Section 6-5-480 – Short Title.

Section 6-5-480 Short title. This article may be cited and known as the “Alabama Medical Liability Act.” (Acts 1975, No. 513, p. 148, §1.)

Section 6-5-481 – Definitions.

Section 6-5-481 Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section: (1) MEDICAL PRACTITIONER. Anyone licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the State of Alabama, engaged in such practice, including medical professional corporations, associations, and partnerships. (2) DENTAL PRACTITIONER. Anyone licensed to […]

Section 6-5-482 – Limitation on Time for Commencement of Action.

Section 6-5-482 Limitation on time for commencement of action. (a) All actions against physicians, surgeons, dentists, medical institutions, or other health care providers for liability, error, mistake, or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort, must be commenced within two years next after the act, or omission, or failure giving rise to the […]

Section 6-5-483 – Elimination of Ad Damnum Clause in Complaints.

Section 6-5-483 Elimination of ad damnum clause in complaints. The ad damnum clause in complaints alleging medical liability shall be eliminated. Such complaints, in place of a claim for specific monetary damages, shall contain instead a general claim for relief. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or restrict an attorney from […]

Section 6-5-484 – Degree of Care Owed to Patient.

Section 6-5-484 Degree of care owed to patient. (a) In performing professional services for a patient, a physician’s, surgeon’s, or dentist’s duty to the patient shall be to exercise such reasonable care, diligence, and skill as physicians, surgeons, and dentists in the same general neighborhood, and in the same general line of practice, ordinarily have […]

Section 6-5-485 – Settlement of Disputes by Arbitration.

Section 6-5-485 Settlement of disputes by arbitration. (a) After a physician, dentist, medical institution, or other health care provider has rendered services, or failed to render services, to a patient out of which a claim has arisen, the parties thereto may agree to settle such dispute by arbitration. Such agreement must be in writing and […]

Section 6-5-486 – Optional Method of Payment of Judgments in Excess of $100,000.

Section 6-5-486 Optional method of payment of judgments in excess of $100,000. Where a plaintiff recovers a judgment from a physician, dentist, or medical institution, as defined in Section 6-5-481, in an action for medical liability, and such judgment is in excess of $100,000, the court, in its discretion, may order that: (1) There shall […]

Section 6-5-487 – Advance Payments by Defendant or Insurer Not Admission of Liability; Advance Payments in Excess of Award Not Repayable.

Section 6-5-487 Advance payments by defendant or insurer not admission of liability; advance payments in excess of award not repayable. (a) In all actions for medical liability, any advance payment made by the defendant or his insurer to or for the plaintiff, or any other person, may not be construed as an admission of liability […]

Section 6-5-488 – Rules of Evidence and Procedures in Civil Actions Preserved.

Section 6-5-488 Rules of evidence and procedures in civil actions preserved. All rules of evidence and procedures heretofore in effect in civil actions in the State of Alabama are hereby preserved, unless specifically changed in this article, in all civil actions covered by this article. (Acts 1975, No. 513, p. 148, §13.)