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Arkansas Medical Malpractice Law - An Overview

By Aaron Larson

Law Offices of Aaron Larson

July, 2004

Important Notice: The following overview of Arkansas's medical malpractice laws is presented on an as-is basis. This information is believed accurate as of the date of authorship, but is not intended to provide a complete analysis of medical malpractice law and may not reflect subsequent changes in the law. For a full review of Arkansas's medical malpractice law, or for a determination of how the law applies to a specific incident or injury, please consult a malpractice lawyer licensed to practice in the state of Arkansas.

Contents

What Is Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice, sometimes referred to as medical negligence, occurs when a health care provider violates the governing standard of care when providing treatment to a patient, causing the patient to suffer an injury. Medical malpractice can result from an action taken by the medical practitioner, or by the failure to take a medically appropriate action. Examples of medical malpractice include:

  • Misdiagnosis of, or failure to diagnose , a disease or medical condition;
  • Failure to provide appropriate treatment for a medical condition;
  • Unreasonable delay in treating a diagnosed medical condition;

Medical malpractice actions can be brought by the injured patient against any responsible licensed health care provider, including doctors, counselors, psychologists and psychotherapists.

Limits on Malpractice Damages

Punitive damages are limited to $250,000.00 per plaintiff, or three times actual damages, with the total punitive damages award not to exceed $1 million. These figures are subject to periodic adjustment for inflation.

Collateral Source Rule

Under a traditional collateral source rule, a defendant may not seek to reduce its liability by introducing evidence that the plaintiff has received compensation from other sources, such as the plaintiff's own insurance coverage. For medical malpractice cases in Arkansas, awards may be reduced by payments from collateral sources.

Rules for Expert Witnesses

In Arkansas, a medical expert witness must be a medical care provider of the same type and specialty as the defendant.

Experts cannot be paid on a contingent fee basis, premised on the outcome of the lawsuit.

Joint and Several Liability

Under a traditional rule of joint and several liability, where more than one defendant is found liable for the injury suffered by a plaintiff, each defendant is individually liable for the entire amount of the judgment, such that if one defendant is unable to pay the other defendant or defendants are liable for the entire amount of the judgment. With the exception of injury from intentional acts, Arkansas has modified this rule such that each defendant is responsible for damages only in proportion to the defendant's own fault.

Statute of Limitations

Medical malpractice actions must be commenced within 2 years of the date of injury. Minors below the age of nine may bring a malpractice action up to their eleventh birthday.

Limits on Attorney Fees

Arkansas does not impose limits on attorney fees.

Additional Rules

Arkansas encourages the use of dispute resolution and arbitration to resolve malpractice lawsuits.

There is discretionary periodic payment of future damages. If the plaintiff dies, unpaid installments can be reduced for future pain, suffering, and care expenses.

Why Use A Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice law is a highly technical field of law, and malpractice lawsuits tend to be fiercely defended by well-funded defense firms.

Medical malpractice lawsuits can be exceptionally expensive to pursue, with costs often exceeding $100,000.00. Due to the technical skills involved in prosecuting a malpractice claim, the possibility that an inexperienced lawyer may not be sufficiently conversant with the medical issues, or might make a technical error which causes a case to be lost or dismissed, and the very high costs the malpractice law firm typically must advance, an injured patient is very well served by going with a specialist firm.

Even within the specialized practice of medical malpractice law, you will find that some lawyers have subspecialties of practice, for example focusing on surgical errors, misdiagnosis, or birth trauma cases.

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