Aiken Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Did you or a loved one suffer harm because of a healthcare provider’s mistake? Doctors, nurses, and medical professionals in Aiken, SC, can be held liable for medical errors. An experienced Aiken medical malpractice lawyer at Hawk Law Group can help you fight to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and your pain and suffering.

Collectively, our lawyers have over 71 years of experience fighting to hold negligent healthcare professionals accountable for their mistakes. We’ve helped our injured clients recover tens of millions of dollars over the years.

Some mistakes can never happen. If you’re suffering, contact our law offices in Aiken, South Carolina, to schedule a free consultation at (803) 226-9089 today.

How Hawk Law Group Can Help With a Medical Malpractice Claim in Aiken

How Hawk Law Group Can Help With a Medical Malpractice Claim in Aiken

Medical mistakes can have serious, life-changing consequences. If you were a victim, you may be entitled to pursue compensation. These cases are rarely easy–and the laws on medical malpractice contain procedural hurdles that you might not fully understand.

Our Aiken personal injury lawyers at Hawk Law Group have been handling cases like yours for decades. We know the legal system and how these cases work.

Hiring our experienced attorneys to protect you means you’ll have an advocate who will:

  • Investigate to determine the cause of your injuries
  • Identify all responsible parties, remembering that multiple parties can share liability
  • Retain leading medical experts to prove your case
  • Handle all paperwork and make sure all filing deadlines are met
  • Assess the fair value of your medical malpractice case
  • Negotiate with the insurance companies and defense attorneys on your behalf

Over the years, our Aiken personal injury attorneys have recovered some of the largest settlements and verdicts in the area. You can learn more about how we can help with your specific case by contacting us for a free consultation.

What Is My Aiken Medical Malpractice Case Worth?

Medical negligence can be expensive. While it’s tough to tell you exactly how much your case is worth, there are multiple factors that are relevant in almost any medical malpractice case.

Some of those include:

  • The nature of the harm you’ve suffered
  • Whether you’ll make a full recovery
  • The cost of your medical treatment and ongoing need for future care or rehab
  • The nature of the doctor’s mistake
  • The value of your lost wages or lost earning potential
  • Loss of your ability to enjoy life
  • The types of emotional and physical suffering you’ve endured

Our lawyers in Aiken are here to help you fight for every dollar you deserve. Just give us a quick call to learn more about our legal services today.

What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Malpractice?

Victims of medical malpractice are entitled to seek compensation for their economic damages and non-economic damages.

Examples of your economic damages may include:

  • Past and future medical expenses
  • Lost wages
  • Reduced earning potential
  • Physical therapy
  • Rehabilitation 
  • Any other financial expenses that can be attributed to the medical error

You can recover the full amount of your economic damages without limit. 

You may also be entitled to compensation for your non-tangible losses, such as:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Mental anguish
  • Diminished quality of life
  • Reduced life expectancy
  • Physical disfigurement and scarring
  • Anxiety or PTSD
  • Severe depression
  • Loss of consortium

South Carolina medical malpractice laws do place a cap on the amount of non-economic damages you can recover in a lawsuit. In 2022, the maximum you can recover from any single defendant is $512,773. If your case involves multiple defendants, the maximum non-economic damages you can recover is $1,538,319 in 2022. These amounts change every year based on inflation.

Long-Term Consequences of Medical Malpractice

The long-term consequences of a medical mistake can be dramatic.

Some examples include:

  • A worsened underlying condition
  • The need for more invasive and expensive medical treatment
  • Unnecessary surgeries
  • Internal organ damage
  • Sepsis and shock
  • Stroke
  • Heart attack
  • Loss of cognitive function
  • Reduced life expectancy

Patients who are harmed by medical errors often suffer from severe depression. It can be difficult to accept that your trusted doctor actually did more harm than good. Our lawyers will fight hard to recover fair compensation for both your physical injuries and your emotional suffering. To learn more, just call for a free case evaluation.

What Causes Most Medical Errors in Aiken, South Carolina?

