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Medical Malpractice Attorneys for Whitewood, SD
If you or someone you love was hurt by a doctor, nurse or hospital in Whitewood, 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.
How South Dakota Law Defines Medical Malpractice
Under SDCL § 15-2-14.1, the claims covered are those against a physician, surgeon, dentist, hospital, nurse, chiropractor or other practitioner of the healing arts for malpractice, error, mistake or failure to cure, in contract or in tort.
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.
Not every complication is malpractice. A claim needs both a failure in the care and proof that the failure caused the injury.
Situations That Can Lead to a Malpractice Claim
Whatever the kind of mistake, a claim comes back to two questions: did the care depart from accepted practice, and did that cause the injury?
Diagnostic errors
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.
Mistakes during surgery
Problems before, during or after an operation can all lead to claims: planning, the procedure itself, anesthesia and follow up care. The question is whether the care departed from accepted practice and caused the injury.
Errors with medications
Giving the wrong medication, the wrong amount or a drug that conflicts with something the patient already takes can cause serious harm. A claim looks at where in the process the care fell short.
Harm to a mother or baby at birth
When a mother or baby is harmed before, during or soon after delivery, a claim asks whether the care departed from accepted practice and whether that caused the injury. These cases usually depend heavily on the medical records.
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.
SDCL § 15-2-14.1 counts from the occurrence of the alleged malpractice, not from the day it was discovered, so the date of the care is the first thing to pin down, and an attorney can say whether an exception fits.
Minors and Mental Illness Under South Dakota Law
A patient who was a minor or mentally ill when the claim accrued gets the disability period excluded from the deadline (SDCL § 15-2-22).
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.
A Death Caused by Medical Care
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.
SDCL § 21-5-3 gives three years for a wrongful death action in general, but for a death caused by medical care the two year malpractice period of SDCL § 15-2-14.1 can apply instead. Because that period runs from the care and not from the death, do not wait.
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.
Compensation Limits for a Malpractice Claim
South Dakota limits general damages in a malpractice case to $500,000 in total, in court or in 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.
When the Patient Shares Fault
SDCL § 20-9-2 bars recovery only when the patient’s own negligence was more than slight in comparison with the defendant’s; otherwise damages are reduced in proportion.
Under SDCL § 20-9-2, no percentage of the patient’s fault is disclosed by special interrogatory when the slight comparison question is decided.
Because fault can be assigned to providers who are not defendants, identifying every provider involved in the care early matters.
If the Provider Is a Public Entity
If the provider is a public entity or its employee, SDCL § 3-21-2 requires written notice of the time, place and cause of the injury within one hundred eighty days after the injury before an action can be maintained.
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.
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
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 Whitewood, that can be Lawrence County. Otherwise the county where a defendant resides applies (SDCL § 15-5-6).
Local Courts and Hospitals in Whitewood
Whitewood lies in Lawrence County, according to Census Bureau place and county names. South Dakota Codified Law 16-5-1.2 places Lawrence County in the Fourth Circuit. Monument Health Spearfish Hospital in Spearfish, in Lawrence County as well, is on the South Dakota Department of Health trauma hospital list as a designated community trauma hospital. The South Dakota Department of Health trauma hospital list names Monument Health Deadwood in Deadwood, also in Lawrence County, as a designated trauma receiving hospital. Whichever hospital treated you, request your full records and an itemized bill early, and keep a list of the providers you saw.
Speak With a Whitewood Malpractice Attorney
If you believe medical care in Whitewood caused you or a family member harm, a good first step is to write down what happened, when it happened and who was involved, and to gather the records and bills you already have.
Submit the form on this page and we will work to connect you with an attorney in our network who handles medical malpractice claims in South Dakota. Because filing deadlines are measured in years, not decades, it helps to ask early.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a hospital covered by the South Dakota malpractice time limit?
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).
Are special damages limited in a South Dakota malpractice claim?
The limit is on general damages ($500,000); special damages are not limited (SDCL § 21-3-11).
Where is a malpractice lawsuit from Whitewood filed?
Venue follows SDCL § 15-5-8 or SDCL § 15-5-6: where the damages were inflicted or the cause arose, or where a defendant resides. For care in Whitewood, Lawrence County is often one option.
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?
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).
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?
The personal representative brings the action (SDCL § 21-5-5). For a death caused by medical care, plan on the two year period of SDCL § 15-2-14.1, which runs from the care, rather than the three years in SDCL § 21-5-3.
Nearby Communities We Serve
These pages cover other communities in South Dakota, in case the care you received was somewhere else.
