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Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Hot Springs, SD
Finding out that care in Hot Springs fell short can be painful, and sorting out whether it amounts to medical malpractice is a separate question from how you feel about it.
The sections below set out the South Dakota law that applies to malpractice claims and explain how to reach, through needanattorney.net, an attorney in our network who handles them.
What Counts as Medical Malpractice in South Dakota
South Dakota’s malpractice time limit applies to an action against a physician, surgeon, dentist, hospital, sanitarium, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, chiropractor or other practitioner of the healing arts for malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
SDCL § 21-3-11 reaches malpractice actions against a long list of providers, from physicians and hospitals to nurse midwives and physician assistants, and against their employers.
An unexpected outcome does not prove a mistake. What matters is whether care in Hot Springs departed from accepted practice and whether that departure caused the harm.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
The examples that follow are not a complete list, but they show how a claim connects what the provider did or failed to do to the harm.
Missed or late diagnosis
A claim can arise when a condition is missed or identified late. The question is whether the delay or error departed from accepted medical practice and caused harm that earlier treatment would have avoided.
Surgical mistakes
Operating room claims examine whether the surgeon and the team followed accepted practice for the procedure, and whether a departure from it, rather than a known risk, caused the harm.
Prescription and dosing mistakes
A prescription or dosing mistake may involve a physician, a pharmacy or a hospital staff member. A claim looks at who made the error and what it caused.
Harm to a mother or baby at birth
Birth injury claims examine monitoring, decisions about delivery and care after the baby is born, and ask whether any departure from accepted practice caused the harm.
Filing Deadlines Under South Dakota Law
Under SDCL § 15-2-14.1, the period is two years after the alleged malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure shall have occurred.
The clock in SDCL § 15-2-14.1 runs from when the alleged malpractice occurred. It does not use discovery wording, which makes the dates of treatment important from the start.
Children and Patients Under a Disability
If the person entitled to bring an action was a minor or mentally ill when the cause of action accrued, the time of the disability is not a part of the time limited for starting the action (SDCL § 15-2-22).
There is a ceiling on the extra time under SDCL § 15-2-22: five years for any disability except infancy, and never longer than one year after the disability ceases.
Wrongful Death Claims in South Dakota
A wrongful death action lies when a death is caused by a wrongful act, neglect or default that would have entitled the patient to sue had the patient lived (SDCL § 21-5-1).
Every action for wrongful death must be commenced within three years after the death (SDCL § 21-5-3).
The action is for the exclusive benefit of the husband or wife and children, or if there are none, the parents and next of kin, and it is brought in the name of the personal representative (SDCL § 21-5-5).
Compensation Limits for a Malpractice Claim
Under SDCL § 21-3-11, general damages in an action alleging malpractice against the listed providers may not exceed $500,000, and the limit applies to arbitration as well as court.
There is no limitation on the amount of special damages that may be awarded (SDCL § 21-3-11).
The lack of a statutory limit says nothing about what a particular claim is worth, which depends on the harm, the evidence and how fault is divided.
Shared Fault in South Dakota
A patient’s own negligence does not bar recovery when it was slight in comparison with the negligence of the defendant, but the damages are reduced in proportion to the patient’s negligence (SDCL § 20-9-2).
SDCL § 20-9-2 says the slight comparison question is determined without disclosing any percentage of the patient’s fault by special interrogatory.
Listing each provider who touched the care, and the dates, is useful before the first consultation.
Claims Against Public Hospitals and Government Providers
South Dakota sets a much shorter notice period for claims against public entities and their employees: written notice within one hundred eighty days after the injury (SDCL § 3-21-2).
SDCL § 3-21-3 lists the officers to be notified, including the attorney general and the commissioner for the state and the county auditor for a county.
The notice does not stop the clock: SDCL § 3-21-2 says nothing in the chapter tolls or extends a limitation period. For a minor or an incapacitated person, SDCL § 3-21-4 lets a court allow a reasonable time after the disability, on application within two years of the event.
Courts for a Hot Springs Claim
Under SDCL § 15-5-8, the plaintiff may choose the county where the damages were inflicted or the cause of action arose; for treatment in Hot Springs, that can be Fall River County. Otherwise the county where a defendant resides applies (SDCL § 15-5-6).
The Court and Hospitals Behind a Hot Springs Claim
Hot Springs lies in Fall River County, according to Census Bureau place and county names. Fall River County is in the Seventh Circuit, according to South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2. Fall River Health Clinic in Hot Springs is on the South Dakota Department of Health trauma hospital list as a designated trauma receiving hospital. If your care took place at a hospital like this, ask for the complete chart and an itemized bill, and write down every provider who treated you.
How to Begin With a Hot Springs Malpractice Attorney
People often start with a simple timeline of the care they received in Hot Springs, along with discharge papers, test results and any letters from the provider or the insurer.
Fill out the form above and we will work to put you in touch with an attorney in our network who handles malpractice claims in South Dakota. Starting sooner gives you more room to gather records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in South Dakota?
Two years after the alleged malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure occurred (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
How long does a family have after a death caused by malpractice?
Three years after the death (SDCL § 21-5-3); the personal representative brings the action for the spouse and children, or the parents and next of kin (SDCL § 21-5-5).
How fast must I act against a public provider in South Dakota?
Written notice of the time, place and cause of the injury must be given to the public entity within one hundred eighty days after the injury (SDCL § 3-21-2); the notice does not extend the time to sue.
Which providers does the South Dakota malpractice deadline cover?
Physicians, surgeons, dentists, hospitals, sanitariums, registered and licensed practical nurses, chiropractors and other practitioners of the healing arts, in contract or tort (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
Does South Dakota limit what I can recover for medical malpractice?
General damages are limited to $500,000 in total; there is no limitation on special damages (SDCL § 21-3-11).
In what county would a Hot Springs claim be brought?
At the plaintiff’s option, the county where the damages were inflicted or the cause of action arose (SDCL § 15-5-8); for care in Hot Springs that can be Fall River County. The county where a defendant resides is the general rule (SDCL § 15-5-6).
What if the patient was a minor when the injury happened?
Yes. SDCL § 15-2-22 leaves out the period of minority or mental illness, with limits on how far the period can be extended.
Where to Look Next
These pages cover other communities in South Dakota, in case the care you received was somewhere else.