Medical professionals make mistakes all the time. Not all of those medical errors amount to malpractice. However, some mistakes are so serious that they should never occur–even if your doctor is overworked and tired.

Some of the most common causes of medical malpractice include:

  • Operating on the wrong patient or body part
  • Failure to order the appropriate tests
  • Misinterpretation of diagnostic tests
  • Failure to properly monitor a mother and fetus during pregnancy, labor, and delivery
  • Unsanitary conditions in a hospital or medical facility
  • Failure to communicate 
  • Charting errors
  • Inexperienced medical providers
  • Understaffed medical facilities
  • Failure to get a full patient history

It can be difficult for patients to know whether their doctor made a mistake. Our Aiken medical malpractice attorneys will carefully investigate. Working with experts, we’ll determine whether you have a valid medical malpractice claim.

If you’re ready to learn more, call our law firm to schedule a free initial consultation today.

We Handle All Types of Medical Malpractice Cases in Aiken

Any medical professional can be held liable for negligence. That includes doctors, nurses, and even medical labs.

At Hawk Law Group, we handle all types of medical malpractice cases, including those involving:

  • Surgical errors
  • Emergency room errors 
  • Anesthesia errors
  • Hospital-acquired infections
  • Failure to diagnose cancer or other diseases
  • Delayed diagnosis
  • Prescription drug errors, including prescribing the wrong medication or an incorrect dose
  • Leaving a medical instrument or foreign object in a patient
  • Emergency room errors
  • Anesthesia errors
  • Dangerous drugs
  • Defective medical devices
  • Nursing negligence
  • Hospital negligence
  • Radiology errors
  • Other lab errors
  • Birth injuries 

The cost of fixing a doctor’s mistake can be overwhelming. Our lawyers will work tirelessly to get you the maximum compensation you deserve.

How Do I Prove Medical Malpractice in South Carolina? 

Medical malpractice cases are notoriously complicated. Victims must comply with procedural rules that don’t apply in a South Carolina personal injury case. However, there are some common elements.

To establish medical malpractice, the victim must establish the following elements:

  • The responsible party’s legal duty of care (all health care professionals owe patients a legal duty of care)
  • The medical standard of care
  • A breach of the medical standard of care occurred
  • You suffered some type of harm, or damages, because of the breach of duty

The medical standard of care is different in most cases. The medical standard of care is the level of care that a reasonable doctor or healthcare professional would have provided under the circumstances.

The standard is based on a few different things, including:

  • The patient’s age and general health
  • The type of medical condition or injury involved
  • The doctor or healthcare professional’s level of training
  • Geographic location 

To establish the medical standard of care and breach elements, the victim must produce an affidavit prepared by a medical expert.

It’s common to feel overwhelmed by the requirements that apply in medical negligence cases. Our lawyers in Aiken are here to help in any way we can. To learn more about our legal practice and skills, call for a free case review today.

How Long Do I Have To File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in South Carolina

Every state limits the amount of time you have to sue for damages after an injury. The deadlines in medical malpractice cases can vary from case to case.

In South Carolina, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is three years. That three-year period begins to run on the earliest of:

  • The date the malpractice occurred
  • The date the victim discovers the mistake
  • The date the victim reasonably should have discovered the mistake

Regardless of the circumstances, you’ll lose your right to sue for damages once six years from the date of the injury pass. 

However, there are some exceptions to the firm six-year deadline. You have two years to file a lawsuit if a foreign object is left in your body. That two-year clock starts running on the date you discover or reasonably should have discovered the object.

In cases involving foreign objects, you’ll have no more than three years to file a lawsuit, even if you don’t discover the object within the three-year window of time.

Medical malpractice victims must also provide a notice of intent to sue before taking any legal action at all. Once the notice is filed, the statute of limitations is paused.

Contact an Aiken Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation

Were you or a loved one a victim of medical malpractice in Aiken? Our legal team at Hawk Law Group would be proud to stand up and put our experience to work for you. All you have to do is call today and schedule a free consultation with an experienced Aiken medical malpractice lawyer.

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