Billings, MontanaBillings Medical Malpractice
Billings Medical Malpractice Lawyers: Hospital Negligence, Misdiagnosis and Surgical Errors in Yellowstone County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a doctor, hospital or other provider in Billings harmed you by falling below the accepted standard of care, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Montana gives you as little as 2 years to act, most claims must go through the Montana Medical Legal Panel before suit, and VA or Indian Health Service claims follow federal rules.
Harmed by a medical mistake in Billings? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Why do so many Montana malpractice cases involve Billings care?
Because Billings is where much of eastern Montana and northern Wyoming goes for serious care. Patients arrive from Miles City, Glendive, Hardin, Lewistown, Red Lodge and Cody for surgery, cancer treatment, cardiac care, high-risk births and trauma.
- Two major hospital systems. Billings Clinic, downtown, and Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital, on North 30th Street, are the region’s referral centers. Both are designated ACS Level 1 / Comprehensive Trauma Centers by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS).
- Rural affiliates. Billings Clinic’s affiliated hospitals in Red Lodge and Columbus appear on the same state list as trauma receiving facilities. A delayed transfer from a small hospital to Billings can itself be the error.
- Federal clinics. The Benjamin Charles Steele VA Clinic on Majestic Lane serves Billings-area veterans (VA), and Indian Health Service facilities serve the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations south and east of Billings. Claims against federal providers are not medical-panel cases. They follow the Federal Tort Claims Act.
A case involving care in a referral hub often involves several providers across more than one facility: the rural emergency room that sent the patient, the transport team, the admitting physicians and the nurses on the floor. Sorting out who did what, and when, starts with the complete chart and the electronic audit trail from every facility.
What happens after medical malpractice in Billings?
The process has more steps than an ordinary injury case.
- Get the records. Request the complete chart, imaging, nursing notes and billing records from every facility. You have a right to them.
- Have them reviewed. A malpractice case requires testimony from a qualified medical witness in the same or a substantially similar specialty (§ 26-2-601, MCA). In a regional medical community, the right reviewer is often from outside the area, because local physicians may work with, or refer to, the providers involved.
- File with the Medical Legal Panel. Claims against physicians, dentists, podiatrists and licensed facilities such as Billings hospitals must be submitted to the Montana Medical Legal Panel before suit (§ 27-6-701, MCA). Filing pauses the deadline (§ 27-6-702, MCA). The panel’s decision is not binding and cannot be used at trial.
- File suit. A case against Billings providers in state court is heard in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court at the Yellowstone County Courthouse, 217 North 27th Street (§ 3-5-101, MCA), with a Yellowstone County jury.
A claim against the VA or an Indian Health Service facility is different. It must be presented to the agency in writing within 2 years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)), and any lawsuit is heard by a federal judge without a jury in the Billings Division of the U.S. District Court, at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse (District of Montana). The Billings Division covers Big Horn and Rosebud Counties, where the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations are located.
Montana law that applies
- Deadline: generally 2 years from the injury or its discovery, never more than 5 years (§ 27-2-205, MCA). Children injured before age 4 generally have until the 8th birthday for the 2-year period to begin.
- Damages cap: noneconomic damages are capped at $350,000 for claims first filed with the panel in 2026, rising to $400,000 in 2027 (§ 25-9-411, MCA). Medical expenses and lost earnings are not capped.
- Comparative fault can reduce recovery (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
- Death cases are brought as wrongful death and survival claims (§§ 27-1-513, 27-1-501, MCA).
Our Montana medical malpractice page explains the panel process, the cap schedule and expert rules in detail.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Billings case?
Some families prefer lawyers who are not part of the local medical and professional community of the hospital they are suing. We are based in Great Falls, handle malpractice cases statewide, and travel to Billings for panel hearings, depositions, hearings and trial. Our firm has tried jury trials in Yellowstone County, so we know the courthouse and the people who serve on its juries. We do not have a Billings office. We meet clients by phone, by video, or in person in Billings.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We build cases for trial and appeal. When a jury’s $168,500 verdict for our client was thrown out, we took it to the Montana Supreme Court and had it reinstated (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We try cases. The firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We know federal court, which matters when a claim involves a VA or IHS clinic. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years.
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to the American Association for Justice and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association; Caitlin Boland Aarab is an AAJ Governor and serves on the MTLA Board.
Related Billings pages: birth injury · nursing home abuse · all Billings personal injury cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to go through the Medical Legal Panel to sue a Billings hospital? Yes, for most claims against physicians and licensed hospitals (§ 27-6-701, MCA). The panel’s decision is not binding, and filing with it pauses the deadline.
I was transferred to Billings from a small hospital and the delay hurt me. Who is responsible? Possibly the sending facility, the receiving facility, the transport team or several of them. The records from every facility, and their time stamps, answer that question.
How is a claim against the Billings VA clinic different? It falls under the Federal Tort Claims Act. A written claim must be presented to the VA within 2 years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)), the Montana panel does not apply, and a federal judge decides the case.
Will a Billings doctor testify against another Billings doctor? Sometimes, but Montana’s expert rules allow qualified physicians from anywhere, and we often use reviewers from outside the region (§ 26-2-601, MCA).
Where would my Billings malpractice lawsuit be tried? In state court, the Thirteenth Judicial District Court in downtown Billings, with a Yellowstone County jury. Federal-provider cases go to the Billings Division of federal court.
Talk to a Billings Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
