Video Transcription
Hi, I’m attorney David Hood and I’ve been practicing law in South Carolina for over 30 years. And today, what I’d like to cover is a primary area of practice for us, which is medical malpractice, and how do you sue for medical malpractice in South Carolina?
Reasonable Standard of Care
Basically, you have to show that the medical treatment you received was below the reasonable standard of care in South Carolina. In addition, you have to show that the outcome would have been a lot better, if you had gotten the right care.
Medical Records
To do this, you need to get all your medical records together and then have a medical expert review them. After the expert reviews all your records, if the expert believes you received substandard care and suffered significant damages because of it, then you may have a case.
Medical Expert’s Affidavit
Typically, the medical expert has to be able to issue an affidavit saying that they believe medical malpractice was committed in South Carolina and that there were serious injuries or death due to the medical malpractice.
File the Lawsuit
Once the expert issues the affidavit, you can file the lawsuit. After that, both sides normally get more experts and the discovery phase starts. This information exchange period can take a year or more to complete.
Mediation
Once the discovery phase has been completed, a mediation will typically be set up to see if the parties can resolve the case before the trial. If not, then the case goes to trial.
It can be a long and expensive process, but many medical malpractice lawyers in South Carolina will front the costs if they believe (and the expert agrees) that there is a case.
Take care, I hope this was helpful.
