Michigan Medical
Malpractice Attorney
When the people trusted to heal you cause permanent harm, accountability demands the same precision they failed to use in treating you.
Medical Malpractice
Michigan's medical malpractice law requires a qualified medical expert to testify that the defendant deviated from the accepted standard of care. Getting that expert right, from day one, is the difference between a case that reaches a jury and one that never gets to trial.
Medical malpractice is the most technically demanding category of personal injury litigation. Michigan law imposes procedural requirements, including a mandatory affidavit of merit, that must be satisfied before a lawsuit can proceed. Filing without a properly executed affidavit results in dismissal. Filing with the wrong expert results in dismissal. There is no margin for error at the starting line.
Medical malpractice defendants carry institutional defense resources built to minimize claims and outlast unprepared plaintiffs. They retain experts who specialize in testifying for the defense and deploy risk management teams before suit is even filed. Matching that preparation requires an attorney who has done this work before and understands what it takes to take a malpractice case to verdict.
Makowski Legal handles surgical errors, misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose, medication errors, birth injuries, anesthesia negligence, and hospital and nursing home negligence claims. Every case begins with a complete medical record review and independent expert consultation before any filing decision is made.
Professional Standards
of Care
Medical malpractice is not about a bad outcome. It is about a breach of the duty a licensed medical professional owes every patient.
The standard of care is not defined by perfection. Medicine involves uncertainty, and bad outcomes occur without negligence. It is defined by what a reasonably competent physician, surgeon, or healthcare provider in the same specialty would have done under the same or similar circumstances. When a provider's conduct falls below that standard and causes injury, the law provides accountability.
Breach takes many forms. A surgeon who operates on the wrong site violates the standard. A physician who fails to order a diagnostic test a competent practitioner would have ordered violates the duty. A nurse who administers a medication clearly documented as an allergy violates the standard. An obstetrician who delays a necessary C-section in the face of documented fetal distress has breached the duty owed to both mother and child.
Hospitals are not immune simply because the negligent provider held credentials. They can be held liable for negligent credentialing, granting privileges to a physician with a documented history of incompetence, and for systemic failures in protocols, staffing, and supervision that create the conditions for individual error.
The Affidavit of Merit Process
Michigan's mandatory affidavit requirement filters out weak claims, and traps victims with valid ones who chose the wrong attorney.
Under MCL 600.2912d, every Michigan medical malpractice complaint must be accompanied by a signed affidavit of merit from a qualified health professional. The affidavit must state: the applicable standard of care; that the standard was breached; what actions should have been taken or omitted; and that the breach caused the plaintiff's injury.
The signing expert must practice or have practiced within the previous five years in the same specialty as the defendant. A general surgeon cannot provide an affidavit in a case against a cardiologist. These requirements are strictly enforced, and a defective affidavit results in dismissal of the entire complaint.
Before filing suit, Michigan law also requires a Notice of Intent served on each defendant at least 182 days before filing (MCL 600.2912b). This 182-day period runs concurrent with the 2-year statute of limitations, meaning the notice deadline can arrive before the filing deadline. Missing it can permanently bar the claim.
Every malpractice case at Makowski Legal begins with a complete medical record review in consultation with a qualified expert before any filing decision is made. If the review does not support the claim, that is communicated clearly, before further investment in litigation that will be dismissed. If it does, the case is grounded in qualified expert opinion from day one.
Recovering from
Systemic Failure
Behind every surgical error, every misdiagnosis, every medication mistake is a patient whose trust was violated. Recovery requires accountability for the full scope of what was taken.
Surgical Errors. Wrong-site surgery, retained surgical instruments, intraoperative nerve or organ damage, and anesthesia errors are among the clearest categories of malpractice, harm documented in the operative report, deviation from standard protocol evident from the records, causation direct. These cases frequently involve catastrophic damages when the error results in permanent disability, organ loss, or death.
Failure to Diagnose. Delayed or missed diagnosis is the most common category of medical malpractice. When a physician fails to order appropriate testing, fails to refer to a specialist, or dismisses symptoms a competent practitioner would have investigated, and the patient suffers harm from a condition that earlier diagnosis would have addressed, the failure becomes actionable.
Medication Errors. Prescribing contraindicated medications, incorrect dosing, failure to review drug interactions, and dispensing errors all constitute actionable negligence when they cause patient harm.
Damages. Michigan caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, but economic damages, past and future medical expenses, lost earning capacity, and cost of long-term care, are uncapped. In catastrophic cases involving permanent disability, economic damages frequently dwarf the non-economic cap. Makowski Legal retains qualified economic experts and life-care planners to document the full scope of economic loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Michigan medical malpractice claims: what you need to know
Michigan malpractice claims carry procedural requirements that don't exist in standard personal injury cases. An affidavit of merit from a qualified medical expert meeting specialty requirements under MCL 600.2912d must be filed with the complaint. A 182-day notice period under MCL 600.2912b must precede filing. Expert testimony is required at every stage to establish breach of the standard of care. Non-economic damages are capped by statute. These requirements exist to screen out weak claims, but they also trap victims with valid claims who don't understand them. Retaining counsel early is essential.
A sworn statement from a qualified medical expert that must accompany every Michigan malpractice complaint, and without it, the case is dismissed. The affidavit must state the applicable standard of care, how the defendant's conduct deviated from it, and that the deviation caused the plaintiff's injury. The specialty matching requirement is strictly enforced. Identifying and retaining the right expert early is one of the most important steps in any Michigan malpractice case.
Two years from the date of the negligent act, but the deadline depends on the specific facts. The discovery rule may extend the period if the injury could not reasonably have been discovered, but the absolute outer limit is six years from the negligent act. The 182-day notice requirement means the legal process must begin well before the two-year deadline. Contact an attorney immediately if medical negligence is suspected.
Yes, non-economic damages are subject to annual indexed caps under MCL 600.1483. A higher cap applies for specific severe injury categories including loss of a body system or organ, permanent loss of a vital bodily function, permanent serious disfigurement, or death. Economic damages — medical expenses, lost earnings, and ongoing care costs — are not capped and can be substantial.
Not every bad medical outcome is malpractice, but many injuries patients accept as unavoidable are the result of actionable negligence. Malpractice occurs when a provider's conduct falls below the standard of care. Common forms include failure to diagnose, surgical errors, medication errors, failure to order indicated tests, and inadequate informed consent. A confidential legal consultation, with medical records reviewed by counsel with access to qualified medical experts, is the only reliable way to evaluate whether a claim exists. You do not need to know for certain before calling.