Contact your Des Moines lawyer
Contact your Cedar Rapids lawyer

Statute of Limitations

action for either personal injury or wrongful death must be brought within two years after the date upon which the claimant knew or reasonably should have known of the injury or death

Comparative or contributory negligence

modified comparative negligence whereby claimant's action is barred if his negligence exceeds the combined negligence of all other parties

Nature of accused's liability

Only those joint defendants whose fault accounts for 50% or more of the total fault assigned to all parties may be held jointly and severally liable

Law of contribution

Joint defendants have the right of contribution

Expert testimony standards

Malpractice must be proven through expert testimony

Limits on compensation

None

Limits on attorney fees

None, but the fee is decided upon by the court.

Collateral Source rule enforced

Economic damages may not include payments from collateral sources

State and local health care providers immune from liabaility

There is no state immunity

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