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Statute of Limitations

medical malpractice actions must be brought within 3 years, in the case of wrongful death within 1 year of the date of death

Comparative or contributory negligence

pure contributory negligence

Nature of accused's liability

defendants are jointly and severally liable for a claimant's compensatory damages, and damages cannot be allocated. Liability for punitive damages is several, and is apportioned by relative fault

Law of contribution

Joint tortfeasors that pay more than their pro rata share have a right of contribution

Expert testimony standards

Expert testimony is generally required in order to establish a breach of the standard of care in medical malpractice actions

Limits on compensation

None

Limits on attorney fees

None

Collateral Source rule enforced

The District of Columbia recognizes the rule barring evidence of payment from a collateral source.Thus, the claimant's receipt of payments from collateral sources will not serve to reduce the claimant's damages.

State and local health care providers immune from liabaility

DC owes its medical employees a duty of indemnification in cases where DC is not a party and the alleged injury resulted from the employee's negligent performance of responsibilities, to the extent the employee is not covered by appropriate insurance

Select Your State

Select Your State

Select Your State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington State West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Medical malpractice law varies from state to state, the key areas of difference are as follows

• Statute of limitations
• The law of comparative or contributory negligence
• The nature of the accused's liability
• Law of contribution
• Standards for expert testimony
• Limitations on compensation
• Limitiations on attorney fees
• Whether collateral source law is in effect
• Are state health care providers immune from liability