North Dakota Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Each year, botched surgeries, delayed diagnosis, and other forms of medical malpractice leave vulnerable patients with additional medical complications. These avoidable injuries and illnesses can delay or compromise a patient’s physical recovery, resulting in further financial and emotional strain.
If your provider violated the standard of care and caused you harm, you may be able to recover compensation for your damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Sand Law PLLC’s personal injury lawyers are here to help you accomplish this.
As North Dakota medical malpractice attorneys, we understand that these are often sensitive cases that require considerable dedication and expertise. Our team at Sand Law PLLC has years of experience in this specific area of personal injury law and the resources to take on complex cases. Give us a call at (701) 394-3697 or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation.
Why Sand Law PLLC is the Superior Choice for Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you have been harmed by a medical professional, especially one with years of experience, it can be hard to trust another professional to handle something as important as your legal affairs. At Sand Law PLLC, we respect your experience, and we will work tirelessly to prove ourselves worthy of your trust.
As our former clients will tell you, we strive to provide exceptional service to North Dakotans in crisis so they can move forward with rebuilding their lives. In fact, we do more than set that goal- we consistently accomplish it. Our team has a strong track record of results that reflects our dedication to our clients.
The stakes of a medical malpractice claim are often high, but Sand Law PLLC is equipped for the challenge. This is a responsibility we take incredibly seriously. Get the reassurance, representation, and results you need with our North Dakota medical malpractice lawyers by your side.
What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice in North Dakota?
Just because you had an adverse reaction to a particular medication, experienced a complication during surgery, or waited years for a provider to diagnose your condition does not mean that you have a North Dakota medical malpractice claim.
There are several elements that must exist before a case qualifies as medical malpractice:
- You had a patient-provider relationship that makes them legally responsible for your care
- The provider failed to meet the standard of care due to a mistake or negligence
- You suffered additional mental or physical harm because of their actions or failure to act
- You sustained economic or non-economic damages as a result of your injury
The standard of care holds medical providers accountable for harming patients, but it also ensures that they can’t be sued for making a common mistake that another provider would likely make under similar circumstances. Given the unique evidentiary standard in medical malpractice claims, injured patients should seek out the help of a North Dakota medical malpractice lawyer to help them demonstrate that their provider’s actions crossed the line.
North Dakota Rules for Medical Malpractice Cases
In addition to the basic tenets of medical malpractice law, North Dakota has a few other regulations that potential plaintiffs should know about. First of all, North Dakota medical malpractice law places a cap on non-economic damages. Plaintiffs can recover a maximum of $500,000 worth of non-economic damages.
The North Dakota Century Code also requires the two parties to attempt an alternative dispute resolution before the plaintiff files a healthcare malpractice action. For example, a medical malpractice victim and a healthcare provider, along with their legal representatives may engage in mediation with an unbiased third party to try and find a solution.
Finally, injured patients must file medical malpractice claims within the North Dakota statute of limitations for it to be valid. Failure to do so can interfere with their ability to recover compensation for their damages in a medical malpractice claim.
Types Of Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice happens for a number of reasons. For example, providers may be distracted, lack training, or overestimate their skills. This can lead to a range of errors that inflict catastrophic injuries and harm on patients. The following are the major types of medical malpractice patients encounter:
Misdiagnosis: Your healthcare provider made a mistake in diagnosing your condition and told you that you had a different medical issue instead.
Delayed diagnosis: The provider failed to identify and diagnose your condition in a reasonable amount of time despite your symptoms clearly indicating what was wrong.
Incorrect treatment: You received the wrong type of procedure, medication, physical or mental rehabilitation, or other form of treatment for your medical diagnosis. This could also include situations where the treatment was technically appropriate, but the provider failed to account for factors like your allergy to a medication.
Improperly applied treatment: The provider chose the right way to address your condition, but they implemented the treatment incorrectly. For instance, they used a dosage that was too high or an implant that was the wrong size.
Surgical error: The surgeon incorrectly executed a procedure or technique, caused damage in an unrelated area during the operation, or made another type of error, such as leaving a sponge or instrument inside you.
