Coping with a serious medical issue can be challenging. People often want to understand why they suffered a severe health problem or complication, and the answers aren’t always clear.
Some may feel their doctor made a mistake but aren’t sure how to prove it. Others might not even consider that malpractice occurred.
How Can a Dekalb County Medical Malpractice Attorney Help?
If you suspect you or a loved one have suffered from medical malpractice, an attorney can help you determine if there is evidence to support your concerns. Your consultation will be free and confidential, so there is no reason not to learn more.
We also recommend that you speak with a medical malpractice lawyer if you experience any of the following situations that sometimes involve malpractice:
- Surgical errors or complications. If your surgeon made an error during your operation, you might not know. Doctors should tell their patients when they make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they always do. In some cases, the surgeon may not be aware of the error either—for example, this is frequently the case when a surgical instrument is left inside the patient. If you have persistent pain or other unexplained symptoms following surgery, this is another sign that your surgeon could have made a misstep.
- Lack of informed consent. Do you feel that your doctor failed to fully explain all the risks of surgery, a procedure, or a medication so you could make an informed decision? Sometimes, a patient will have a problem, and their doctor will say, “That’s a risk with the procedure you had.” Then, the patient wonders why they weren’t told before the procedure. The doctor may claim they mentioned it, but did they? Did they use a lot of medical jargon the average person was unlikely to understand? If you were shocked by a severe side effect and don’t believe your doctor adequately explained it, you may want to speak with a lawyer.
- Misdiagnosis or a missed diagnosis. Here’s another scenario: You discuss a health problem with your doctor. The doctor makes a diagnosis and prescribes medication or some other treatment, but you don’t feel any better. Eventually, you even feel worse. Your physician tries several other treatments that don’t work before diagnosing you with an entirely different condition that is now more difficult or impossible to treat because so much time has passed. If your doctor wasted time treating a condition you didn’t have or failed to diagnose a severe condition in a reasonable time frame, you may have suffered medical malpractice.
- Medication mistakes. About 30 percent of injuries caused by drugs in hospitals are due to medication errors. While many protocols are in place to prevent these problems, medication errors are still very common, although not all are harmful. They can happen in multiple ways: The doctor prescribes the wrong drug or the wrong dose; the doctor prescribes the right drug and dose, but the nurse or pharmacist misunderstands the order; the nurse or pharmacist understands the order but accidentally acquires the wrong drug or dose anyway; or an incorrect dose is administered.
- Birth injuries. These are caused by difficulties during delivery that can lead to broken bones, nerve damage, brain damage, and other complications, some of which result in lifelong disability. Often, the baby is positioned in a way that makes delivery challenging, but your doctor should be able to handle these situations so as to minimize risk to the infant. Additionally, some babies are injured because the doctor used forceps or vacuum technology in the delivery.
- Hospital neglect. This can happen in a number of ways, and it most commonly occurs in understaffed hospitals. Typically, nurses are instructed to monitor patients, particularly after surgery. They should take the patient’s vital signs and alert the doctor of any alarming trends. Most nurses and other hospital staff are very conscientious about doing these tasks, but if the hospital is understaffed, they may be unable to keep up with all their patients. Medication errors and other mistakes are also more common in understaffed hospitals.
- Excessive or insufficient treatment for your condition. There are two potential problems here: First, your doctor may diagnose a common, mild condition and suggest treatment that seems much too aggressive. For instance, they may want to start with a risky and expensive surgery when most patients try medication first. If you feel your doctor’s treatment plan seems over the top, getting a second opinion is always a good idea. But on the other side of the coin, your doctor may fail to treat your condition aggressively enough, especially if it’s potentially serious.
How Do You Prove a Medical Malpractice Case?
We must show that your doctor acted outside the standard of care for their specialty. Because this is a difficult determination for a layperson, the state of Georgia requires that a medical expert’s affidavit accompany a medical malpractice lawsuit.
In the affidavit, this expert should testify to at least one incidence where the physician failed to act within the standard of care for their profession.
You do not have to worry about finding a medical expert for your case. We work with many experts in various fields and will contact one to review your claim.
If they agree that there is evidence of malpractice, they can help with the affidavit.
Do You Sue the Physician or the Hospital?
It depends on the situation and who actually committed the medical malpractice or neglect. In most cases involving physicians, we will file a lawsuit against the doctor and negotiate with their malpractice insurance carrier.
Georgia doesn’t require malpractice insurance for doctors, but hospitals and healthcare facilities typically require their physicians to carry it. Even those who don’t work for a facility can usually see the value in malpractice insurance.
Generally speaking, the insurance company will want to settle the claim rather than go to court, which is often better for the client. Trials can be time-consuming and stressful, so we will do our best to negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company.
However, in rare cases, the insurance carrier may be unwilling to agree on an equitable settlement, and if that happens, we’re always prepared to argue your case in court.
Nurses, therapists, technicians, and other non-physician healthcare workers usually don’t have malpractice insurance. If we believe one of them caused your injuries, we may pursue a claim against the healthcare facility.
They also typically have liability insurance, and we will seek a settlement offer that meets your needs.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim for Medical Malpractice?
In Georgia, you have two years after the date of your injury to file a medical malpractice claim, but in some cases, you may have longer. If you were not immediately aware of the injury or mistake, you have two years from the date when you knew or should have known about it.
There is also a statute of repose of five years from the date of injury, after which you cannot file a lawsuit, regardless of when you found out. If you even suspect you have been the victim of malpractice, we urge you to contact a lawyer sooner rather than later, as we may need time to investigate your case and develop a strategy.
When small children suffer injuries due to medical malpractice, such as birth injuries or surgical mistakes, the effects may not be evident for some time. For example, a baby who experiences a hypoxic brain injury (lack of oxygen to the brain) during birth may have developmental delays and other difficulties as a result.
However, symptoms of these issues may not be noticed for months or years after the birth.
For this reason, in cases involving children, the statute of limitations does not begin until the child’s seventh birthday. Similarly, the statute of repose doesn’t start until the child’s tenth birthday.
You should still contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible if you think a healthcare provider injured your child.
Where Can You Get Help From a Dekalb County Medical Malpractice Law Firm?
Please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free, confidential consultation about your case. We’ll review the details of your health concerns and consult medical experts as needed, then we’ll answer your questions and explain the options for seeking compensation.
If we take your case, there are no fees until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm only a few years ago and has since turned it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. He and his legal team have over twenty years of combined experience helping injured people and their families and have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for clients.
When Mr. Awad isn’t working on a case, he can be found on social media, making entertaining yet educational posts about legal topics for more than a million followers. Work with The CEO Lawyer today by calling (470) 323-8779.
