It’s disheartening to return from the hospital after a treatment and discover you feel the same or even worse. When dealing with the aftermath of a failed treatment, or after receiving treatment and ending up even more sick than before treatment, it’s understandable to react in frustration. It can feel like a waste of time, energy, and money, and these issues pile on top of the fact that your condition has failed to improve.  Not every failure of medical treatment is the result of medical malpractice, however. Therefore, it’s important to understand the distinction between criminal negligence and what is simply an unsuccessful treatment. Doctors can make mistakes without having committed serious negligence or malpractice, but if the harm caused was preventable, a medical malpractice claim might be the only way for a patient to receive compensation for the financial and emotional damages caused. 

Common Examples of Medical Malpractice

When filing a medical malpractice claim, you are essentially filing a negligence claim specifically against a healthcare provider or facility, likely a doctor, nurse, or hospital. Common examples of medical malpractice claims, caused either by a professional’s action or inaction, are:
  • Improper type or dosage of medication prescribed
  • Misdiagnosis of a patient’s particular condition or illness
  • Failure to follow the expected and proper procedures of a medical process
  • Failure to inform a patient of known risks
  • Performing unnecessary surgery or surgery on the incorrect site
  • Patient infection

Proving Negligence in a Georgia Medical Malpractice Case

The four sections that make up proving negligence are a duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. To successfully prove negligence, you must prove a legitimate doctor-patient relationship. Then, you will have to prove that duty of care was failed by the doctor in question and that their action or inaction is what caused you serious damages or injury.

Georgia Duty of Care

Whether the mistake of a doctor is considered malpractice or not comes down to the breach of the duty of care. What determines this is if other healthcare professionals would have done the same action or inaction in the same position. This industry standard of care means a medical professional cannot be held liable for a mistake that any other practicing professional would have made in their position. If a medical professional or entity took all the right steps according to industry standards and still performed or diagnosed a patient incorrectly, they are not in breach of duty of care.   Proving that your medical professional was at fault for breach of duty of care and, therefore, committed medical malpractice is difficult. It requires evidence of failure, a preventable issue, or negligence that other medical professionals agree was outside the breach of duty of care. However, if you can prove that there was a breach in the duty of care, you could recover damages.

Proving Medical Malpractice

To prove all elements of negligence, including the breach of the duty of care, you also must provide evidence to back up those claims. This includes medical records, witness testimonies, medical bills, and more. To ensure you don’t miss crucial information, you must contact a medical malpractice attorney. 

Contact Lamar Law Office, LLC for Help Today

An attorney can help you gather information and help you successfully navigate the intricacies of Georgia negligence law and fight for you if your claim goes to court. When you work with us, you have someone dealing with insurance agencies on your behalf, ensuring all the necessary information is available to you. We will represent your best interests and advocate for your rights in court. The earlier you contact a qualified attorney, the sooner you can determine if you have a valid medical malpractice claim and begin to seek compensation.