Meridian Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical Malpractice Claims in Meridian, Mississippi

When a doctor, hospital, nurse or other provider makes a mistake that a careful professional would not have made, and that mistake causes serious harm, Mississippi law allows the patient – or the family of a patient who died – to seek compensation. The Hamilton Law Firm has handled medical negligence cases from our Meridian office for more than three decades as part of our personal injury and wrongful death practice.

The Cases We Accept

The Hamilton Law Firm concentrates its medical negligence practice on cases involving death or serious, permanent injury, where the economic losses – future medical care, lost earning capacity, the cost of lifelong assistance – are substantial, or where negligence is what is referred to as per se, meaning there is an assumption of fault built into the facts. Typical examples of cases that we assist upon include:

• Birth-related injuries to the mother or child resulting in permanent disability.
• Failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis of conditions that lead to death where earlier treatment would likely have changed the outcome.
• Surgical errors resulting in paralysis, organ damage, amputation or death.
• Anesthesia errors causing brain injury or death.
• Medication and dosage errors with catastrophic consequences.
• Emergency room and hospital errors, including discharging a patient who clearly should have been admitted, with catastrophic results based upon that non-admission.
• Objects, such as sponges or clamps, inadvertently left inside a patient after surgery, which cause complications and/or the need for additional surgeries.

Why Medical Malpractice Cases Are Different in Mississippi

The Mississippi Legislature has made medical malpractice cases unlike any other injury claim. We want you to be informed of some of these differences, which can help you have a better understanding upfront of how our review of these cases is shaped, prior to any conversations with firm about your potential case. In 2002 and again in 2004, the Legislature enacted “tort reform” laws aimed squarely at medical negligence claims. The result is a set of rules that makes these cases more expensive, slower and harder to win than any other type of injury case:

• A cap on damages. Non-economic damages – pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life – are capped at $500,000 in medical malpractice cases, half the cap that applies to other injury claims (Miss. Code § 11-1-60(2)(a)). The cap was set in 2004 and has never been adjusted for inflation. Economic losses such as medical bills and lost earnings are not capped.
• An expert before a lawsuit can even be filed. Mississippi law requires the patient’s attorney to consult with a qualified medical expert who agrees there is a reasonable basis for the claim before the case begins (Miss. Code § 11-1-58). That review is done at the firm’s expense, often before we know whether a case will go forward.
• Expert testimony is mandatory. With rare exceptions, the breach of what is known as the “standard of care” and the connection between the breach and the injury must each be proven through the sworn testimony of a medical expert who is familiar with the standard of care in that field. Mississippi courts routinely exclude experts who practice outside the relevant specialty, and a case without a qualified expert is dismissed.
• Short deadlines and a notice requirement. Most claims must be filed within two years of when the negligence was or reasonably should have been discovered, and no later than seven years after it occurred, with narrow exceptions (Miss. Code § 15-1-36). Before filing, the provider must receive 60 days’ written notice describing the claim with specificity.
• Cost. Between expert consultations, expert testimony at deposition and trial, medical record review and litigation expenses, a medical malpractice case can require tens of thousands of dollars – frequently well over $100,000 – that the firm advances and recovers only if the case succeeds.

None of this means that a patient who was genuinely harmed by negligence has no remedy. It simply means the remedy for pursuing a case is typically only financially feasible for a law firm to pursue when the harm is severe enough to justify the cost and risk of these legislatively-protected cases. However, pursuing a case is never a risk for you, as we review every inquiry carefully and without charge. 

What Strengthens a Medical Negligence Claim

• A clear, documented injury with lasting consequences, confirmed by treating physicians.
• A departure from accepted practice that another physician in the same field will say should not have happened.
• A direct link between that departure and the injury – not merely a bad outcome from a known risk.
• Complete medical records, obtained promptly. You have a right to your records, and we request them immediately.
• Prompt contact with a lawyer. Expert review takes time, and the two-year deadline runs from discovery of the injury.

Medical Malpractice FAQs

A bad result does not mean malpractice – how do I know the difference?
Medicine carries risks even when everything is done correctly. Malpractice is a failure to do what a reasonably careful provider in the same field would have done. That is why one of the first steps that we typically take is to have your case reviewed by a physician in that field.

Can I sue the hospital as well as the doctor?
Oftentimes, yes. Hospitals are responsible for their nurses and staff, and sometimes for physicians who work there. Each defendant must receive its own notice, and the claim against a public hospital is further limited by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.

Is there a deadline if the injured patient is a child?
Yes, and it is shorter than most people expect. Mississippi’s general rule tolling deadlines until discovery of the injury does not apply to the same extent as other types of cases. Contact us promptly.

What will it cost me?
Nothing up front. If we accept your case, we advance the expert and litigation expenses and are paid only if we recover for you. Contact R. Kevin Hamilton at (601) 693-5548 for a confidential review.