If you've been injured as a result of a health care provider's mistake in Alabama, you could be thinking about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. If so, it's a good idea to get familiar with the different state laws that could affect your case.

Unlike lawmakers in most states, Alabama's legislature hasn't passed many tort reform-style laws that put procedural hurdles in the path of a potential medical malpractice plaintiff (that's the injured patient who is filing the lawsuit). But the state has spelled out exactly what's expected of a plaintiff when it comes to holding a health care provider liable for a treatment error, and in order to get fair compensation for all losses arising from the provider's mistake. In this article, we'll summarize those key Alabama laws.

A Plaintiff's Burden of Proof in Alabama

In any Alabama medical malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff has the burden of proving (convincing the jury, in other words), "by substantial evidence," that the defendant health care provider "failed to exercise such reasonable care, skill, and diligence as other similarly situated health care providers in the same general line of practice ordinarily have and exercise in a like case."

That's according to Code of Alabama section 6-5-548, and that's a lot of legalese. But essentially, this law says that the plaintiff must:

• first establish the type and level of skill, ability, and caution that was appropriate under the circumstances, considered in line with the kind of care and expertise that is demonstrated by health care professionals (other doctors, specialists, surgeons, etc.) who practice the same kind of medicine or specialty as the defendant.
• show exactly how the defendant medical care provider failed to provide care in accordance with that standard, when treating the patient, and
• prove that, as a result of the defendant's provision of sub-standard care, the plaintiff suffered injuries that would not otherwise have occurred.

The "Similarly-Situated Health Care Provider" in Alabama

Let's take a closer look at this fictitious "similarly situated health care provider," who will provide a sort of yardstick against which to measure the propriety of the defendant health care provider's action (or inaction) in treating the plaintiff.

According to section 6-5-548, if the defendant health care provider is not trained or certified as a specialist, then the "similarly situated health care provider" must:

• be licensed to practice medicine in Alabama or another state
• be "trained and experienced" in the same area of medicine or practice as the defendant health care provider, and
• have been in such practice at some point during the year leading up to the defendant health care provider's alleged error in treating the plaintiff.

But if the defendant health care provider is trained or certified as a specialist, then the "similarly situated health care provider" must:

• be licensed to practice medicine in Alabama or another state
• be "trained and experienced" in the same specialty as the defendant health care provider
• be "certified by an appropriate American board" in the same specialty as the defendant, and
• have been in practice in that same specialty at some point during the year leading up to the defendant health care provider's alleged error in treating the plaintiff.

Learn more about proving medical malpractice.

An Alabama Medical Malpractice Complaint Must Contain Detailed Allegations

While it's true that a medical malpractice lawsuit does not need to be accompanied by the kind of "certificate of merit" or "affidavit of merit" that's required in many states, the Alabama Medical Liability Act (specifically, Code of Alabama section 6-5-551) does spell out the level of specificity that's required in the complaint (the legal filing that starts the plaintiff's lawsuit against the defendant health care provider)

This law specifies that a medical malpractice complaint must contain:

• a detailed description of each act (and failure to act) that makes the health care provider liable, according to the plaintiff, and
• the date, time, and place of each act or failure to act (where this information is feasible and ascertainable).

If you've got questions about filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Alabama, an experienced attorney will have the answers. Learn more about Choosing the Right Medical Malpractice Lawyer.