In South Dakota, a medical malpractice plaintiff may not need to jump through quite as many procedural "hoops," when compared with plaintiffs in other states, but there is still plenty of thorny legal landscape to navigate. It helps to understand the elements of "medical negligence" -- what you’ll need to prove in order to hold a health care provider liable for harm caused by sub-standard medical treatment. Since expert testimony is usually crucial to proving these elements, it also helps to get familiar with the role that an expert witness will likely play in your South Dakota medical malpractice case. Read on for the details.

No "Certificate of Merit" Requirement in South Dakota

Thanks in part to controversial tort reform efforts, in most states, when an injured patient wants to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against a health care provider, the patient (or more accurately, his or her attorney) must file a sworn statement -- often called a "certificate of merit" or "affidavit of merit" -- alongside the civil complaint (the legal document that sets out the allegations against the health care provider). This sworn statement is usually prepared by (or in consultation with) a qualified expert who offers an endorsement of the plaintiff's case.

South Dakota has no "certificate of merit" requirement, but to get an idea of how this procedural step works in a neighboring state, check out our article on North Dakota medical malpractice lawsuit filing requirements.

What a Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Must Prove in South Dakota

First, it’s important to note that not every unfavorable result or misstep in treatment will lead to a viable medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina -- most won’t, in fact.

There is no specific South Dakota law that lays out what must be established in order to hold a health care provider liable for medical negligence. But a look at secondary sources like South Carolina jury instructions -- which judges use to inform a jury on what they should be considering during deliberations after a civil trial -- shows that if you're filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Dakota, as the plaintiff, you have the burden of establishing:

• that a provider-patient relationship existed between you and the defendant (this element usually isn’t in dispute)
• the appropriate "standard of care" under the circumstances (that means the degree of knowledge and skill ordinarily possessed by health care providers of good standing, practicing in the same area of medicine or field of specialization), and
• that the provider’s conduct (including their decisions, actions, and/or their failure to act) fell below that accepted medical standard of care, and caused some measurable damage, injury, or loss suffered or experienced by you.

Learn more about proving medical malpractice.

For medical malpractice lawsuits in South Dakota, as in every state, proving complex elements like the "standard of care" -- and the health care provider's deviation from that standard -- will almost always require the testimony of a qualified medical expert.

Expert Witnesses in South Dakota Medical Malpractice Cases

Perhaps the most relevant statute on expert witness testimony in an South Dakota medical malpractice lawsuit can be found at South Dakota Codified Laws section 19-19-702, which says that a witness who is qualified as an expert "by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education" -- i.e. a licensed physician who practices in the same field of medicine as the defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit -- may offer his or her opinion at trial if:

• the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact (i.e. the jury) to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue
• the expert's testimony is based on sufficient facts or data
• the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and
• the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case.

So, when the jury in a medical malpractice lawsuit is charged with determining whether a health care provider’s error amounted to negligence, a qualified expert witness may offer his or her opinion on key issues such as the "standard of care" that the health care provider's conduct should be measured against, as well as precisely how the defendant's conduct fell short of meeting that standard.

The South Dakota Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

If you're thinking about bringing a medical malpractice lawsuit to civil court in South Dakota, one of your first concerns is understanding and complying with the statute of limitations for these kinds of cases. This is a law that sets a strict time limit on an injured patient’s right to bring a legal action against a health care provider. Miss the filing deadline set by this law, and you've almost certainly lost your right to get compensation for your injuries and other losses. Get the details on the South Dakota medical malpractice statute of limitations.