In any action for damages for personal injury or death alleging malpractice against any physician licensed pursuant to chapter 36-4, chiropractor, optometrist, podiatrist, dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant, hospital, critical access hospital, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or physician's assistant, or against the practitioner's corporate, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company employer based upon the acts or omissions of the practitioner, under the laws of this state, whether taken through the court system or by binding arbitration, the total general damages which may be awarded may not exceed the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. There is no limitation on the amount of special damages which may be awarded. This section applies only to causes of action arising from injuries or death occurring after July 1, 1976. However, in the case of chiropractors, it applies only to the causes of action arising from injuries or death occurring after July 1, 1978. In the case of optometrists, it applies only to causes of action arising from injuries or death occurring after July 1, 2002. In the case of podiatrists, it applies only to causes of action arising from injuries or death occurring after July 1, 2005.
S.D. Codified Laws § 21-3-11
Limitation on damages for medical malpractice
Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case Peterson, Ex Rel. Peterson v. Burns (2001)
Most recently applied in 645 F. Supp. 2d 806 - Owen v. United States (July 2009)
Source: SL 1976, ch 154, §§ 1, 2; SL 1978, ch 154; SL 1985, ch 167; SL 1986, ch 172; SL 1997, ch 123, § 2; SL 2002, ch 99, § 1; SL 2005, ch 119, § 1; SL 2017, ch 171, § 50.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.