Medical mistakes can cause unspeakable problems for patients in Suwanee. When a doctor or other medical professional fails to provide reasonable care, it is important to hold them accountable to protect others from suffering similar harm in the future.
A Suwanee medical malpractice lawyer could fight to help you obtain justice and fair compensation if you suffered injuries caused by medical negligence. It is wise to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to determine what may be possible in your case.
Special Requirements for Medical Malpractice Cases
When a patient harmed by medical negligence wants to seek compensation from the responsible care provider, they are required to comply with some requirements that go beyond what is expected in other negligence cases. The most important is the necessity of obtaining an affidavit from a medical expert at the start of the case.
Under Georgia Code 9-11-9.1, the injured patient must submit an affidavit describing at least one negligent act or omission and the factual basis for the claim of negligence. The affidavit must be filed along with the complaint initiating the legal action. A seasoned medical malpractice lawyer in Suwanee could work with an appropriate expert to obtain the affidavit and draft a persuasive complaint showing how the actions or failure to act on the part of the medical professional caused the injuries in the case.
Establishing Medical Negligence
In legal terms, someone may be considered negligent when they owe a duty of care to another person, they fail to provide appropriate care in a situation, and their failure causes harm to another person. Doctors and other medical professionals clearly owe a duty of care to their patients, so establishing this element is usually not a challenge in a medical malpractice case.
A Suwanee medical malpractice attorney may need to call on experts to show what the duty of care should have been in the particular situation. For instance, doctors working under the pressures of an emergency room situation are not expected to provide the same thoughtful, reasoned consideration to a patient’s treatment as they might when the patient comes to the office for a surgical evaluation. In addition to establishing the level of care that should have been provided, it will be necessary to show how a doctor’s conduct failed to meet that standard, and how the failure led to the injuries suffered.
Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
Once liability is established in a medical malpractice case, the injured patient may receive compensation to cover different effects of the medical error. Amounts may be provided for intangible harm such as pain in addition to monetary losses such as additional medical expenses.
A medical malpractice attorney in Suwanee could calculate a reasonable value for each type of loss based on legal precedent. This figure then provides a yardstick for evaluating the adequacy of settlement offers.
Work with an Experienced Suwanee Medical Malpractice Attorney
It can take considerable time to investigate the circumstances of a medical malpractice case and to obtain the best available expert opinion. Since so much of the research must be completed before the claim can be filed, it is crucial to begin working on a medical negligence case as soon as possible.
If you or a loved one suffered harm caused by a medical mistake, talk to a Suwanee medical malpractice lawyer before too much time passes. Your attention to legal matters could help provide for future needs for yourself and your family and help prevent others from facing the same problems. Call today to get started on your case.