury or wrongful death, and
- You’ve suffered damages
In South Carolina, you have to be able to prove the elements of your medical malpractice case by a preponderance of the evidence. Your story, as supported by evidence, has to be more likely true than not.
In addition, a plaintiff must file and serve a “Notice of Intent to File Suit” on all medical malpractice defendants prior to filing a lawsuit. This notice must include the names of all defendants, a statement of the facts, and other required disclosures.
Fighting for Clients in All Types of York Medical Negligence Cases
Medical errors are one of the leading causes of avoidable injury and death in the United States. Researchers estimate that 371,000 patients die and 424,000 are permanently disabled each year because they are incorrectly diagnosed across a range of medical care settings. Even though medical errors are vastly underreported, one out of every three physicians is sued for malpractice.
While any mistake can potentially set the stage for a civil tort action, some of the most common grounds for medical malpractice lawsuits include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Cancer misdiagnosis
- Anesthesia errors
- Prescription medication errors
- Surgical errors
- Emergency room errors
- Birth injuries
- Hospital-acquired infections
Many factors can contribute to these types of medical mistakes, including provider fatigue, understaffed hospitals, miscommunication between healthcare providers, charting errors, and a failure to listen to patient concerns.
Our York medical malpractice attorneys can offer the experienced and knowledgeable legal representation you’ll need to make the most of your fight for compensation. Contact our law office today to set a time for a free consultation. Members of our York law office are standing by to help right now.
Who Can Be Liable for Medical Malpractice?
In South Carolina, anyone who contributes to a medical error – directly or indirectly – can be liable if a patient gets hurt.
Depending on the specifics of your medical care and trauma, liable parties could include a:
- Primary care physician
- Hospitalist
- Emergency room physician
- OBGYN
- Nurse
- Nurse practitioner
- Physician Assistant
- Surgeon
- Anesthesiologist
- Pharmacist
- Hospital administrator
- Hospital
- Chiropractor
- Dentist
- Midwife
- Urgent treatment center
Institutions can be liable for their own negligence or, in many cases, vicariously liable for the negligence or wrongful actions of the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers they employ.
What Compensation Can I Get if I Win My York Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
When you file a medical malpractice lawsuit in York, South Carolina, you can have the opportunity to request two different compensatory awards: economic and non-economic.
Economic damages are intended to help you handle the extraordinary financial burdens that a medical error can cause, including:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and disability
- Diminished earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Nursing assistance
- Funeral expenses
Non-economic damages are designed to help you navigate the harder-to-value struggles and trauma you’re likely to experience as the victim of medical malpractice, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Reduced quality of life
- Disfigurement and scarring
- PTSD
- Embarrassment
- Chronic physical pain
In South Carolina, non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims are capped at $580,461 per defendant. In cases with multiple defendants, the total cap for non-economic damages is $1,741,383. Economic damages are not subject to these caps.
Punitive damages could potentially be awarded if your medical malpractice lawsuit gets to trial. However, this is only the case when a jury determines that a healthcare provider or institution caused a patient’s injury or death intentionally or due to gross negligence. Punitive damages might also be awarded if there’s evidence that a medical error was fraudulently concealed.
What’s My Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
Many factors can impact the potential value of your medical malpractice lawsuit, including:
- What types of physical injuries have you sustained?
- How has the medical error changed your quality of life?
- Has the medical error shortened your life expectancy?
- What type of medical care is needed to help you recover?
- Do your injuries prevent you from working?
- Have you experienced a change in your earning capacity or income?
The more the medical error changes your life – financially, emotionally, and physically – the more you can potentially expect to recover when your personal injury claim is resolved.
Working with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in York, SC, can help you get every cent you deserve. When you hire Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys, our attorneys will make sure you have the knowledge required to make smart decisions when approached with a settlement. You can know if it’s a good idea to settle or if you should trust our top-rated South Carolina litigators to push forward and advocate for better results at trial.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in South Carolina?
South Carolina applies a three-year statute of limitations to most medical malpractice lawsuits. You’ll have three years from the date you were injured or your injury was discovered.
While there are some exceptions, they’re not all that common. If you miss the filing deadline, you’ll lose the right to hold your doctor accountable for their incredibly harmful actions.
Call Our Experienced York Medical Malpractice Lawyer For Help Today
You trusted your doctor. They made a mistake. The hospital won’t put your best interests front and center. Call Elrod Pope Accident & Injury Attorneys and count on us to make things right.
Our York medical malpractice lawyers offer 150+ years of combined experience and a multi-million-dollar track record of success. We’re powerful legal advocates and won’t back down until you’ve been made whole.
There’s no charge for an initial case review. Contact us at our law office in York, SC, to get started.
