Each year, hundreds of thousands of people are injured by incompetent medical professionals.
According to statistics compiled by safety experts, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States and account for nearly 10% of all deaths.
Many more patients are seriously injured, their health compromised because of avoidable mistakes.
At MG Law, our Conyers medical malpractice attorneys have the experience and skills necessary to hold medical professionals accountable for their errors.
Contact us online or call (770) 988-5252 today to schedule a free consultation.
Overview of Medical Malpractice in Georgia
Doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals owe their clients a duty to use reasonable care. The precise standard they must meet is the care that other reasonably prudent medical professionals would exercise in the circumstances.
In short, your doctor should be at least as careful as other doctors in the community.
Examples of Medical Malpractice
No two medical malpractice cases are exactly alike.
Nevertheless, we see some common scenarios where doctors make similar mistakes over and over:
- Failure to diagnose a condition. A doctor might miss a diagnosis despite having sufficient information. Sometimes, a doctor might make a diagnosis but make a wrong one.
- Medication errors. The doctor might prescribe the wrong medication or the wrong amount. Other medical staff can make mistakes dispensing the medicine.
- Surgery errors. Anesthesia might be administered improperly, and surgeons can make mistakes during surgery, such as leaving implements inside you or treating the wrong body part.
- Blood test and lab errors. Technicians might not read the results properly or fail to perform requested tests.
- Improper sterilization. This can lead to widespread infections, many of which are deadly.
- Birth injuries. Many things can go wrong during labor and delivery that can injure either the baby or the mother.
- Inadequate follow-up. After surgery, a doctor might not follow up or take your complaints seriously, resulting in injury.
The key is to show that the medical professional made a mistake that a reasonably competent medical professional would not have made in similar circumstances. If not, then you do not have a malpractice case.
Furthermore, the mistake must have caused you damage. For example, a doctor might have made a mistake during surgery that nevertheless does not cause any additional injury, so you cannot sue to receive compensation.
Evidence in a Medical Malpractice Case
You might not know if you have been the victim of Georgia medical malpractice, since few doctors are anxious to admit that they have made a mistake.
Nevertheless, there are some common red flags that should impel you to investigate further:
- Your doctor is avoiding you. This could be a sign of a guilty conscience.
- Your condition gets worse despite medical treatment.
- You receive a different diagnosis from a second doctor.
- A loved one dies after surgery or after receiving treatment.
- Your baby shows signs of cognitive impairment.
Of course, not every negative reaction to treatment is a sign that a medical error occurred. Doctors do not have to be perfect, and even perfect doctors cannot make all pain disappear or save every life.
Nevertheless, further investigation might reveal that a doctor should have done something different which other competent doctors would have.
Often, you need a medical expert to review your course of medical treatment to identify whether a mistake has been made.
One advantage of working with the experienced Conyers, Georgia medical malpractice attorneys at MG Law is that we have access to medical professionals who can review your case and identify all medical errors. Our experts can then identify whether these mistakes made your condition worse.
Compensation You Can Recover in a Georgia Medical Malpractice Case
A medical malpractice lawsuit endeavors to put you in the position you would be in had the medical mistake never occurred.
To that end, injured patients in Georgia can receive compensation for a variety of damages, including:
- Medical bills to treat the injury
- Rehabilitation bills
- At-home care
- Medical equipment
- Lost wages
- Lost future wages, if the victim cannot return to their old job
Our clients have also received compensation for injuries that do not have a price tag, such as:
Estimating the amount of compensation you can receive is complicated, but an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Conyers, Georgia can review all of the evidence and come up with a number that makes sense.
Medical Malpractice Resulting in Wrongful Death
If a loved one died because of medical malpractice, certain surviving family members can bring a lawsuit to recover compensation.
According to Georgia’s statute, the following can bring a wrongful death suit:
- Spouse
- Children, if the is no surviving spouse
- Parents, if there are no children or spouse still alive
Alternately, the executor for the estate can bring the lawsuit if no eligible family members are still living. The lawsuit will proceed much like a medical malpractice lawsuit would have unfolded had your love one lived and brought a lawsuit on their own behalf. Because they have died, you step into their shoes and must show that a medical mistake was the proximate cause of their death.
If you prevail in your lawsuit, you can receive compensation for the following:
- Lost future wages (what your loved one could have earned had he or she lived)
- Pain and suffering endured by your loved one before death
- Loss of companionship
- Mental anguish as a result of losing your loved one
These damages can be considerable, especially if your loved one was young and healthy at the time of death.
Conyers, Georgia Medical Malpractice Lawyers You Can Trust
If you suspect that you have fallen victim to medical malpractice, you should contact an attorney right away. You only have a limited amount of time to bring a lawsuit, and any delay could cost you money.
Collect what evidence you have in your possession and reach out to a Conyers medical malpractice attorney for a case evaluation.
At MG Law, we help injured patients hold doctors and other medical professionals responsible for their mistakes. We are prepared to aggressively pursue compensation on your behalf and will leave no stone unturned as we seek justice for your injuries.
To schedule your free, no-obligation consultation, please call (770) 988-5252 or submit our online contact form.