Medical malpractice or negligence cases are among the most difficult personal injury claims to pursue, not because people don’t deserve compensation when a doctor or hospital causes harm, but because Indiana law puts significant procedural hurdles in the way before a case can ever reach a courtroom.
If you’ve been harmed by a medical professional in Indianapolis or anywhere in Indiana, you need attorneys who’ve handled this before, and who have the medical knowledge and the expert relationships to take these cases seriously from the start.
At Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler, medical malpractice has been part of our practice for decades. Reach out today for a free consultation to discuss your case.
How Indiana Medical Malpractice Law Works
Medical Review Panels
Indiana is one of the more complicated states to pursue a medical malpractice claim. Before a lawsuit can be filed in court, a proposed complaint must first be submitted to the Indiana Department of Insurance. From there, most cases go before a Medical Review Panel, which is a panel of healthcare professionals who evaluate whether the care provided met the applicable standard of care.
This process adds time. A medical review panel can take months to years to reach an opinion. The panel’s conclusion isn’t binding, but it’s admissible as evidence if the case proceeds to court, and a favorable panel opinion significantly strengthens a plaintiff’s position.
Damages Cap
There’s also a damages cap to understand. Indiana limits total recovery in medical malpractice cases. The healthcare provider is responsible for the first portion of any judgment or settlement; the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund covers amounts above that threshold up to the cap. The specific amounts depend on when the alleged malpractice occurred, as the cap has changed over the years.
Statue of Limitations
The statute of limitations in Indiana for medical malpractice is two years from the date of the alleged malpractice, or from when the patient discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury. This is a firm deadline, and missing it almost always ends the case entirely.
None of this means you shouldn’t pursue a claim — it means you should get an attorney involved early, before evidence disappears and while options are still open.
What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the standard of care that a reasonably skilled professional would provide under similar circumstances, and that failure causes harm to the patient. The key word is “standard” — not every bad outcome is malpractice, and not every mistake rises to the level of legal negligence. But when a provider deviates from accepted medical practice and a patient suffers real harm as a result, there may be grounds for a claim.
Common types of medical malpractice cases we handle include:
Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose
A missed cancer diagnosis, a stroke misdiagnosed as something less serious, a condition that went untreated because the right tests weren’t ordered. When a correct diagnosis would have led to treatment that prevented further harm, the failure to diagnose is potentially actionable.
Delayed diagnosis
Even when a provider eventually reaches the right diagnosis, an unreasonable delay can cause serious harm. This is particularly common in cancer cases, where earlier diagnosis significantly affects prognosis and treatment options.
Wrong-site surgery, damage to surrounding organs or tissue, leaving surgical instruments or materials in a patient, improper anesthesia administration, or failure to monitor a patient appropriately during or after a procedure.
Improper treatment
Prescribing the wrong medication or dosage, choosing an inappropriate treatment protocol, or failing to follow up after a procedure when complications were foreseeable.
Medication errors
Errors in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medications, including dangerous drug interactions that should have been caught.
Emergency room errors
Failure to properly triage, diagnose, or treat patients presenting in the ER, or premature discharge before a condition was stabilized.
Anesthesia errors
Improper dosing, failure to review a patient’s history for contraindications, or inadequate monitoring during procedures involving anesthesia.
Injuries to a mother or newborn resulting from negligence before, during, or immediately after delivery. These cases often involve failures to monitor fetal distress, delayed C-section decisions, or improper use of delivery instruments.
