The statute of limitations on medical malpractice insurance claims and lawsuits varies by state. If you have been injured or lost a loved one to medical malpractice resulting in wrongful death, you must speak with an experienced Fort Smith medical malpractice attorney immediately. You and your family may be eligible for financial compensation to recover losses, including medical expenses and lost income.
Fort Smith Medical Malpractice Guide
- What Is the Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice in Arkansas?
- Common Cases of Medical Malpractice
- Proving Medical Malpractice
- Examples of Things You Used to Prove Negligence in a Medical Malpractice Claim
- What Types of Damages Can I Sue for in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
- Who Is Financially Responsible for Your Medical Malpractice-Related Damages?
- How Much Are Most Medical Malpractice Settlements?
- How Much Does a Medical Malpractice Attorney Cost?
- How Will Hiring a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Add Value to My Case?
- Schedule a Free Consultation With a Medical Malpractice Attorney
What Is the Statute of Limitations on Medical Malpractice in Arkansas?
The statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice claim, including one resulting in wrongful death, is two years after the cause of action (wrongful act). However, Arkansas makes an exception when a foreign object is left in the body of a medical malpractice victim.
The statute states that when a foreign object could not reasonably be discovered within two years, the malpractice action may begin within one year of the date of discovery or the date the object reasonably should have been discovered —whichever is earlier.
A minor under age nine at the time of the medical malpractice injury has two years from the date of such failure, action, or omission or until the minor’s eleventh birthday to file a claim —whichever is longer.
When no medical injury is known and could not reasonably have been discovered before the minor victim’s eleventh birthday, the minor or their representative will have until two years after the medical injury becomes known or reasonably could have been discovered or until their nineteenth birthday —whichever comes earlier.
Contact a medical malpractice lawyer to clarify the specific circumstances of your case. They will inform you of the statute of limitations in your state and advise if you have a claim to recover compensation for medical malpractice.
Common Cases of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide a patient with an appropriate standard of care. Providers must follow generally accepted medical practices, rules, and regulations when treating patients for illnesses or injuries. Failure to perform these duties properly may result in severe injuries, wrongful death, and a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit. Examples of medical malpractice include:
- Failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis, or misdiagnosis
- Failure to adequately monitor or treat a patient
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Failure to order appropriate labs and imaging
- Recommending unsafe or unnecessary treatment
- Prescribing unnecessary treatment
- Medication errors
- Medical equipment failures
- Being intoxicated or impaired while working with patients
- Anesthesia errors (dosage errors, incorrect intubation, prolonged sedation, overdose)
- Childbirth mistakes (failure to monitor the baby, not identifying fetal distress)
- Surgical errors (performing the wrong procedure or on the wrong limb or patient)
- Damaging nerves
You may be eligible to recover compensation for monetary losses and other damages if you have suffered injuries from these common medical malpractice claims. Consult with a medical malpractice attorney to discover your legal options.
Proving Medical Malpractice
To prove medical malpractice, a patient or their experienced malpractice attorney must establish four elements of negligence: duty of care, breach of duty, cause, and damages.
Duty of Care
The duty of care denotes a professional duty owed to the patient by the healthcare provider. In medical malpractice, that means establishing a valid doctor-patient relationship. A doctor-patient relationship constitutes a single appointment but can also mean ongoing care. Your medical records and medical bills will prove you were owed a duty.
Breached Duty
A medical professional neglecting to uphold the standard level of care, causing harm to a patient, is a breach of duty. You or your lawyer must prove that negligence was unique to the provider’s error, meaning they failed to administer the same reasonable care and treatment that another medical professional would have provided.
Causation
Proving causation involves proving that the medical professional’s negligence was directly responsible for your injuries. The nature of medical malpractice makes this more difficult because most victims were already ill or injured at the time of the incident.
The claimant must clearly outline that these new symptoms and injuries are unrelated to a pre-existing condition. Having an experienced medical malpractice attorney on your team grants access to witnesses, including medical experts whose testimony can confidently confirm causation.
Suffered Damages
The fourth element of negligence states a victim must have suffered actual damages from medical malpractice to have a valid claim. Damages are the losses experienced after an injury, including monetary (economic) and non-monetary (non-economic) losses.
Examples of Things You Used to Prove Negligence in a Medical Malpractice Claim
There are various facets you and your attorney can use to prove negligence in your medical malpractice case, such as:
- Medical and rehabilitation bills
- Medical records
- Hospital records
- Psychological records
- Informed consent records
- Diagnostic test results
- Eyewitness statements
- Video or audio evidence
- Healthcare policies and regulation documents
- Expert witness reports
- Payroll records
Detailed journal entries in a post-injury journal may also be beneficial in securing maximum compensation for non-economic damages. Because they are more challenging to prove, these entries can establish intangible losses, like pain levels, sleep disturbances, fear and anxiety, limitations on daily activities, and a decreased quality of life.
