Most healthcare providers, as well as doctors and nurses, work hard to help people who are in need of care; however, there are times when preventable medical misconduct can occur. Medical malpractice and negligence cause thousands of injuries every year.
If you or someone you love has sustained injuries due to medical malpractice, you should seek the assistance of an experienced Savannah GA medical malpractice lawyer who can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Medical malpractice can occur whenever any medical professional, including a nurse, a dentist, a doctor, or even a medical institution such as a hospital violates its care standards while they are treating you, eventually causing an injury or a death. Around 98,000 Americans die from mistakes as a result of medical malpractice each year, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Thousands of other people are injured each year due to preventable mistreatment.
Standard care can vary slightly from state-to-state, but it is generally a set of practices and ideals that have been accepted and used among medical professionals to treat patients who are suffering from a specific disorder or ailment. A patient’s standard of care may vary, depending on overall health or age, among other factors.
Medical malpractice laws (GA Code § 9-3-70) for Savannah and all other cities in Georgia state that the term “action for medical malpractice” means any claim for damages resulting from the death of or injury to any person arising out of:
(1) Health, medical, dental, or surgical service, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, or care rendered by a person authorized by law to perform such service or by any person acting under the supervision and control of the lawfully authorized person; or
(2) Care or service rendered by any public or private hospital, nursing home, clinic, hospital authority, facility, or institution, or by any officer, agent, or employee thereof acting within the scope of his employment.
You will need to be able to prove in a court of law that your injury was a direct result of your doctor’s violation of the standard of care when you file a medical malpractice case, which is often difficult to prove. It requires using expensive expert witnesses in the medical field who are familiar with medicine.
Negligence and medical malpractice don’t happen every time a bad outcome occurs during treatment. Generally, the law recognizes the medical profession as an art instead of an exact science. With respect to the method in which they decide to address specific patients’ problems, healthcare professionals are given some leeway. Nevertheless, patients across the United States receive care that is not acceptable or experience medical misconduct that leaves them feeling even worse than they would have if they had received the level of care that is required by law.
The following forms of misconduct have brought on some of the most common medical malpractice cases, including:
Errors in Treatment
Some nurses and doctors who provide treatment to patients make mistakes, including improperly administering medication or performing a botched surgery that leaves a patient in worse shape than they were already in. There is no guarantee that a medical issue will be resolved after a patient receives treatment. The patient, however, has a right to hold a healthcare professional responsible if the situation is made worse as a result of their medical misconduct.
Incorrect Diagnoses
Medical malpractice includes circumstances where a physician may refuse to act entirely. If a patient visits their physician complaining of certain ailments, he or she must appropriately act in order to determine the underlying cause of their issue. There are times when doctors will misdiagnose a condition, fail to diagnose the condition at all, or delay their diagnosis, which are all instances of medical malpractice.
Treatment Consent Issues
By law, medical practices must inform patients regarding their treatment options and their consent to any treatment they receive. This requirement can be violated in two different ways. One, a physician may attempt to act against the wishes of the patient. Two, a patient may not have received all of the details of their treatment prior to agreeing to it.
Georgia’s 51-1-27 statute says that medical professionals who practice medicine or surgery could be held liable if an injury results from them not using a reasonable degree of skill and care (medical malpractice). The exact skill and care will, of course, depend on the circumstances, but should be the same as what other doctors use in the profession.
According to the Supreme Court of Georgia, in order to have a valid claim, an injured patient must establish the following three elements:
The second and third elements are often in dispute in most medical malpractice suits in the state of Georgia. For instance, if a doctor claims they were sufficiently careful given the circumstances of the situation, they will try to defend their medical position.
The law doesn’t require doctors to be perfect. It only requires them to not be careless. For this reason, doctors will claim that they did what other providers would have done in a similar situation.
A physician may also try to claim that their mistake didn’t cause the patient’s injury. They might say that you had a pre-existing injury, or claim that the injury would have been unavoidable regardless of their medical mistake.
Patients in Georgia do not have a lot of time to bring forth a lawsuit. They must sue within two years after the date of death or injury, according to O.C.G.A. 9-3-71. If this deadline is not met, they will not be able to seek financial compensation.
There is a statute of repose in Georgia that cuts off your ability to sue for the act that caused your injury after 5 years. Even if it were not possible to discover the injury reasonably in five years, you won’t be able to sue.
There is a separate law regarding any foreign object that was left in a person’s body. You will only have one year to file a lawsuit from the discovery date in that situation. If, for example, you had an injury several years ago and you just discovered an object the surgeon left inside of you, you would have a year to sue from the date of discovery.
If you think you may have been the victim of a medical error, you should discuss your options with a Savannah medical malpractice lawyer.
Medical malpractice lawsuits take a lengthy amount of time to build. Your lawyer will need to see the following:
Nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals who have knowledge relevant to your medical treatment will also be interviewed by your lawyer. The testimony they provide can build up your case by entailing exactly what happened and whether a mistake was made.
You will file a complaint with the court that handles medical malpractice cases once you are ready to pursue your lawsuit. An expert affidavit must also be filed in addition to your complaint according to GA Code § 9-11-9.1. The affidavit must be written by a medical expert who has already reviewed the evidence associated with your case, and they must be willing to testify on your behalf. In addition, they must be able to identify one negligent act your healthcare provider or physician committed that played a role in your injuries.
If you are unable to file an affidavit along with your complaint, you may be granted a 45-day extension, but that is not always a certainty and you should never count on that. Most injured patients typically file the initial complaint and the affidavit together.
Expert medical professionals are not always easy to find, which is why you need to look for a knowledgeable Savannah GA medical malpractice lawyer to help you with your case. Experts include current or former practicing professionals in the same specialty as the provider you are suing. They can testify on your behalf if you go to trial.
Medical malpractice cases are different from other personal injury lawsuits because they involve two different areas of expertise: medicine and law. These cases are extremely complex and require the skill and attention of a lawyer who has experience dealing with both of these areas.
The attorney will assist you with your medical malpractice claim by doing the following:
If you believe that you or someone you love may have been injured due to inadequate medical care, you must speak with an attorney regarding your options.
Our qualified team of attorneys at The Eichholz Law Firm can offer you the legal assistance you need. Contact us today for a free consultation. Our office is located at 319 Eisenhower Dr., Savannah, GA 31406.
