Here are some pertinent questions to determine whethere or not you have a case:

1. What were the circumstances surrounding your or your loved one's illness or injury?
2. How did the doctor treat it?
3. What did your or loved one's doctor tell you or them about your or their treatment?
4. Did you or your loved one follow your doctor's instructions?
5. What has been the result?

Answers to these and other relevant questions become important if you think your doctor may have committed malpractice. Like other personal injury claims, the case will either be settled or go to trial, usually before a jury.

One of the things we’ll discuss when we first meet you is how and how often you want us to contact you. If you have a case, we’ll probably be working together for quite a while. Some people want to hear every detail, while others only want us to let them know if something really important happens. Some people like phone calls, while others prefer emails, so they can have a record of the conversation. We try hard to accommodate each client’s preferences.

This is a natural question that’s very difficult to answer. The value of a case depends on the circumstances of the injury or death, how it affected the people involved, as well as a large number of other factors.

While we can talk to you about the factors that will affect the value of your particular case, we can’t give you an exact number—and neither can anyone else.

You may read about cases that sound similar to yours, but may be worth much less or much more than your case because of these individual factors. As your case moves through different stages, we’ll be able to give you better estimates about the value of your case, and what to expect from a settlement or trial.

Our philosophy is to prepare every case thoroughly, as if it will be tried because that’s how we believe we can get you the best settlement. If your case is one of the few that doesn’t settle before trial, we’ll make sure you’re carefully prepared on what will happen and what to expect at trial. You’ll also have plenty of advance notice, so you that can make necessary arrangements with work, child care, as well as with your other responsibilities.

Determining who is liable for a medical error in any given medical malpractice scenario can be challenging, because multiple health care professionals from various entities may have provided care around the time of the medical error. In the majority of cases, medical negligence claims are brought against:

• The doctor or physician who performed the medical procedure;
• A medical specialist, such as a radiologist; 
• Medical staff such as a registered nurse or certified nurse assistant;
• Pharmacists;
• Primary care physician;
• A medical firm that employed the doctor of a physician, or the firm where the doctor was a partner;
• Medical clinic;
• Rehab facility;
• Skilled nursing home;
• At-home nurses aide;
• Governmental entity;
• Hospitals or similar entities may be directly or indirectly liable for the negligence of their staff, including physician assistants, nurses, and technicians.

1. Statute of Limitation: First, it is important to know that medical malpractice lawsuits are subject to a statute of limitations. This means an injured party has a limited amount of time to file a medical malpractice lawsuit from when the injury was discovered or should have been discovered. In South Carolina, the statute of limitation varies depending on the negligent medical providers but can vary between one year to three years.
   
   
2. Recoverable damages and limited recovery due to caps: In South Carolina, an award of damages may be capped for an injured patient. Damages in South Carolina are divided into two categories, economic and non-economic.
   • Economic damages, or special damages, compensate you for things like medical bills or lost wages. Economic damages include past and future medical bills and lost income. 
   • Non-economic damages, or compensatory damages, compensate you for things like pain and suffering and emotional harm. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, and mental anguish.

Unfortunately, the amount you can recover for non-economic damages is limited under South Carolina Code Section 13-32-220, which states that noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases are capped at $350,000 when the claim is against a single health care provider. The cap on noneconomic damages is raised to $1.05 million when the award is against multiple health care providers.

Thankfully, no such cap exists for economic damages, meaning the full amount awarded for lost pay or healthcare expenses can be recovered. South Carolina does not require that a physician carry medical malpractice liability insurance, nor does South Carolina have a minimum carrying requirement. While most hospitals require doctors to carry insurance, some do not.