Failure to provide informed consent: Your medical provider did not disclose the risks and consequences of a particular treatment or failed to secure appropriate legal consent before administering it. Obviously, in emergency situations, providers have some flexibility with this.
Remember, the burden of proof requires that plaintiffs do more than show their provider not only made an error, such as one of the examples outlined above. The error in question must also be a mistake that a provider with similar qualifications would not have made under the same circumstances.
The Financial and Emotional Costs of Medical Malpractice Injuries
Given that North Dakota limits the amount plaintiffs can recover in non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims, it is helpful to categorize compensatory damages in terms of economic and non-economic losses.
Economic damages in a North Dakota medical malpractice claim can include financial costs that result from your injury, such as:
- Medical bills related to the additional complications
- Lost income during recovery and future lost earnings
- Transportation to medical appointments
- Medical equipment, like oxygen tanks or wheelchairs
- Physical therapy sessions
- Medications
Non-economic damages compensate medical malpractice victims for intangible losses related to their injuries, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement
- Physical impairment
- Loss of consortium
- Inconvenience
- Humiliation
- Mental anguish
North Dakota medical malpractice lawyers can help you quantify your compensatory damages and negotiate a settlement for them.
The Undeniable Advantage of Hiring a North Dakota Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Not only do medical malpractice plaintiffs have to deal with a unique liability threshold, but they also have to simplify technical medical concepts for a non-expert audience in order to prove they qualify for compensation. North Dakota medical malpractice lawyers can offer a range of services that help level the playing field. For example, they can:
- Identify any potentially liable party or parties who were responsible for your care
- Collect evidence of the provider’s failure to perform the standard of care
- Handle communication with the provider’s insurer and their legal counsel
- Keep track of relevant deadlines for submitting evidence, motions, and other documents
- Organize your medical records and other evidence into a cohesive case
- Account for North Dakota-specific laws and regulations when building a claim
- Bring in credible expert witnesses to explain complex medical concepts
- Advocate for you in court if your case goes to trial
Our North Dakota medical malpractice attorneys can explain the full range of services we offer during your free case evaluation.
Let Sand Law PLLC Show You What We Can Do For Your North Dakota Medical Malpractice Claim
At Sand Law PLLC, our North Dakota medical malpractice lawyers have guided clients through the aftermath of devastating surgical errors, overlooked late-stage diagnoses, and other types of substandard care to secure fair settlements.
As a team with considerable experience, we know that the financial and emotional toll of medical malpractice injuries can interfere with a patient’s ability to effectively manage their own claim for damages. With these types of claims, you need to hire a personal injury lawyer, and we want to provide the legal support you need to obtain compensation.
Give us a call at (701) 394-3697 or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation. Our team of accomplished North Dakota medical malpractice attorneys can offer you individualized insight into how to approach your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in North Dakota?
Victims of medical malpractice have 2 years to file a North Dakota personal injury claim. The clock starts after they sustain the injury caused by the provider’s actions, or after they reasonably should have discovered the injury. Once the statute of limitations expires, plaintiffs may lose their right to seek compensation for their damages in a North Dakota medical malpractice claim.
What are my chances of success at trial with a medical malpractice claim?
Juries generally find physicians highly credible, which can make it difficult for plaintiffs to convince them that the provider should be held liable. Recent statistics indicate that over 80% of the time, judges and juries do not find providers liable for medical malpractice at trial. However, no two medical malpractice cases are identical.
Given the low odds of success, patients who have been injured by their provider’s substandard treatment should consider hiring a North Dakota medical malpractice lawyer to represent them. It is also a good idea to choose a medical malpractice attorney who has experience negotiating claims in court.
Can I recover punitive damages in a North Dakota medical malpractice lawsuit?
It’s rare for a plaintiff to recover punitive damages because the standard is so high. In North Dakota, the law requires proof that the defendant’s conduct constituted “oppression, fraud, or actual malice” in order for punitive damages to be an option.
Even if the judge or jury is convinced that the provider’s behavior met that definition, they can still exercise discretion when deciding if a financial penalty will deter the defendant from similar acts in the future.