Medical Professional Liability State Profile:
Alabama
CME Requirements
Credit Amount
Alabama requires 25 AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits™ or equivalent per calendar year. There are no CME requirements for first-time license renewals.
Licensure Cycle
Annual.
Topics
All Alabama Controlled Substances Certificate (ACSC) registrants are required to complete 2 AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits™ or equivalent every 2 years in the area of controlled substance prescribing practices, recognizing signs of the abuse or misuse of controlled substances, or controlled substance prescribing for chronic pain management. Due to COVID-19, Alabama has extended the current ACSC 2-year period. If it was 2019–2020, it is now 2019–2021. If it was 2020–2021, it is now 2020–2022.
CME requirements listed above were updated based on information from the joint website for Alabama Board of Medical Examiners and the Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama, but education requirements do change. Due to COVID-19, certain states may have modified their licensure requirements. Physicians should confirm Alabama's current requirements on their CME page.
- Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Interest
- One-party or two-party state
- Tort Laws
- Abortion Law
Prejudgment and Post-Judgment Interest
Prejudgment Tort Actions Rate 6%. “Prejudgment interest is allowable at the legal rate in noncontract cases where the damages can be ascertained by mere computation, or where the damages are complete at a given time so as to be capable of determination at such time in accordance with known standards of value.”
- Nelson v. AmSouth Bank, N.A., 622 So 2d 894 (Ala. 1993); Ala. Code § 8-8-1
Post-Judgment Rate: Judgments for the payment of money bear the contract rate of interest, if stated in the contract. All other judgments bear the rate of 7.5% per annum, the provisions of § 8-8-1 notwithstanding.
- Ala. Code § 8-8-10; Mayo v. Lawter, 974 So.2d 312 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007)
- Accrual date: Date of judgment.
- Ala. Code § 8-8-10
One-party or two-party state
Alabama is a one-party state.
In Alabama it is a criminal offense to use any device to record communications whether it’s wire, oral or electronic without the consent of at least one person taking part in the communication. However, the rules are applied differently depending on whether you are recording audio, video, and audio with video. (Ala. Code § 13A-11-30).
Tort Laws
Limits on damages for pain and suffering: None
- $400,000 noneconomic damages ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL (2003)
Limits on contingent attorney fees: None
Reform of collateral source rule: Evidentiary
- Ala. Code § 6-5-545
Periodic payment of future damages: None
- Mandatory when over $150,000 ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL (2005)
Statute of limitations: 2 years or 6 months from discovery; 4 year maximum
- Ala. Code § 6-5-482
Abortion Law
Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe:
Alabama is enforcing its total abortion ban.