Medical Malpractice FAQs

The Patient Rights Advocacy Forum is not a referral site to attorneys specializing in medical malpractice claims for victims. Contact your legislator and tell him/her that you favor reform of the Medical Malpractice Act; to raise the 1975 cap to 2023 dollars and more.  Go to our What You Can Do page or donate to our cause by going to Support Our Mission.

Medical malpractice is when a healthcare provider deviates from the medical standard of care in their treatment of a patient, causing injury or death to the patient.

Medical malpractice is a major problem in Louisiana. Statistics show that entering a hospital as a Medicaid patient carries a one-in-four chance of injury or death due to medical error. In addition, Louisiana consistently ranks in the bottom five in healthcare quality and public health compared to other states.

Medical malpractice in Louisiana can result in injury, death, and financial damages. However, Louisiana has the harshest, most restrictive medical malpractice laws in the United States, which limits the amount of damages that can be awarded against a hospital, nursing home or healthcare provider to a maximum of $100,000, regardless of the severity of the injury or death.

Louisiana has the harshest, most restrictive medical malpractice laws and system in the United States which gives Louisianians less rights to full, fair compensation than the citizens of any other state.  No other state has a damage cap of $100,000.00 for negligent nursing homes, hospitals and providers, pre-lawsuit screening panels, and future trust funds where medical expense are given to a state bureaucracy instead of the victim or the family.  And on top of that, no other state has a shorter statute of limitations in the United States for victims to file a claim.

Premature discharge from emergency rooms with death or permanent injury following.  Inadequate diagnostic work up, misdiagnosis and fatal delay in treatment of disease by urgent care centers or clinics.  Surgical errors resulting in injury to nerves leaving victims paralyzed.  Prenatal misdiagnosis of conditions such as preeclampsia resulting in stillborn babies and death of mothers. Medical malpractice in Louisiana can occur in various forms, such as nursing home neglect, medication errors, surgical errors, and misdiagnosis. In addition, Louisiana hospitals and healthcare providers have a history of paying their executives high salaries while underpaying staff and having poor healthcare outcomes.