WASHINGTON MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: Fundamentals of DC Medical Negligence: PART 1

The national law firm of Charles Jerome Ware, P.A., Attorneys and Counsellors contains a premier medical malpractice (medical negligence) practice that is truly "here to make a difference". The firm and its affiliates have a successful track record of high recoveries in medical negligence and wrongful death cases.

The reader is advised, counselled and urged to contact a knowledgeable attorney about his or her possible claim since, among other things, D.C. and state laws are constantly subject to change in this important area of medical negligence. Contact us for a free initial consultation.

A. The Washington, D.C. Standard for Medical Negligence (Professional Negligence):

The D.C. standard of care for all actions in negligence is "reasonable care under the circumstances".

The D.C. standard of care for professionals, however, is "the degree of care reasonably expected of other professionals with similar skills acting under the same or similar circumstances".

[The District has adopted a national standard for physicians, not a local standard. See generally O'Neil v. Bergan, 452 A.2d 337 (D.C. 1982) (attorneys); Morrison v. MacNamara, 407 A.2d. 555 (D.C. 1979). Punitive Damages; counsel.cua.edu/DCLAW/Pres.Inj./General;]

B. Statute of Limitations:

The statute of limitations for medical negligence claims in Washington, D.C. is three (3) years
[D.C. Code Annotated, §12-301 (2008)].

As with most states, the 3-year statute of limitations begins when the medical malpractice (medical negligence) claimant (1) actually knows of the injury, (2) the cause of the injury, and (3) has evidence of a medical mistake.

The medical negligence claimant's knowledge includes not only "actual notice" but also "inquiry notice," which is defined as "investigating matters affecting one's affairs such that an investigation would have led to the uncovering of these three factors."
[D.C. Code, § 12-301 (2008)].

Minors, mentally incompetent, or imprisoned medical malpractice victims may bring their action within three years following the removal of their disability [D.C. Code Ann. §12-302 (2008)]. A wrongful death action must be brought within one year of the date of death [D.C. Code Ann. § 16-2702 (2008)].

C. Contributory or Comparative Negligence:

Washington, D.C. is one of the five (5) current jurisdictions in the United States that follows and abides by the doctrine of "contributory negligence" in medical negligence cases [Stager v. Schneider, 494 A. 2d 1307 (D.C., 1985)]. This means that even if a medical negligence claimant is only one percent (1%) at fault for his or her injury, their claim is barred.

Part 2 of this blog on the fundamentals of D.C. Medical Negligence will be forthcoming.