Tennessee Medical Malpractice: Laws, Claims and Damages
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Mary Martin
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Mary Martin has been a legal writer and editor for over 20 years, responsible for ensuring that content is straightforward, correct, and helpful for the consumer. In addition, she worked on writing monthly newsletter columns for media, lawyers, and consumers. Ms. Martin also has experience with internal staff and HR operations. Mary was employed for almost 30 years by the nationwide legal publi...
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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021
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We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
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TENNESSEE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
When a Tennessee health care provider is medically negligent, they can be sued for medical malpractice. Medical negligence is a term used to describe when a health care provider administers substandard care, resulting in injury to the patient. The patient can then bring a Tennessee medical malpractice suit to recover for these injuries. Any of the following acts or failures to act can be considered medical negligence in Tennessee, thus giving rise to a medical malpractice suit:
- Improper diagnosis or failure to diagnose a condition;
- Failure to treat or mistreatment of a condition;
- Nursing errors;
- Failure to prescribe necessary medication or errors in prescribing;
- Errors during surgery.
To ensure that proper action is taken against a medically negligent health care provider, a patient should contact an experienced Tennessee medical malpractice attorney right away if they believe they have been negligently injured.
Who Can Be Sued in a Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case?
Health care providers such as nurses, doctors, hospitals, medical groups, physicians, dentists, clinics, and any other individual or agency licensed to provide patients with medical treatment may be sued for medical malpractice in Tennessee. If you are unclear whether the individual or agency causing your injury qualifies as a Tennessee health care provider, contact a Tennessee medical malpractice attorney for assistance in this inquiry and more.
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Tennessee Medical Malpractice Statute Of Limitations
It is extremely important to bring a medical malpractice action within the Tennessee statute of limitations. Failure to do so will mean a permanent loss of the injured party’s claim. In Tennessee, an injured party must bring a medical malpractice claim within one year of discovering the injury, but in no case may the claim be filed more than three years after the date of the negligent action, even if the injury was not discovered until much later.
These timeframes do differ if the injured party is mentally disabled or is a minor. Contact a Tennessee medical malpractice attorney for further questions about the Tennessee statute of limitations and details about the exceptions to it.
Caps on Medical Malpractice Claims in Tennessee
Damages for medical malpractice actions are not statutorily limited in Tennessee. This does not mean, however, that a patient can claim an excessive amount of damages. A Tennessee medical malpractice attorney will assess the facts of each patient’s case and help them determine a fair and proper amount of recoverable damages to demand in their claim.
Filing a Tennessee Medical Malpractice Claim
Filing a Tennessee medical malpractice claim is a complex process, and should not be done without the help of a medical malpractice attorney. To avoid having your claim dismissed immediately, there must be proof that the health care provider administered substandard care, and the complaint must show that this proof is available to the individual making the claim. Showing proof often entails hiring and deposing expert witnesses, which will likely be expensive and time-consuming.
Additionally, almost all health care providers carry insurance against medical malpractice lawsuits, meaning that the provider will be fully prepared to defend a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice insurance attorneys have been specially trained in this area of the law, and will build a strong case for the health care provider. If there is more than one defendant (and it is important to identify all potential defendants for purposes of recovery), this will mean facing a whole team of defense attorneys. Hiring a Tennessee medical malpractice attorney to manage your claim for you will save you from delays and headaches, and keep you from making the kinds of mistakes that could lead to a dismissal of your case and a partial or total loss of recovery.
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Tennessee Medical Malpractice Laws
- Remedies and special proceedings: Medical malpractice: Statute of limitations: Title 29, Chapter 26, §29-26-116.
- Remedies and special proceedings: Medical malpractice: Claimants burden in malpractice action; expert testimony: Title 29, Chapter 26, §29-26-115.
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Mary Martin
Published Legal Expert
Mary Martin has been a legal writer and editor for over 20 years, responsible for ensuring that content is straightforward, correct, and helpful for the consumer. In addition, she worked on writing monthly newsletter columns for media, lawyers, and consumers. Ms. Martin also has experience with internal staff and HR operations. Mary was employed for almost 30 years by the nationwide legal publi...
Published Legal Expert
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.