What Types of Damages Can I Sue for in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
Medical malpractice victims shouldn’t bear the overwhelming cost of injuries and damages that weren’t their fault. Filing a claim allows you to recover compensation for financial losses and pain and suffering.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are calculable losses relating to your medical malpractice injury. They are quantifiable by receipts, invoices, and billing statements. Economic damages involved in medical malpractice settlements include:
- Past and future medical bills
- Past and future rehabilitation expenses
- Prescription medication costs
- Travel expenses to and from medical and rehabilitation appointments
- Home healthcare services
- Home modifications, such as ramps, chair lifts, widened doorways, lowered countertops, safety railings, and accessible bathrooms
- Lost income, such as wages, bonuses, and benefits
Families who have experienced the loss of a loved one may also be able to recover these economic damages for the decedent in a medical malpractice wrongful death suit. Surviving wrongful death victims (decedent’s spouse and family) may also be entitled to receive compensation for funeral and burial or cremation costs.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are commonly referred to as pain and suffering. They are not as easily quantifiable because they have no paper trail and vary in severity with each case. However, an experienced attorney may secure compensation for:
- Disabilities and permanent injuries
- Impairments or disfigurement
- Worsening of existing injuries
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life and activities
- Depression
Families who have suffered the loss of a loved one due to wrongful death may also be able to recover additional non-economic damages. These damages include:
- Grief
- Loss of financial support
- Loss of training and guidance (for the decedent’s children)
Another non-economic damage covering a range of losses, loss of consortium, is the decline or lack of benefits of your spousal relationship due to injury or wrongful death caused by another person’s negligence. It illustrates the following losses:
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of love
- Loss of affection
- Loss of protection
- Loss of intimacy, including physical relations
- Loss of financial support (salary, trajected promotions, benefits, pension)
- Loss of household support (cleaning, cooking, childcare services)
- Loss of shared activities and hobbies (going on walks, bowling nights)
Unlike many states, Arkansas has no damage cap (financial limitations on compensation) for non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims. Having an experienced medical malpractice lawyer help assign a monetary demand for these losses may substantially benefit your settlement.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are rarely awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. Some states will award them when the defendant’s acts are egregious.
Arkansas may award punitive damages to the greater of $250,000 or three times compensatory (economic and non-economic) damages, not to exceed $1,000,000, but only if there is actual evidence of fraud, malice, or willful or wanton conduct and charges. However, punitive damages are not typically part of a medical malpractice claim.
Who Is Financially Responsible for Your Medical Malpractice-Related Damages?
A medical malpractice case can involve one or multiple liable parties. Most medical providers carry medical malpractice insurance, which obliges them to compensate victims. Insurance companies pay out the majority of medical malpractice-related damages. Some parties who you may sue for medical malpractice include:
- Hospitals and other medical facilities, including nursing homes
- Doctors
- Surgeons
- Anesthesiologists
- OB-GYNs
- Pediatricians
- Nurses
- Certified nursing assistants (CNAs)
- Home health aides
- Occupational therapists
- Paramedics
- Pharmacists
- Dentists
- Other medical, dental, or hospital staff members
Medical equipment manufacturers may be liable if defective equipment plays a role in your medical malpractice injury. Many people face injuries from defective medical devices, including pelvic mesh, heart valves, insulin pumps, pacemakers, defibrillators, breast implants, and joint, knee, and hip replacements.
How Much Are Most Medical Malpractice Settlements?
There is no way to accurately access an average medical malpractice settlement because each case is uniquely individual in its circumstances. However, it primarily depends on the severity of injuries and damages incurred from medical malpractice.
How Much Does a Medical Malpractice Attorney Cost?
Most medical malpractice lawyers work in contingency arrangements, meaning you never pay anything upfront or out-of-pocket for their legal representation. It also means you won’t pay anything unless they secure financial compensation for your injuries.
Ask your attorney to clarify their contingency fees as they vary across states, jurisdictions, and law firms.
How Will Hiring a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Add Value to My Case?
Hiring a medical malpractice attorney to represent your claim legally adds value to your case in several ways, such as having your claim taken seriously by the insurance company. Tactics they may use with unsuspecting medical malpractice injury victims are no match for experienced lawyers. Here are the other benefits of hiring an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
Education and Experience
Between the years spent studying law in higher education institutions and their experience handling cases like yours daily, medical malpractice lawyers are confidently capable. Ask your attorney how many claims they’ve handled like yours during your free consultation to gauge their qualifying experience handling your case.
Comprehensive Investigation Into Medical Malpractice Claim
Lawyers can access places, people, and resources the average citizen cannot access, making them qualified to lead a comprehensive investigation into your claim. For example, they may access legal software, libraries, and expert witnesses who can provide expert medical and vocational testimony on your behalf.
Determining Damages
While quantifying economic damages, such as medical and rehabilitation bills and lost income, is attached to a paper trail of proof, quantifying non-economic damages is more challenging. Having an experienced attorney on your team is your best chance at ensuring you don’t settle too soon or for significantly less than you’re entitled to receive.
Settling too soon can have detrimental consequences. If you settle before knowing the full scope of your injuries, it may cost you thousands of dollars in damages that should have been covered with compensation.
Negotiation
Malpractice lawyers negotiate numbers daily, honing that skill to secure maximum compensation in medical malpractice compensation claims and lawsuits. Claimants without legal representation are more likely to accept the first offer, which is commonly known as a lowball attempt to close the claim for as little money as they have to pay out as possible.
Your lawyer will inform and advise you on settlement offers. Negotiations may involve several rounds before a consensus is reached on a fair settlement.
Litigation
If your attorney and the insurance company(s) cannot agree on a fair settlement figure, your lawyer will file a lawsuit. At that point, both parties will move into the discovery process.
Your attorney will present findings and —examine and cross-examine witnesses in court. Having a lawyer represent you if your case proceeds to trial secures a better chance of compensation than attempting to prosecute the case alone.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Medical Malpractice Attorney
Consult with a Fort Smith personal injury lawyer to discuss case specifics and what kind of compensation you may be entitled to receive. Bring copies of medical bills, lost income, and any other out-of-pocket expenses or documents relating to your injury. These can help them gain a deeper understanding and better assess your valued compensation.