First Steps If You Think a Medical Mistake Hurt You
Your health still comes first.
- Keep getting care. A second opinion is fine.
- Request full records. Include imaging, nursing notes and bills.
- Build a dated list of visits, procedures and prescriptions.
- Save pill bottles, discharge sheets and portal messages.
- Stay off social media about it.
- If someone apologized, write down who, when and what.
A spouse or adult child can handle record requests while you recover.
Where North Charleston Patients Get Care
People in North Charleston may be seen at a hospital or freestanding ER off Rivers Avenue, a clinic near Northwoods, a pharmacy on Dorchester Road, or a hospital downtown. Some providers are private. Some are run by a state or local body. Veterans and service members may use federal facilities. Write down every place you were treated, since the provider type changes the rules.
South Carolina Law on Medical Malpractice
Before a Lawsuit
Before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina, a patient generally must serve a Notice of Intent to File Suit and file an expert affidavit identifying at least one alleged negligent act or omission, unless a statutory exception applies. The process also includes pre-suit mediation and special rules that affect filing deadlines.3
Filing Periods
South Carolina generally requires medical malpractice claims to be filed within three years of the alleged malpractice or when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Many claims are also subject to a six-year outer limit, but special rules and exceptions apply, including certain foreign-object cases and claims involving children.1 Simply opening a claim with an insurance company does not stop the statute of limitations from running.4
Government and Federal Providers
Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act.2 Lawsuits under the Tort Claims Act generally must be filed within two years, and a three-year deadline may apply if a qualifying verified claim was first filed under the Act.5
Injury claims against the federal government, such as care at a VA hospital or military clinic, generally must first be filed in writing with the agency within two years, before any lawsuit.6 Active-duty service members generally cannot sue the federal government for medical malpractice involving care received incident to military service. They may be eligible to seek compensation through an administrative claim with the Department of Defense instead.7
Don't count on extra time.
More on medical malpractice claims in South Carolina.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Talk With Us
Medicine carries real risk. Sometimes nobody could have prevented the result. Sometimes someone could have. We listen to all of it and tell you honestly which it looks like.
We take cases across South Carolina, including North Charleston. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. For harm in a nursing facility, our North Charleston nursing home page covers that.
South Carolina Law on This
- South Carolina generally requires medical malpractice claims to be filed within three years of the alleged malpractice or when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Many claims are also subject to a six-year outer limit, but special rules and exceptions apply, including certain foreign-object cases and claims involving children. The applicable deadline can also depend on whether the provider is a private, state, local, or federal healthcare entity.1
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.2
- Before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina, a patient generally must serve a Notice of Intent to File Suit and file an expert affidavit identifying at least one alleged negligent act or omission, unless a statutory exception applies. The process also includes pre-suit mediation and special rules that affect filing deadlines.3
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.4
- Lawsuits under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act generally must be filed within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered. A three-year deadline may apply if a qualifying verified claim was first filed under the Act.5
- Injury claims against the federal government, such as care at a VA hospital, military clinic or some federally funded health centers, or a crash with an on-duty federal employee, generally must first be filed in writing with the agency within two years, before any lawsuit. If the agency denies the claim, a lawsuit generally must be filed within six months after the agency mails its written denial.6
- Active-duty service members generally cannot sue the federal government for medical malpractice involving care received incident to military service. However, they may be eligible to seek compensation through an administrative claim with the Department of Defense for malpractice by a DoD health care provider at a covered military medical facility.7
- A medical malpractice claim generally requires proof of an applicable professional standard of care, a breach of that standard, causation, and compensable injury. A poor medical outcome does not by itself mean malpractice occurred.8
- In South Carolina, a wrongful death lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate on behalf of family members designated by law. The beneficiaries are the surviving spouse and children, or, if there are none, the deceased person's parents. If none of those relatives survive, other legal heirs may benefit from the claim.9
- Under South Carolina law, wrongful death lawsuits generally must be filed within three years of the person's death. However, different rules may apply when a death involves medical malpractice, a government agency, or other circumstances governed by special laws. A related survival claim may also have a different filing deadline.10
Frequently Asked Questions
Was it malpractice, or just a bad result?
A poor medical outcome does not by itself mean malpractice occurred. A medical malpractice claim generally requires proof of an applicable professional standard of care, a breach of that standard, causation, and compensable injury.8 Other doctors' opinions often settle that question. A lawyer can read the chart and say whether digging further makes sense.
Should I have my chart before calling?
No. Ask for it, but call anyway. List each provider, each facility and each visit date you can remember.
Mom died after treatment at a hospital. Can our family act?
Do I have to come downtown to talk?
The first conversation can happen by phone. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston, south of North Charleston by way of I-26 or Rivers Avenue. If the drive is hard right now, we can meet you at the hospital, at home or somewhere else that works for you.
Sources
- S.C. Code § 15-3-545
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
- S.C. Code §§ 15-79-125 and 15-36-100
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-80 and 15-78-110
- 28 U.S.C. §§ 2401(b) and 2675(a); 42 U.S.C. § 233(g)
- Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135 (1950); 10 U.S.C. § 2733a
- S.C. Code § 15-79-110(6); David v. McLeod Regional Medical Center, 367 S.C. 242 (2006)
- S.C. Code §§ 15-51-10 and 15-51-20
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-530(6) and 15-3-545
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
