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Medical Malpractice Help in Deadwood
When medical care in Deadwood goes wrong, the harm is physical, financial and personal at once, and it is hard to know whether what happened is a legal claim.
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.
When a Provider's Care Becomes a Malpractice Claim
The statute that sets the deadline, SDCL § 15-2-14.1, reaches physicians, surgeons, dentists, hospitals, sanitariums, nurses, chiropractors and other practitioners of the healing arts, and it covers claims for malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure.
The limit on damages in SDCL § 21-3-11 applies to actions for personal injury or death alleging malpractice against physicians, chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, dentists, hospitals and nurses, among others listed there, or against the practitioner’s corporate employer.
Medical care does not always succeed, and an unhappy outcome is not by itself malpractice; the claim has to connect a failure in care to the injury.
Kinds of Cases That Need a Malpractice Attorney
Malpractice claims come in many forms. The ones below are common, and each depends on linking a failure in care to the injury.
Missed or late diagnosis
Diagnostic claims turn on timing: what was known when, what a careful provider would have done with the same symptoms, and what an earlier diagnosis would have changed.
Errors in the operating room
A surgical complication is not always a mistake, but a wrong site procedure, a retained object or an avoidable injury during an operation may be. The claim looks at what was done and at what caused the harm.
Medication errors
Medication claims often start with a mistake in ordering, dispensing or giving a drug. The question is where in the process the care departed from accepted practice and whether the error caused the harm.
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.
The South Dakota Filing Deadline
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.
When the Patient Is a Minor
Under SDCL § 15-2-22, the period of a disability, minority or mental illness at the time of accrual, is left out of the time limited for commencing the action.
SDCL § 15-2-22 caps the extra time. A disability other than infancy can add no more than five years, and no extension runs longer than one year after the disability ends.
Wrongful Death Claims in South Dakota
SDCL § 21-5-1 makes a person or corporation liable in a wrongful death action when the death was caused by a wrongful act, neglect or default that would have entitled the injured person to sue.
Every action for wrongful death must be commenced within three years after the death (SDCL § 21-5-3).
The personal representative sues in a wrongful death case, for the exclusive benefit of the spouse and children or, failing them, the parents and next of kin (SDCL § 21-5-5).
Compensation Limits for a Malpractice Claim
In an action for personal injury or death alleging malpractice against the providers listed in the statute, the total general damages that may be awarded may not exceed $500,000, whether the case is taken through the court system or by binding arbitration (SDCL § 21-3-11).
Special damages are not limited by SDCL § 21-3-11, which caps only general damages.
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.
The Slight Comparison Rule
South Dakota lets a patient recover if the patient’s negligence was slight in comparison with the defendant’s, with damages reduced by the patient’s share (SDCL § 20-9-2).
Whether the patient’s negligence was slight in comparison is decided without disclosing a percentage of fault by special interrogatory (SDCL § 20-9-2).
Records that show every provider involved in the care help an attorney see how fault may be shared.
Claims Against Government Health Care Providers
An action for damages for personal injury or death caused by a public entity or its employees cannot be maintained unless written notice of the time, place and cause of the injury is given to the public entity within one hundred eighty days after the injury (SDCL § 3-21-2).
Public entities include the state and its agencies, municipalities, counties, school districts and other public entities established by law (SDCL § 3-21-3 names who receives the notice, such as the county auditor for a county or the mayor or city finance officer for a municipality).
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.
Choosing the County to File In
Where to file depends on the facts. A plaintiff may bring a damages action in the county where the cause of action arose (SDCL § 15-5-8), which for a Deadwood claim is often Lawrence County, or where a defendant resides (SDCL § 15-5-6).
Local Courts and Hospitals in Deadwood
Lawrence County is the county the Census Bureau assigns to Deadwood. Under South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2, the Fourth Circuit covers Lawrence County. Monument Health Deadwood in Deadwood 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.
Start Your Deadwood Medical Malpractice Claim
People often start with a simple timeline of the care they received in Deadwood, along with discharge papers, test results and any letters from the provider or the insurer.
The form on this page sends your details to an attorney in our network who handles medical malpractice claims in South Dakota, so you can talk through what happened and what your options are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a cap on malpractice damages in South Dakota?
The limit is on general damages ($500,000); special damages are not limited (SDCL § 21-3-11).
Where is a malpractice lawsuit from Deadwood filed?
SDCL § 15-5-8 lets the plaintiff choose the county where the cause of action arose, which for a Deadwood claim may be Lawrence County.
What if the patient was a minor when the injury happened?
SDCL § 15-2-22 excludes the time of a disability from the deadline, and caps the extension at one year after the disability ceases.
What if I was partly at fault?
South Dakota allows recovery when the patient’s negligence was slight in comparison, with damages reduced by that share (SDCL § 20-9-2).
What is the filing deadline for a malpractice claim in South Dakota?
Two years after the alleged malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure occurred (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
Who can bring a wrongful death claim in South Dakota?
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?
One hundred eighty days for written notice (SDCL § 3-21-2), given to the officer named in SDCL § 3-21-3.
More Medical Malpractice Pages
If the care happened elsewhere in South Dakota, these pages may be a better starting point.
