Murrells Inlet Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Murrells Inlet

When we visit a doctor or another medical professional, we expect them to do the right thing when it comes to our health. Most of us lack expert medical knowledge, so we trust doctors, nurses, and other medical staff to make appropriate medical decisions and provide us with the care we need. When they fail, our health may suffer.

If you or your family member suffered an injury because of negligent care a doctor, nurse, or another medical professional administered, you may be entitled to recover financial compensation for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses. A Murrells Inlet medical malpractice attorney with Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers can help you pursue these damages and develop a case against the other party. Get in touch with our team today for a free case review.

Damages Available in a Medical Malpractice Case in Murrells Inlet

The expenses you face from a medical malpractice injury may so overwhelm you that you do not have even a rough idea of how much compensation you deserve. In addition, you may worry so much about paying your bills that you will accept the first settlement that the other party's insurance company offers you. Unfortunately, many insurance companies work with their bottom line in mind, thereby lowballing the medical malpractice claimants.

To combat their questionable strategies, our team can assess your case, comb through your bills, and consider everything you have lost when estimating your damages. This evaluation allows us to fight for your right to fair compensation.

Here are the types of damages potentially available:

Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case

You can seek compensation for direct financial losses you incurred because of the negligent treatment you or your family member received. Examples of recoverable economic damages include:

• Medical expenses for past and future care
• Loss of income, retirement, and employment opportunities
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Domestic services

Non-Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case

You can seek compensation for intangible losses you and your family experienced because of the medical malpractice. South Carolina law allows you to recover non-economic damages for:

• Pain and suffering
• Physical impairment
• Mental anguish
• Disfigurement
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of society and companionship

Wrongful Death Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case

If you lost a loved to their injury or illness stemming from medical malpractice, you may recover these wrongful death damages:

• Final medical care costs
• Burial costs and funeral expenses
• Loss of financial support and benefits
• Loss of the decedent's care, companionship, and protection
• Pain and suffering

South Carolina Places a Cap on Medical Malpractice Damages

South Carolina law caps how much you can recover in non-economic damages in a medical malpractice case. This cap does not affect your economic damages. These limits may apply to your case:

• A limit of $350,000 from a single health care provider or a single health care institution
• A limit of $1,050,000 total for one claimant seeking damages from more than one health care provider, health care institution, or any combination of providers and institutions

These limits typically do not apply if to a grossly negligent or reckless healthcare provider or institution, fraud or misrepresentation related to the claim, or destroyed medical records to avoid the claim. Our lawyer can evaluate your case and determine whether these limits or exceptions apply to you.

How Much Does Our Medical Malpractice Attorney in Murrells Inlet Cost?

Paying for an attorney can seem like just another expense you cannot afford when you or your loved one deals with an injury stemming from negligent medical care. Our team at Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers in Murrells Inlet has a payment structure that makes our services affordable and accessible to anyone. Our medical malpractice lawyers work on contingency, which means our fees come from a portion of your insurance settlement or verdict award. We only get paid if we win your case. Our team also offers free case consultations, so it costs you nothing to talk to us and see if we are the right fit for your legal needs.

You do not have forever to seek damages from the medical provider responsible for your injuries. Generally speaking, South Carolina law sets the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases at three years, meaning you have three years from the date of your negligent medical treatment to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you wait any longer, you may forfeit your right to sue. Sometimes, your injuries are not immediately apparent, and if they are, it is not clear that sub-standard medical care caused them. This statute also allows you three years from the date you discovered the malpractice, which cannot be more than six years from the date of the injury, to sue. Our attorneys can help you work out a timeline and determine how this law affects your case.

When Is a Medical Error?

Medicine is not an exact science. Many cases confound even the best physicians, and sometimes treatments that should work fail to provide the expected results. Just because you are unhappy with the results of your treatment does not mean that you have a valid medical malpractice case. Our attorney serving Murrells Inlet can evaluate your case and determine if it meets the legal standards for medical malpractice. Generally speaking, your medical malpractice case must contain these elements:

The Medical Professional Owed You a Duty of Care

You can only pursue a medical malpractice case against a doctor or another medical professional who owes you a duty of care. A duty of care provides you with the same or similar medical treatment that another reasonable medical professional would provide. If you were the patient of a doctor, he or she owed you a duty of care, as did his or her staff.

The Medical Professional Provided Negligent Medical Care

Negligent medical care is any care that deviates from the medical standard of care. In medicine, what another reasonable medical professional would provide in the same situation determines the standard of care. Our lawyer can provide a qualified expert medical witness to show the type of reasonable care you should have received in contrast to the negligent care you had.

