If you suffered injury because a doctor or other medical professional was negligent when they diagnosed, treated, or advised you, this could constitute medical malpractice.
In this case, you would have the right to recover past and future losses stemming from this negligence – including medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering, as well as others.
Our Gainesville medical malpractice attorneys will work to recover all your damages.
What Our Gainesville Medical Malpractice Lawyers Do for You
Georgia medical malpractice laws are notoriously complex. The state requires specific elements of proof to make a case, and if the case goes to court, you must file the lawsuit within a specific time frame.
What our personal injury lawyers can do for you involves investigating your medical case and unearthing all the evidence that supports our claim of negligence. This evidence will comprise medical bills, records, lab results, electronic communications, and other documentation. Ultimately, an audit trail of your medical case will begin to form. We will use this evidence to lay the groundwork for your case.
We will also collaborate with experts who can shed light on how your healthcare provider breached the standard of care – and how this violation of duty caused your injury.
For a free legal consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer serving Gainesville, call (404) 888-8888
Compensation for Medical Malpractice
Whether you are demanding compensation from your local pediatrician or from a major hospital, like the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, the amount you recover for a case of medical practice in Gainesville largely depends on the severity of your injury.
At one time, Georgia law limited the amount of non-economic damages a medical malpractice victim could recover from a single defendant to $350,000. The state also capped total recovery from all defendants in a medical malpractice claim to $1,050,000. In 2010, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled these caps unconstitutional.
Caps on Punitive Damages
However, Georgia does still enforce caps on certain medical malpractice damages. For example, sometimes, a plaintiff will try to recover punitive damages, which would pertain to a case in which the defendant acted in an especially reprehensible manner.
The state limits the amount a court can award for punitive damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000, unless the plaintiff can prove that the defendant intended to harm the patient.
Gainesville Medical Malpractice Lawyer Near Me (404) 888-8888
Types of Damages Might You Recover in a Medical Malpractice Case
Georgia law makes both economic and non-economic damages recoverable by medical malpractice victims.
The following are a few examples of types of economic damages:
- Medical treatment (past and future)
- Medications
- Hospital stay
- Lost income
- Diminished future earning potential
- Replacement services
Non-economic damages could include the following:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
Drafting Your Demand Letter
Our legal team will review your case and work with experts to outline all the ways you suffered from this case of medical malpractice. We will assign values to your losses and present them to the insurance company for settlement. If the insurer refuses to settle, we will file a lawsuit and settle the matter in civil court.
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How We Prove Medical Malpractice in Georgia
A legitimate medical malpractice suit in Gainesville requires that our attorneys prove four essential elements.
Standard of Care
Our attorneys will ask a qualified medical expert who works in the same area of healthcare concerning your case to review the records of your care and treatment.
This expert must then provide an affidavit identifying the standard of care under similar conditions and circumstances. This is known as the “expert affidavit” requirement, and your lawsuit will go nowhere without it.
Breach of the Standard of Care
Our legal team must provide evidence that the medical professional or entity in your case failed to meet the standard of care and failed to exercise reasonable skill and care when diagnosing, treating, or advising you.
We will use the same medical expert who established the standard of care to give their sworn testimony that the defendant in your case breached this standard of care.
Proximate Cause
Next, our lawyers must connect the dots between the medical provider’s conduct and your injury. We must prove that this conduct caused your injury. Again, we will use expert testimony to support this argument.
Damages
Georgia courts will not decide a case based solely on a doctor’s conduct or the losses you have suffered. Rather, our law firm must prove that your damages resulted specifically from the physician’s breach of duty.
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Types of Medical Malpractice That We Can Pursue Damages For
Medical malpractice can manifest in many ways. Some of the most common types of medical malpractice claims include:
- Delayed diagnosis
- Misdiagnosis
- Surgical errors
- Procedural mistakes
- Incorrect treatment
- Birth injuries
- Medication errors
- Failing to treat or prevent infections
- Bedsores
- Anesthesia errors
- Cancer misdiagnosis
- Failure to monitor
Meeting Georgia’s Deadlines When Filing Your Lawsuit
As with most states, Georgia limits the amount of time you have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. The state outlines the details of its “statute of limitations” in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71. Georgia law says you have two years to file a lawsuit against the liable medical provider from the incident date.
The law also acknowledges that any period could pass in some cases before the patient becomes aware of their injury. Accordingly, the law also permits filing a medical malpractice complaint within two years of the injury discovery date.
In the case of wrongful death, Georgia gives the decedent’s loved ones up to two years for their lawsuit under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Our team can explain how a wrongful death case works so you understand your case and options.
Call Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Working in Gainesville Today
When medical malpractice causes you to suffer injury, your injuries could require additional, costly medical treatment. It could also result in missing even more days at work on top of the time you likely already missed.
With so much at stake, you could hire a law firm with a proven ability to get results. Calling for a case review costs you nothing, and if you hire us, you pay legal fees only when and if we win you a settlement or jury award. Call Bader Scott Injury Lawyers today at (404) 888-8888.
Call or text (404) 888-8888 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form