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Your Sioux Falls Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you or someone you love was hurt by a doctor, nurse or hospital in Sioux Falls, you may be dealing with new medical bills, lost work and worry about what comes next.
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.
Medical Malpractice Under South Dakota Law
A claim counts as medical malpractice in South Dakota when it is an action for malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure against a physician, hospital, nurse, dentist, chiropractor or another practitioner of the healing arts, whatever the legal theory (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
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.
Not every complication is malpractice. A claim needs both a failure in the care and proof that the failure caused the injury.
Common Medical Malpractice Claims
Malpractice claims come in many forms. The ones below are common, and each depends on linking a failure in care to the injury.
Diagnostic errors
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
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.
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.
Injuries during pregnancy or delivery
Claims about harm at birth look at the care given and ask whether a departure from accepted practice caused the injury, which is why complete records matter.
The South Dakota Filing Deadline
South Dakota allows two years from the time the alleged malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure occurred (SDCL § 15-2-14.1), and the action cannot be started later.
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.
Deadlines for Minors in South Dakota
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).
The extension is limited: the period cannot be extended more than five years by any disability except infancy, and in no case longer than one year after the disability ceases (SDCL § 15-2-22).
When a Patient Dies
If a patient dies because of care that would have supported a claim during the patient’s life, SDCL § 21-5-1 provides a wrongful death action.
Every action for wrongful death must be commenced within three years after the death (SDCL § 21-5-3).
SDCL § 21-5-5 has the personal representative bring the action, for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and children, or the parents and next of kin when there is neither.
What South Dakota Law Says About Damage Limits
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).
The limit does not reach special damages: SDCL § 21-3-11 says there is no limitation on their amount.
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
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).
Under SDCL § 20-9-2, no percentage of the patient’s fault is disclosed by special interrogatory when the slight comparison question is decided.
Listing each provider who touched the care, and the dates, is useful before the first consultation.
If the Provider Is a Public Entity
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).
The notice goes to the officer named in SDCL § 3-21-3: the attorney general and the commissioner for the state, the county auditor, the mayor or city finance officer, the superintendent of schools, or the chief executive officer or secretary of the board.
Giving notice does not extend the filing deadline (SDCL § 3-21-2). A minor or incapacitated person may ask the court for extra time to give notice, within two years of the event (SDCL § 3-21-4).
Courts and Hospitals Near Sioux Falls
The Census Bureau lists Sioux Falls in more than one county: Lincoln County and Minnehaha County. South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2 places Lincoln County in the Second Circuit. Minnehaha County is in the Second Circuit, according to South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2. In Sioux Falls, the Department of Health trauma hospital list names Sanford USD Medical Center as a designated tertiary trauma hospital. The South Dakota Department of Health list of designated trauma hospitals shows Sanford USD Medical Center Pediatrics in Sioux Falls as a designated regional trauma hospital. Ask the hospital’s records office for your complete chart and itemized bill, and note which doctors and nurses were involved.
How to Begin With a Sioux Falls Malpractice Attorney
People often start with a simple timeline of the care they received in Sioux Falls, along with discharge papers, test results and any letters from the provider or the insurer.
Use the form on this page to be matched with an attorney in our network who handles South Dakota medical malpractice claims. Asking early leaves more time for records and expert review.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I was partly at fault?
You can recover if your negligence was slight in comparison with the defendant’s, and the damages are reduced in proportion (SDCL § 20-9-2).
Does the two year deadline apply to hospitals and nurses?
SDCL § 15-2-14.1 reaches hospitals, nurses and the other practitioners it lists, whether the claim is based on contract or tort.
Is there a cap on malpractice damages in South Dakota?
General damages are limited to $500,000 in total; there is no limitation on special damages (SDCL § 21-3-11).
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in South Dakota?
The period is two years from when the alleged malpractice occurred (SDCL § 15-2-14.1).
Is there a wrongful death claim for malpractice in South Dakota?
Yes. SDCL § 21-5-1 provides the action, which must be commenced within three years after the death (SDCL § 21-5-3).
What if the hospital or provider is a government entity?
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.
Is the deadline different if the patient was mentally ill?
Yes. SDCL § 15-2-22 leaves out the period of minority or mental illness, with limits on how far the period can be extended.
Other Pages That May Help
Medical care often happens outside your own town; these pages cover other South Dakota communities.
