Recent Trends and Developments in Medical Malpractice Law

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional fails to discharge their duty according to acceptable standards of care, resulting in harm. Medical malpractice is not a simple error but a violation of a duty owed by a healthcare professional or professional negligence. 

For example, a failure to properly treat a wound according to accepted standards that result in gangrene could be considered an example of medical malpractice.

Changes to the Statute of Limitations

Statutes of limitation are legal time limits that dictate how long a party has to initiate a legal action. There are statutes in place for both criminal and civil cases. 

For medical malpractice claims, the statute of limitations for most cases is three years. This means that claimants must file a lawsuit against the party that harmed them within three years of the harmful incident.

This three-year limit, however, does not apply to cases where the harm is discovered sometime after it was caused. In cases such as these, the law previously gave plaintiffs one year from the date they discovered or should have discovered the harm.

This three-year time limit remains the same under the new laws. However, for cases involving delayed discovery of an injury or harm, the legislature has extended the period to two years. This doubling of the statute of limitations is a clear statement from lawmakers that medical malpractice victims are important and deserve justice.

Higher Damages Caps

Another material change implemented by the legislature is a change to medical malpractice damages caps. Damages are the forms of compensation paid to injury victims who have been harmed by negligence or some other unlawful act. 

Before January 2024, lawmakers had established a damages cap of $350,000 on non-economic damages, which are damages related to the intangible harms that injury victims and their families must contend with. Compensable intangible harms include:

• Pain and suffering
• Inconvenience
• Physical impairment
• Other non-pecuniary damages

However, as of January 2024, the cap has been raised and will continue to be increased over a set period of time. 

More specifically, the cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases has been increased by $80,000 for 2024 and is slated to be increased by $80,000 each year for the next eight years. As such, the cap for non-economic damages should reach $750,000 by 2028. After 2028, the cap will continue to increase by 2.1% each year.  

Regarding economic damages, there are no caps. Economic damages include:

• Medical and hospital bills
• Lost income and future employment
• Costs and expenses related to medical treatment
• Expenses to hire home care help
• Medical devices and medical equipment expenses

When you hire an experienced medical malpractice attorney, they will fight to recover every dollar you are entitled to. 

Changes to Attorney Billing Practices

AB404 has also changed attorney billing practices. Before 2024, medical malpractice attorneys could charge up to 40% in fees on the first $50,000 paid to the victim. The percentage drops from there gradually based on the amount of money brought in.

Now, the sliding-scale approach to attorney’s fees has been replaced by a fixed percentage. In current medical malpractice cases, an injury attorney in Las Vegas may now only charge 35% in medical malpractice cases, regardless of the circumstances. 

What Is the Trend in Medical Malpractice Claims?

One of the current medical malpractice law trends is high-dollar verdicts for injured plaintiffs. Juries across the country and in Nevada are awarding excessively high verdicts to medical malpractice victims. 

Many of these awards have reached nine figures, and the trend of awarding these sums is expected to continue through 2024. 

One of the main repercussions of these large verdicts is increased medical malpractice insurance premiums. Insurers are raising the cost of coverage due to these verdicts and in anticipation of them continuing. 

What Are Three of the Most Common Medical Malpractice Claims?

Numerous types of medical malpractice claims arise every year in Nevada. A close look shows that a few of them occur more frequently than others:

Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis encompasses missed diagnoses as well as erroneous diagnoses. Missed diagnoses occur when a healthcare professional fails to recognize a condition that a reasonable professional in their position would have discovered. For example, failure to diagnose a heart attack may qualify. 

An erroneous diagnosis occurs when a doctor wrongfully diagnoses a condition as something other than what it is.

Birth Injuries

Birthing errors can harm the child and the mother and are more common than they should be. Common manifestations of medical negligence in this context include:

• Failure to monitor 
• Improper use of birthing tools, such as forceps
• Failure to take appropriate or reasonable action in an emergency
• Medication and anesthesia errors
• Excessive use of force to extract a child 
• C-section errors

Healthcare professionals may also fail to diagnose conditions that would normally be diagnosed, such as preeclampsia in the mother.

Surgical Errors

Various types of surgical errors cause patients all manner of pain and suffering. Common acts of negligence that occur during surgery include:

• Wrong-site surgery
• Improper use of surgical implements
• Performing unaccepted procedures
• Erroneous amputation
• Anesthesia errors
• Wrong patient
• Leaving foreign objects inside patients

Keep in mind that faulty equipment or tools may also be the cause of a patient’s injury during surgery. However, in those cases, the product maker would likely be the liable party, which makes the case a product liability case unless the surgical staff knew of the defect and decided to proceed with the faulty equipment. 

Brighter Future for Medical Malpractice Victims

Medical malpractice is an unfortunate occurrence that affects more lives than it should. Sadly, in the past, medical malpractice laws have proven inadequate at addressing the harm caused by negligent healthcare professionals. 

Fortunately, the Nevada Legislature has taken concrete steps to address the shortfalls and has updated aspects of Nevada medical malpractice laws in favor of plaintiffs.

Sources:

AB404.

Johns Hopkins University, Report Highlights Public Health Impact of Serious Harms from DIagnostic Error in U.S. (2019). 

NRS 41A.015.