If you or a loved one has been harmed by medical negligence in South Carolina, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Medical errors can cause devastating injuries, long-term complications, and wrongful death. At Pracht Injury Lawyers, we represent patients and families throughout South Carolina who have been injured by substandard medical care. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys understand the complex medical and legal issues involved in these cases and fight to hold negligent healthcare providers accountable.
We handle all types of medical malpractice claims, including surgical errors, misdiagnosis, medication mistakes, birth injuries, anesthesia errors, and nursing home negligence. With offices in Anderson, Greenville, Summerville, and Camden, we serve clients across Anderson County, Greenville County, Berkeley County, Charleston County, Kershaw County, and throughout South Carolina.
What Is Medical Malpractice in South Carolina?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider's negligence causes harm to a patient. To establish a valid claim in South Carolina, you must prove four essential elements: a doctor-patient relationship existed, the healthcare provider breached the standard of care, this breach directly caused your injury, and you suffered actual damages.
The standard of care is defined as the level of care that a reasonably competent healthcare provider with similar training would have provided under the same circumstances. South Carolina follows a modified locality rule, with specialists held to national standards and general practitioners to more localized standards.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle
Our experienced attorneys handle all types of medical negligence cases throughout South Carolina.
Surgical Errors
Surgical mistakes include operating on the wrong body part or patient, leaving instruments inside the body, damaging nerves or organs, performing unnecessary procedures, and failing to monitor patients post-operatively. These errors often result from poor communication, inadequate planning, surgeon fatigue, or failure to follow proper protocols. Our wrongful death attorneys represent families when surgical errors prove fatal.
Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis
When doctors fail to correctly or timely diagnose conditions like cancer, heart disease, strokes, or infections, patients lose critical treatment time. Diagnostic errors may involve failure to order appropriate tests, misinterpretation of results, ignoring symptoms, or failure to consult specialists. Early detection dramatically improves outcomes, making diagnostic errors especially harmful.
Medication Errors
Medication mistakes occur at every stage and include prescribing wrong medications or dosages, failing to check for drug interactions, administering medications incorrectly, failure to monitor patient response, and prescribing medications to patients with known allergies. These errors can cause consequences ranging from minor side effects to organ damage, permanent disability, or death.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries affect mothers and babies, causing lifelong complications. Common injuries include failure to diagnose maternal infections or fetal distress, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, delayed C-sections, failure to manage preeclampsia, shoulder dystocia injuries, brachial plexus injuries, and cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation. Our birth injury lawyers work with leading medical experts to investigate these complex cases.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia mistakes can cause brain damage, permanent injury, or death. Common errors include failure to review patient history, administering incorrect anesthesia amounts, failure to monitor vital signs, intubation errors, and delayed response to complications. Even brief oxygen deprivation can cause permanent brain damage.
Emergency Room and Hospital Negligence
ER negligence includes improper triage, premature discharge, missing signs of serious conditions, failure to order necessary tests, and inadequate monitoring. Hospitals can be liable for hiring unqualified staff, inadequate supervision, understaffing, poor infection control, and defective equipment. Hospital-acquired infections like MRSA often result from inadequate hygiene or sterilization practices.
Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
Common forms of nursing home medical malpractice include inadequate medical care, medication errors, falls from poor supervision, bedsores from neglect, failure to manage chronic conditions, dehydration, malnutrition, and delayed treatment of emergencies. We advocate for vulnerable seniors harmed by substandard care throughout South Carolina.
Proving Medical Malpractice in South Carolina
Medical malpractice cases require substantial medical evidence, expert testimony, and legal expertise. South Carolina law requires expert medical testimony in virtually all cases. You must present testimony from a qualified medical expert who can establish the standard of care, explain how the defendant breached it, and demonstrate that this breach caused your injuries.
Your medical records are critical evidence, documenting what care you received and when. We thoroughly review hospital records, physician notes, test results, and imaging studies. Often, what is missing from records is as important as what is documented. Through discovery, we gather additional evidence through depositions, document requests, and interrogatories to build a comprehensive picture of what went wrong.
