North Charleston Medical Malpractice Lawyer

North Charleston Medical Malpractice Attorney

When you see a medical provider for your healthcare needs, you are putting significant faith and trust in them to care for your well-being. This is a responsibility that most medical professionals understand and treat with gravity. Unfortunately, this is not true for every provider. Some providers are careless, reckless, or malicious when caring for patients. When your provider’s action or inaction causes you serious harm, you need a North Charleston medical malpractice lawyer.

If you or a loved one was injured, suffered an illness, or suffered psychological harm because a medical provider was neglectful or harmful, you deserve compensation for this. The harm from medical malpractice can cause permanent and long-term harm and even permanently disable patients.

The cost of medical bills, lost income, and the long-term effects of these injuries deserve to be compensated, and you deserve to hold the neglectful medical provider accountable for their failure. A qualified attorney has the resources and legal knowledge you need to give your claim its greatest chance of success.

Axelrod & Associates, P.A.: Protecting Our Community in North Charleston

The team at Axelrod & Associates, P.A., is proud to protect the rights and interests of injured patients and their families in North Charleston. Our firm has over 100 years of combined experience in many legal areas, including personal injury and medical malpractice law. We believe it is unacceptable for a medical professional to misuse their position of power and injure patients with abuse or neglect, and we are diligent in representing victims of malpractice.

We know that suffering medical malpractice can put you in a very vulnerable position. Our compassionate team wants to give you the support and guidance you need to obtain compensation for injuries, illnesses, lost income, disability, mobility devices, and any other financial losses.

These claims are some of the most difficult personal injury claims, and it is essential that you find an attorney with extensive experience and success in this area. The legal process will likely be more difficult as you recover from an injury or illness caused by medical malpractice. The sooner you work with our experienced team, the sooner we can begin investigating the incident and gathering evidence in support of your claim.

What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A personal injury claim holds another person or party at fault for their negligence that causes the plaintiff an injury. A medical malpractice claim is a type of personal injury claim that holds medical providers and/or a medical institution responsible for their negligence and failure to uphold a professional duty of care to you. They can be held liable for the financial and non-financial damages you suffered as a result.

When a provider agrees to give you medical care and a doctor-patient relationship is established, they owe you a duty of care that adheres to the standards of the industry.

When a medical provider acts carelessly or harms a patient, and this injury would not have occurred if the provider followed their industry’s standards, this is negligence. There are many actions that may constitute medical malpractice, including:

• Failing to diagnose a condition despite existing symptoms
• Misdiagnosing or delaying a diagnosis despite clear, contradictory symptoms
• Completing surgery on the wrong site or the wrong patient
• Leaving surgical tools or foreign objects at the surgery site
• Completing unnecessary procedures or surgeries
• Prescribing the wrong type or dose of medication
• Filling the wrong prescription
• Failing to meet the necessary hygiene standards
• Not providing a patient with information about the risks of a surgery or potential alternative treatments
• Failing to account for a patient’s medical history
• Not ordering requested or necessary medical tests and labs
• Birth injuries to parent or child by using improper procedure
• Anesthesia errors
• Discharging a patient prematurely
• Improper follow-up care
• Misinterpreting or ignoring lab or test results

When a medical provider makes a mistake, this does not inherently mean they are committing malpractice. When a patient dislikes their treatment plan or is upset at a diagnosis, this is not medical malpractice either. When a medical provider fails to follow the standards of their profession and causes harm, this is malpractice, and they should be held responsible for it.

Aspects of a Successful Malpractice Claim

The following elements must be present and provable for a potentially successful medical malpractice claim:

1. Duty of Care: There was an existing doctor-patient relationship, and/or the provider owed the patient a duty of care by agreeing to treat them.
2. Breach: The medical provider failed to uphold this duty of care by committing an action or inaction that did not match the industry standard.
3. Causation: The breach of care directly led to the patient’s injury, illness, or other harm.
4. Damages: The injury or illness caused the patient to suffer legally recognized damages.

Negligence is the most common reason for a breach of duty of care. However, intentional misconduct or malice may also be a reason that a provider breaches their duty of care.

How Can a Medical Malpractice Attorney Help?

Your case is more likely to be successful and more likely to obtain the maximum compensation amount available when you work with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in North Charleston, SC. An attorney can help you investigate the incident, gather evidence to support your claim, and calculate the complete amount of your damages.

Many victims of malpractice underestimate the damages for which they qualify. An attorney with experience in these claims and injuries like yours has a better understanding of the future costs and long-term costs of your injuries.

What Is the Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice Claims?

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in North Charleston is three years from the date the injury or incident occurred.

This deadline can be extended if you were injured or contracted an illness and were not aware of it until a later date. If you did not discover the injury or illness immediately, the three-year countdown begins when you discover or should have discovered the injury. Even under the discovery rule, there is an overall statute of limitations of six years from the date of the injury.

The only medical malpractice claim in South Carolina that is not subject to this deadline is when a provider leaves an object in a patient’s body during surgery. These claims have a two-year statute from the date of the incident or the date of discovery and do not have an overall limitation.

If you do not file your claim within the relevant deadline, you lose the ability to claim damages and recover compensation for your injuries and losses. It’s important to discuss your case with an attorney as soon as you can. This gives your attorney time to investigate before filing, and also limits the chances of important evidence being lost.

FAQs

Q: How Do You File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in South Carolina?

A: To file a claim for medical malpractice in South Carolina, you should first speak with a medical malpractice attorney. A medical malpractice claim is one of the most complicated and difficult types of personal injury claims, and an attorney is the most beneficial ally to help your claim succeed.

An attorney can also review your case, determine if you have a viable claim, and help you gather the opinion from healthcare professionals, which is essential to filing the claim.

Q: What Is the Hardest Element to Prove in a Medical Malpractice Case?

A: Causation is the hardest element of a medical malpractice case to prove. The elements needed for a successful medical malpractice case are duty of care, breach of duty of care, causation, and damages. It is hardest to prove that the mistake or other breach in care directly led to the injury or illness that a patient suffered from. Providers may claim the injury or illness was pre-existing or that their failure to uphold their professional duty did not cause the injury or illness.

Q: What Are the Four Most Common Errors that Could Lead to a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

A: There are many errors that can occur in the medical profession, and not all of them point to malpractice. However, some of the most common medical mistakes and causes of medical malpractice claims include:

1. Misdiagnosis despite clear contradicting symptoms or failing to diagnose despite symptoms
2. Prescription errors, including prescribing the wrong medication or dose or filling the wrong medication or dose
3. Surgical errors, such as leaving surgical tools in the body or operating on the wrong limb or patient
4. Anesthesia errors, such as improper administration

Q: What Is the Difference Between Negligence and Malpractice?

A: Negligence is one aspect of a medical malpractice case. If a provider acts carelessly or recklessly, they may be considered negligent, but this does not mean they can be liable for malpractice.

Medical providers are held to a professional standard of care. If another provider with the same credentials would have acted differently during a specific situation, and there is an expected level of professional care, a provider’s failure to act to that professional standard is negligence. If that negligence causes actual harm, this constitutes a medical malpractice case.

Contact Axelrod & Associates, P.A.: North Charleston Medical Malpractice Lawyer & Law Firm

The team at Axelrod & Associates, P.A., can review your situation and impart you with a straightforward understanding of your claim, its value, and its likelihood of success. Contact our team to learn how we can help you and your family obtain the compensation you deserve.