What Does Georgia Consider to be Medical Malpractice?
More than 48,000 people die every year in hospitals from preventable causes. Add to that an untold number who are seriously injured, and you will see that there is a near epidemic of negligent care in the hospital environment. Multiply that number by several times for injuries and deaths when a hospitalization is not involved and you can see that there is a significant number of people who, potentially, have legitimate claims for injuries
So, why are only a very small percentage of these claims filed for these injuries and deaths? The simple answer is that the laws passed by state legislatures have restricted the manner in which such cases can be tried and have elevated the amount of proof needed to succeed in court. As a result, a malpractice case is very complicated and expensive to prepare and try before a jury. Only a small percentage of otherwise competent personal injury lawyers will even attempt to undertake to handle a medical malpractice case. Lawyers know that only the experienced malpractice lawyers should represent an injured client and, thus, more than any other type of case, these cases are referred by most lawyers to the few that do this type of work on a regular basis.
Georgia Medical Malpractice
What most people do not fully understand is that doctors do not guarantee a successful outcome from their treatment. Sometimes, things just cannot be made better and being unable to improve a person’s condition is not a basis for a claim. In fact, sometimes treatment can make matters worse. A jury will be instructed by the judge at the end of a trial to find in favor of the doctor if the only thing they find is that the patient’s condition did not improve.
Georgia, like every state, has its own rules and laws relating to filing a medical malpractice suit. A doctor, nurse, hospital, etc. can be found negligent when they in the treatment of an individual fail to act in such a manner as other competent doctors, nurses, etc. would have done if they were in that same situation. This is often called a “deviation from the standard of care”. Thus, it is imperative to know what others healthcare providers would have done, and that takes research and approaching other like experts about what is the proper manner in which to diagnose or treat a patient under the same circumstances that existed in the case in question.
There are important time restrictions on when a person has to file a claim. The statute of limitations in Georgia is two years from the time of injury. A lawyer must be approached about the possible handling of a case well before the expiration of that two year period, since as discussed above, a lot of research and the hiring of experts has to occur before suit is filed, and that can take weeks to months to accomplish. Therefore, victims of medical malpractice need to immediately consult with a Georgia medical malpractice attorney to protect their rights.
As you can see, having a thorough understanding of the medical issues, hiring qualified experts willing to come to court to testify and being able to explain sometimes very complicated medical facts to a jury mean that only the best and most experienced lawyers should undertake to handle a medical malpractice case. Here at A Russell Blank, LLC, we have represented hundreds of clients who have come to us for representation. Sometimes, we investigate and have to inform the client that the evidence does not support their case, but on occasion, the evidence is clear and convincing. Those clients will be told about the difficult road ahead, and encouraged to remain confident because they will, hopefully, get the financial award that their serious injuries or death demands.