Damages in South Carolina Medical Malpractice Cases
You may recover compensation for various types of damages in medical malpractice cases.
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate measurable financial losses, including all past and future medical expenses, lost wages and income, loss of future earning capacity, rehabilitation costs, medical equipment or home modifications, and out-of-pocket expenses. South Carolina does not cap economic damages, meaning you can recover the full amount of your financial losses.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate intangible losses such as physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement and scarring, loss of consortium for spouses, and emotional harm to family members in wrongful death cases.
South Carolina caps non-economic damages at $350,000 per defendant, with a maximum of $1.05 million when multiple defendants are involved. These caps do not apply in cases involving wrongful death, permanent vegetative state, lifelong mechanical ventilation needs, severe brain damage requiring lifetime care, or cases where the provider acted with reckless disregard for patient safety.
Punitive Damages
In rare cases involving egregious conduct, courts may award punitive damages to punish defendants and deter similar conduct. These are only available when the defendant's conduct was willful, wanton, or reckless, and are capped at the greater of $500,000 or three times compensatory damages, up to $500,000.
Time Limits for Filing Medical Malpractice Claims in South Carolina
South Carolina law imposes strict deadlines for filing medical malpractice lawsuits. Missing these deadlines typically means losing your right to compensation.
The general statute of limitations is three years from the date of injury or from when you discovered or should have discovered the injury. However, there is an absolute statute of repose of six years from the negligent act, regardless of when you discovered the injury. For foreign objects left in the body during surgery, you have two years from discovery with no statute of repose limitation.
For minors under age eight, the statute does not begin running until they turn eight years old. Between ages eight and eighteen, the standard three-year statute applies but does not begin until age eight.
Even though you may have several years to file, consult an attorney immediately. Evidence can be lost, witnesses become unavailable, and medical records may be destroyed. Investigating these cases takes considerable time. We offer free consultations and serve clients throughout Anderson, Greenville, Summerville, Camden, and surrounding South Carolina communities.
Why Choose Pracht Injury Lawyers for Your Medical Malpractice Case
Medical malpractice cases require extensive medical knowledge, qualified experts, and substantial resources. Our attorneys have successfully represented medical malpractice victims throughout South Carolina. We work with highly qualified medical experts across all specialties to establish the standard of care and provide testimony.
We conduct comprehensive investigations, thoroughly reviewing medical records, consulting with experts, researching provider credentials, identifying all liable parties, and gathering supporting evidence. Our firm has the resources to take on hospitals, large medical practices, and their powerful insurance companies.
We provide compassionate, personalized attention and maintain regular communication throughout the process. We handle cases on a contingency fee basis—you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation. With offices in Anderson, Greenville, Summerville, and Camden, we represent medical malpractice victims statewide.
Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Malpractice in South Carolina
What qualifies as medical malpractice in South Carolina?
Medical malpractice in South Carolina occurs when a healthcare provider's negligence causes harm to a patient. To establish a valid claim, you must prove four elements: a doctor-patient relationship existed, the healthcare provider breached the applicable standard of care, this breach directly caused your injury, and you suffered actual damages. The standard of care is defined as the level of care a reasonably competent healthcare provider with similar training would have provided under the same circumstances. Common examples include surgical errors, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, medication errors, birth injuries, anesthesia mistakes, failure to obtain informed consent, and nursing home negligence.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina?
In South Carolina, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is generally three years from the date of injury or from when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury. However, there is an absolute statute of repose of six years from the date of the negligent act, regardless of when you discovered the injury. For cases involving foreign objects left in the body during surgery, you have two years from discovery. For minors under age eight, the statute does not begin running until they turn eight years old. Because these deadlines are complex and have important exceptions, it is critical to consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
Do I need expert testimony to prove my South Carolina medical malpractice case?
