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Anyone pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina should seek legal help to bring their case and meet evidentiary requirements. Many medical malpractice cases are commonly resolved before trial, and those that head to trial have dismal odds of success if the evidence is insufficient. Expect the healthcare facility or provider’s insurance to assemble a large legal team to fight the claim or offer an inadequate resolution, especially in catastrophic malpractice cases.
Evidence is key to getting a good outcome in a medical malpractice lawsuit. To help you understand the complexities of these claims, we’ve outlined four elements below that must be satisfied to prove medical malpractice has occurred:
1. Duty of Care
Determining who was responsible for providing the care that caused the harm is the first evidentiary requirement for South Carolina malpractice cases. A person can file a lawsuit against only the provider(s) responsible for the incident or treatment in question.
In some cases, determining who is at fault is easy, but in others, one or more parties may be liable for medical malpractice. Duty of care can also be tied to a facility or practice that failed to employ staff who could reasonably safeguard patients from harm or to a company that manufactured faulty medical equipment. In South Carolina, all responsible parties must be named in a notice of intent to sue. A lawsuit could name any of the following providers:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Anesthesiologists
- Pharmacists
- Healthcare facilities or hospitals
- Medical device companies
Hospital staffing documentation, medical records, and the patient’s recollections can help prove who the treating physician or care provider was when the harm occurred.
2. Breach of Duty
Breach of duty is the hardest element to prove in a malpractice claim, because it involves complex technical information and medical expertise. A physician can do everything correctly and the patient can still die from an injury or illness. To attribute a negative outcome to a breach of duty, it must be shown that the medical professional was responsible for the harm. The legal term for this is causation, which means explaining why the injury occurred and that a particular action or inaction caused it.
The evidentiary requirement for expert witnesses in South Carolina is critical to proving a breach of duty occurred. The role of the expert witness is to opine on whether the care provided met the standard of care or if the provider’s care fell short based on testimony about similar treatments or procedures.
3. Injury Caused by the Breach
The patient must be able to show that the breach of duty caused the injury alleged in a malpractice claim. When a malpractice claim is made by someone who is already sick or injured, proving the doctor’s actions was to blame can be challenging.
For example, if a patient dies after surgery, it must be proven that the death was due to an error made during the procedure and not from another variable beyond the doctor’s control.
4. Damages Resulting From the Breach
The results of the breach of duty must cause specific harm to the patient, whether that is physical pain, mental anguish, financial loss, or loss of mobility or function. While most of the other steps to proving malpractice require expert opinion, medical references, and test results, showing the resulting damages largely falls on the client.
Items that support which damages were caused by malpractice include statements from friends and family, journal entries, text messages, emails to physicians, medical bills, income statements, and other personal documentation.
The Challenges of Proving Malpractice Claims
While these steps may sound simple enough, it’s important for anyone pursuing a malpractice claim to remember that the provider or their insurance carrier will be prepared to disprove every element of proof presented. The malpractice insurance providers carry is designed to protect them from lawsuits but it can also prevent the provider from admitting fault.
Patient rights in South Carolina establish that anyone seeking medical treatment is due a certain level of care, and when those rights are violated, you don’t have to sit idly by. The challenges of proving malpractice claims and meeting evidentiary requirements in South Carolina are not insurmountable with the right legal help on your side. We understand what’s at stake for those injured by a trusted provider and how to fight for a fair resolution.