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Medical Malpractice Help in Kemmerer
Finding out that care in Kemmerer 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 Wyoming 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 Wyoming Law
A medical malpractice claim in Wyoming is one that arises from an act, error or omission in the rendering of licensed or certified professional or health care services, the wording used by W.S. § 1-3-107 for the filing deadline.
To recover, a patient connects the provider’s conduct to the harm. Wyoming treats an act or omission as fault when it is negligent in any measure and a proximate cause of the injury (W.S. § 1-1-109).
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.
Situations That Can Lead to a Malpractice Claim
These are among the kinds of care that lead to claims. Each depends on showing that the care departed from accepted medical practice and that the departure caused the harm.
Failure to diagnose
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.
Surgical mistakes
Surgery claims may involve an operation on the wrong site or patient, an instrument or object left in the body, damage to nearby structures, or a failure in anesthesia or aftercare. Each is looked at for whether it departed from accepted practice and caused the harm.
Prescription and dosing mistakes
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.
Birth injuries
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.
Time Limits for a Wyoming Malpractice Claim
Under W.S. § 1-3-107, the general rule is two years from the alleged act, error or omission in the rendering of health care services, and the time runs whether or not the patient has yet seen a lawyer.
There is a discovery exception: a case may be started up to two years after the act, error or omission is discovered if the claimant can establish that it was not reasonably discoverable within the two year period, or that the claimant failed to discover it despite due diligence (W.S. § 1-3-107).
If the act, error or omission is discovered during the second year of the two year period, the time to start the lawsuit is extended by six months (W.S. § 1-3-107).
For an injury to the rights of a minor, the deadline is the minor’s eighth birthday or two years from the act, error or omission, whichever is greater, with the same discovery exception; for a plaintiff with a legal disability other than minority, it is one year after the disability is removed (W.S. § 1-3-107).
Wrongful Death After a Medical Error
If a patient dies because of care that would have supported a claim during the patient’s life, W.S. § 1-38-101 provides a wrongful death action.
Under W.S. § 1-38-102, a wrongful death representative sues for the exclusive benefit of the beneficiaries; the family does not file in their own names.
The wrongful death clock is two years from the death itself (W.S. § 1-38-102); a properly filed action to appoint the representative tolls it until thirty days after the appointment order (W.S. § 1-38-103).
The court or jury may award pecuniary and exemplary damages as fair and just, and each beneficiary may prove damages, including the loss of probable future companionship, society and comfort (W.S. § 1-38-102).
What the Wyoming Constitution Says About Damage Limits
A malpractice plaintiff in Wyoming is not held to a statutory damages cap: Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4 provides that no law shall limit the amount of damages for causing injury or death.
One more point in Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4: the legislature may by general law mandate alternative dispute resolution or medical review panel review before a health care claim is filed, so it is worth confirming early whether anything of that kind applies.
The absence of a limit does not mean any amount is guaranteed; the outcome of a claim depends on its facts and the evidence.
Shared Fault in Wyoming
Under W.S. § 1-1-109, a patient whose own fault is fifty percent or less of the total can still recover, with damages reduced by that share.
Each defendant is liable only to the extent of its own proportion of the total fault, and fault can be assigned to an actor whether or not that actor is a party to the lawsuit (W.S. § 1-1-109).
Knowing who treated the patient, and when, helps an attorney decide whom to name and how fault may be divided.
Claims Against Government Health Care Providers
When care came from a public employee, W.S. § 1-39-110 allows a claim against the governmental entity for medical malpractice by its employed health care providers.
W.S. § 1-39-113 says no action may be brought against a governmental entity unless an itemized written claim was presented within two years of the act, error or omission.
Two clocks apply to a public provider: the written claim (W.S. § 1-39-113) and then one year from filing it to sue (W.S. § 1-39-114). The liability limit for employed providers named in W.S. § 1-39-110 is $1,000,000 for acts on or after May 1, 1988.
Where a Lincoln County Malpractice Case Is Filed
Under W.S. § 1-5-109, venue lies in the county where the cause of action arose or where the defendant resides or may be summoned; for treatment in Kemmerer, that can include Lincoln County.
Courts and Hospitals Near Kemmerer
The Census Bureau places Kemmerer in Lincoln County. The Third Judicial District Court for Lincoln County is listed by the Wyoming Judicial Branch in Kemmerer, at 1040 Justice Center Drive, Kemmerer, WY 83101. The Wyoming Department of Health trauma center list shows South Lincoln Medical Center in Kemmerer as a Trauma Receiving Facility. Ask the hospital’s records office for your complete chart and itemized bill, and note which doctors and nurses were involved.
Speak With a Kemmerer Malpractice Attorney
If you believe medical care in Kemmerer 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 Wyoming. Because filing deadlines are measured in years, not decades, it helps to ask early.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I did not find out about the mistake until later?
Possibly: W.S. § 1-3-107 allows up to two years after discovery in those circumstances, and the claimant must establish them.
Is there a cap on malpractice damages in Wyoming?
Not by law. Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4 says no law shall limit the damages recoverable for causing injury or death.
What if the hospital or provider is a government entity?
A written, itemized claim has to be presented within two years of the act, error or omission (W.S. § 1-39-113), and suit must be started within one year after the claim is filed (W.S. § 1-39-114).
How does shared fault affect a Wyoming claim?
Wyoming allows recovery when the claimant’s fault is not more than fifty percent of the total, with damages diminished by that share (W.S. § 1-1-109).
Can I recover from every provider who contributed to the harm?
Under W.S. § 1-1-109, each defendant is responsible only to the extent of its proportion of the total fault.
Which county would a Kemmerer malpractice case be filed in?
W.S. § 1-5-109 allows either county, the one where the claim arose or the one where the defendant resides or may be summoned. Lincoln County is often one of them for a Kemmerer claim.
What is the filing deadline for a malpractice claim in Wyoming?
Two years from the date of the care, extended in some cases by the discovery rule (W.S. § 1-3-107).
Other Pages That May Help
If the care happened elsewhere in Wyoming, these pages may be a better starting point.