Yes, South Carolina law requires expert medical testimony in virtually all medical malpractice cases. You must present testimony from a qualified medical expert who can establish the applicable standard of care, explain how the defendant healthcare provider breached that standard, and demonstrate that this breach caused your injuries. The only exception is when the negligence is so obvious that a layperson could recognize it without specialized medical knowledge, such as amputating the wrong limb. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys work with respected medical experts across various specialties to build strong cases for our clients.
Are there caps on damages in South Carolina medical malpractice cases?
South Carolina does not cap economic damages in medical malpractice cases, meaning there is no limit on compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and other financial losses. However, non-economic damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life are capped at $350,000 per defendant with a total maximum of $1.05 million when multiple defendants are involved. These caps do not apply if the healthcare provider acted with reckless disregard for patient safety or in cases involving catastrophic injuries such as wrongful death, permanent vegetative state, lifelong need for mechanical ventilation, or severe brain damage requiring lifelong care.
What compensation can I recover in a medical malpractice case?
In South Carolina medical malpractice cases, you may recover both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include all past and future medical expenses related to the injury, lost wages and loss of earning capacity, costs of rehabilitation and ongoing care, and out-of-pocket expenses. Non-economic damages cover physical pain and suffering, emotional distress and mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement and scarring, and loss of consortium for spouses. In rare cases involving particularly egregious conduct, punitive damages may be awarded to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior. The specific compensation available depends on the severity of your injuries and their impact on your life.
How do I know if I have a valid medical malpractice claim?
To determine if you have a valid medical malpractice claim, ask yourself: Did your condition worsen unexpectedly or did you develop new complications after treatment? Did the healthcare provider fail to inform you of risks or alternative treatments? Did you receive a diagnosis that differed significantly from what another provider later discovered? Did your treatment deviate from accepted medical practices? Have you suffered lasting physical, emotional, or financial harm as a result? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should consult with an experienced medical malpractice attorney. Our team offers free, confidential consultations where we review your medical records, consult with medical experts, and provide an honest assessment of your case.
Areas We Serve in South Carolina
Pracht Injury Lawyers handles medical malpractice cases throughout South Carolina, with primary service areas in:
Primary Service Areas:
- Anderson - Serving Anderson County and surrounding communities throughout the Upstate region
- Greenville - Representing clients in Greenville County and the greater Upstate area
- Summerville - Serving Berkeley County, Charleston County, and the Lowcountry region
- Camden - Representing clients in Kershaw County and the Midlands region
Statewide Coverage
In addition to our primary service areas, we also handle medical malpractice cases throughout South Carolina, including:
- Upstate & Midlands: Spartanburg, Clemson, Pickens, Newberry, Union, Laurens, Abbeville, Taylors, Greenwood, Mauldin, Simpsonville
- Pee Dee & Central SC: Florence, Orangeburg, Aiken
- Piedmont & Northern SC: Rock Hill, York, Lancaster, Chester
- Other Communities Across the State: Saluda and all surrounding areas
No matter where you live in South Carolina, if you have been harmed by medical negligence, our experienced medical malpractice attorneys are here to help. We understand the unique healthcare systems and medical communities throughout the state and are prepared to fight for your rights wherever you are located.
Contact Our South Carolina Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today
If you or a loved one has been injured by medical negligence in South Carolina, time is critical. Medical malpractice cases are complex, require extensive investigation, and are subject to strict filing deadlines. The sooner you contact an attorney, the better we can protect your rights.
We offer free, confidential consultations to evaluate potential claims. During your consultation, we review your case, explain your legal options, and provide an honest assessment. If we take your case, you pay no attorney fees unless we successfully recover compensation.
Call (864) 712-7317 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation today. Let our experienced South Carolina medical malpractice attorneys hold negligent healthcare providers accountable and help you rebuild your life.
Schedule Your Free Consultation
Additional ResourcesLearn more about medical malpractice and personal injury law in South Carolina: |