Whenever a person visits a medical professional, they expect that they will receive competent and skilled care. When a doctor, dentist, nurse, or hospital staff fails to provide this level of care, they could be held liable in court. This can include a failure to order appropriate tests, an inability to properly provide a diagnosis or a botched medical procedure that results in an injury. Those who have been injured to a medical professional’s negligence may be eligible to recover compensation for damages.
If you or a loved one were severely injured due to the reckless and careless actions of a medical professional, a seasoned personal injury attorney could help your case. An Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyer could help injured individuals seek justice for their injuries. A knowledgeable attorney could evaluate the injured claimant’s losses and help them seek compensation that covers the full value of their damages.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Every medical professional has the same duty of care in the State of Georgia. According to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated §51-1-27, every person that administers medicine for compensation must exercise a reasonable degree of care. This means taking appropriate actions to diagnose and treat patients as a reasonable medical professional in their position would do. Additionally, this statute states that a failure to practice medicine up to this standard is the definition of medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice may occur at any time during the doctor/patient relationship. The common types of medical malpractice include:
- Medication and prescription errors
- Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis
- Improper treatment
- Post-operative negligence
- Surgical and anesthesia errors
- Labor and delivery errors
Specialists in the practice of diagnostics, rehabilitation, or surgery may also commit malpractice by not interpreting test results correctly or by botching a procedure. An experienced lawyer could help to perform an case evaluation and review the plaintiff's injuries to determine if medical malpractice may have occurred.
What Are The Steps To Filing a Malpractice Claim in Alpharetta?
Medical malpractice cases can be complicated to handle without legal help. This is because determining whether medical care was competent is something that only a qualified expert can answer. Under O.C.G.A. §54-7-702, that expert must be active in the practice or specialty of the defendant practitioner. The concept of being active means that the expert has practiced in that area for at least three of the past five years.
According to O.C.G.A. §9-11-9.1, a plaintiff cannot file a malpractice claim in court without including an affidavit signed by a medical expert. This affidavit must include the specifics concerning at least one negligent act and the factual basis for the claim as a whole.
A seasoned Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyer could conduct an independent investigation and prove the defendant’s negligence by hiring qualified medical experts.
Reach Out to Alpharetta Medical Malpractice Attorney
A delayed diagnosis, a misread X-ray, or a failed surgery could all have severe ramifications for your health and can even cause death. While a poor result, after visiting a doctor, nurse, dentist, or hospital does not necessarily mean that malpractice occurred, it may indicate that you did not receive an appropriate level of care.
An Alpharetta medical malpractice attorney could help you seek the compensation you need to move forward. They can work to evaluate the actions of the defendant, calculate your losses, and meet the court’s strict rules concerning the pursuit of damages following medical malpractice. Call today to learn about how a dedicated attorney could help your case.