QUESTION
Can I sue a hospital for malpractice if I don't have insurance?
Asked on Oct 31st, 2013 on Medical Malpractice - South Carolina
More details to this question:
My husband went to a local hospital after he busted a window out with his hand/arm. That was at least 8 years ago, probably longer. Now, he has a piece of glass stuck in his arm,that apparently was missed by the medical staff when he originally went in. It seems to be a pretty large piece of glass at that. He does not, nor did he at the time, have insurance. He does work and just about every year he has worked over all the years, the state has taken our taxes because of his medical bills. Would that prevent me from taking legal action against the hospital?
1 ANSWER
Whether you have insurance or not has no berring on whether you can sue for malpractice or not. The idea is that you are suing the doctor for the mistake they made negligently, not to pay you back for what you spent, but to punish him for making an error he should not have made. In short, you can still sue the doctor and/or hospital if they were wrong in missing the glass in his arm, regardless of whether they got paid by insurance or not.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2013 at 1:02 PM