If you have suffered harm due to the negligence of a medical professional, you may file a claim against them and/or the hospital that employs them for medical malpractice.
Under Kentucky Rev. Stat. Sec. 143.140, the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is one year. This means that you will have one year from the date of your alleged injury to file your lawsuit.
However, if you did not learn of your injury until later, the statute of limitations will begin on the date your injury was discovered or should have been discovered. There are also other exceptions that can toll the statute of limitations.
To file a medical malpractice suit in Kentucky, you must first file a certificate of merit with your complaint. The certificate of merit certifies that you or your attorney has consulted with a medical expert who verifies that there is a legitimate basis for the lawsuit. However, there are exceptions where the court will allow the plaintiff to file suit even without a certificate of merit.
Elements of a medical malpractice claim
If you are filing a medical malpractice claim, you will need to establish the elements of medical negligence. This will require you to establish:
- Duty of care: The medical provider owed a duty of care to you as the patient.
- Breach of duty: The medical provider breached the duty owed by failing to provide medical care that met the appropriate standard of care.
- Causation: The medical provider’s breach of duty caused injury to you as the patient.
- Damages: The injury you suffered resulted in damages (e.g., medical expenses or pain and suffering).
Most medical malpractice claims rely heavily on testimony from medical experts regarding the standard of care provided to the patient filing the suit and the standard of care accepted as “reasonable” by the medical community. If you can establish that a medical professional or hospital’s negligence has caused you harm, you may recover compensation for your injuries.