The Medical Professional's Negligence Caused Your Injuries or Illness

You must show that the doctor's negligence directly caused your injuries, such that you would not have been hurt had you received appropriate medical treatment. Demonstrating causation is not only a critical component of your case, but it is also a challenging component because medical malpractice cases often involve people who are already sick or injured. For example, it can be difficult to show that a patient with cancer would have improved with different medical care. Because of this challenge, medical malpractice cases often rely on expert medical witness testimony to explain how proper treatment would have made a difference in the patient's health outcome. The expert witness your attorney hires may testify that negligent treatment, not your current condition, caused your injuries.

You Suffered Financial Damages Because of Your Injuries

You must demonstrate that you have sustained damages as a result of this medical malpractice. South Carolina law allows victims of medical malpractice to recover damages for several types of monetary losses, including medical expenses and loss of income, as well as non-monetary losses, such as pain and suffering.

Who Can Commit Medical Malpractice in Murrells Inlet?

When you think of medical malpractice, your mind might go straight to thinking of doctors. However, doctors are not the only medical professionals who can commit medical malpractice. These healthcare providers owe a duty of care to their patients and could administer negligent care:

• Oral surgeons
• Chiropractors
• Dentists
• Surgeons
• Podiatrists
• Pharmacists
• Nurses
• Optometrists
• Osteopaths

In addition, healthcare practices, associations, partnerships, and other legal entities have a responsibility to treat patients according to the medical standard of care, so they may commit medical malpractice as well. Our attorney serving Murrells Inlet can identify each responsible party and help you seek damages from them all.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases in South Carolina

Medical malpractice can occur in every medical specialty, causing injuries that range from mild to life-altering to deadly. Common bases for medical malpractice cases include:

• Misdiagnosis: Providing the wrong diagnosis leads to the wrong treatment, which can harm the patient while failing to treat the original condition.
• Delayed diagnosis: Putting off the correct diagnosis allows the condition to progress without treatment, which may cause irreversible damage.
• Medication errors: Prescribing or dispensing the wrong medication or dosage can lead to adverse reactions in the patient.
• Surgical errors: Surgeons and their staff may leave instruments in a patient, operate on the wrong body part, perform the wrong procedure, or fail to follow sterile procedures that result in an infection.
• Anesthesia errors: Giving the patient too much or too little anesthesia, failing to properly monitor the patient, failing to properly discuss the procedure, and failing to review the patient's medical history for bad reactions to medication can cause severe injuries and potentially death.
• Pregnancy and childbirth errors: Failure to properly monitor the mother and child throughout pregnancy and delivery can lead to birth complications such as cerebral palsy, nerve damage, brain damage, and even death.
• Failure to warn the patient of known risks: Some injuries occur because healthcare providers did not adequately describe the risks of the procedure to the patient, who would have made a different medical choice with the right information.

South Carolina Requires Medical Malpractice Victims to Notify the Defendant

South Carolina law requires victims of medical malpractice to file a notice of intent before filing a lawsuit against the negligent medical professional. This notice of intent must name all defendants and include a short, plain statement of the facts of the case. Within 90 days to 120 days after filing this notice of intent, all parties shall participate in a mediation conference, although the court may grant a 60-day extension. If you and the negligent medical provider cannot resolve the matter through mediation, you can proceed with a civil complaint. Our Murrells Inlet medical malpractice attorney can file the notice of intent on your behalf, represent you at the mediation, and file a lawsuit if necessary.

You Must Provide an Expert Witness in Your Medical Malpractice Case

If you wish to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, you must file an affidavit from an expert medical witness. This affidavit must specify at least one negligent act or omission and describe the evidence supporting this claim of malpractice. Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers can provide you with an expert medical witness for this affidavit. They can go over your story, review the evidence, and demonstrate that you have the facts on your side.

Reach Out to Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers Today for Help with Your Medical Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice can devastate you and your family emotionally and financially. You may spend thousands of dollars and countless hours seeking the right diagnosis or proper medical treatment after receiving negligent medical care. Our Murrells Inlet medical malpractice attorney with the Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers can help you investigate what happened, identify the responsible parties, and seek damages for your losses. Contact us today at (843) 466-4444. Our team offers free consultations, and we only take payment if and when we secure compensation for you. The sooner you call and speak with a personal injury attorney, the sooner we can start building your case.