If You Think a Medical Mistake Hurt You
Your health comes first. A relative can request records and keep a timeline while you get care.
- Keep getting the care you need. A second opinion, or a new doctor if trust is gone, is always an option.
- Ask for complete records. Request them from every hospital, clinic and practice, including test results, imaging, nursing notes and bills.
- Build a timeline. Every visit, procedure, prescription and conversation, with dates, plus who told you what.
- Make a records box. Discharge instructions, medication bottles with their labels, MyChart-style portal messages and every explanation-of-benefits statement go in it.
- Keep it off Facebook. Share the details with your doctors and your lawyer.
- Get a lawyer's view early.
If someone apologized or explained what went wrong, note the words, the person and the date. A letter from risk management, or a bill that was suddenly written off, is worth saving too.
The Pre-Suit Steps
South Carolina generally requires a special process before a malpractice suit can be filed. 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 an exception applies. The process also includes pre-suit mediation and special filing deadlines.3
Those steps take time and affect whether a claim can go forward, so talk with a lawyer well before the limitations period runs out.
How Long You Have to File
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, with exceptions that include certain foreign-object cases and claims involving children. The deadline that applies can turn on whether the provider is a private, state, local or federal entity.1
The deadline is for filing suit in court, and opening a claim with an insurance company does not stop it.4
Some South Carolina hospitals and clinics are run by public bodies, and malpractice claims against them may fall under the Tort Claims Act. Lawsuits under the South Carolina 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 Damage caps and other requirements may apply too.2 A lawyer can find out who runs a facility.
Care at a VA hospital and some other federal facilities can fall under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and those claims generally must first be filed in writing with the agency within two years, before any lawsuit. That applies to claims under that Act, not necessarily to every claim about treatment at a military facility.6 Active-duty service members generally cannot sue the federal government for medical malpractice involving care received incident to military service.7
A clock may already be running without anyone telling you. Lay out your dates for a lawyer.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Talk With Us
After something goes wrong in an operating room or an exam room, it's hard to know whom to believe. We start by hearing the whole story. Medicine carries real risk, and some cases turn out to be a hard result nobody could have prevented. Either way, you'll get a straight answer about what we see and your options.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Spartanburg County. Harm in an assisted living or skilled nursing setting is covered under nursing home abuse in Spartanburg. For the statewide picture, see South Carolina medical malpractice claims.
Walk us through the appointments, the procedure and the months after.
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
The surgery went badly. Does that mean someone made a mistake?
Not by itself. 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 help answer those questions. A lawyer can read the records and decide whether a deeper look makes sense.
Should I have my records in hand before I call?
No. Requesting them is a good idea, but they don't have to be in hand. Write down each provider and facility, the dates you went and what you remember.
My father died after treatment. Can our family bring a claim?
When a provider's negligence is what took his life, the family may have a wrongful death claim. In South Carolina, that suit is brought by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of family members designated by law.9 On top of that, the malpractice pre-suit steps apply, and the timing for a death case has its own wrinkles; don't sit on it.310
Can I start without coming to Charleston?
The first conversation can happen by phone. Our office is on King Street in Charleston.
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.
