Earle injury attorneys
Medical Malpractice
Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Suffering a medical malpractice injury can be devastating for many different reasons. Patients seek medical care to improve their health, but when treatment instead proves harmful – often as the result of medical negligence – a patient’s health may be left in worse condition than before he or she sought help in the first place.
On top of a worsening health condition, patients are frequently left holding the tab for medical treatment or procedure that was at best ineffective and at worst, catastrophic. If you or your loved one have been affected by medical negligence, an Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer can help. Call today to schedule a consultation and learn more about what an Atlanta personal injury lawyer can do for you.
Medical Malpractice Damages
While your medical malpractice award will not be able to restore your health, the compensation you are owed can provide necessary funds to pay outstanding medical bills, new medical costs as they arise, as well as makeup for lost wages and time away from work.
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may also be awarded punitive damages, which seek to deter similarly reckless or negligent behavior by medical professionals in the future.
Damages Awards Caps
In the state of Georgia, there are no damages caps for “actual damage” awards. This means that a court can award you as much as your personal injury attorney establishes you have lost financially. However, there are certain limits on how high punitive damage awards – those aimed at punishing the at-fault party – may be.
Only your medical malpractice attorney in Atlanta can determine the value of your claim and whether you may be eligible to obtain punitive damages. This is one reason why it is so important to hire an experienced attorney who has the requisite knowledge in navigating these complex issues.
Medical Malpractice in Atlanta
Medical malpractice is typically defined as a medical professional’s conduct that fails to meet the industry’s accepted standard of care. If no other physician or medical staff member would reasonably have acted in a similar manner and the patient has suffered injuries as a result, the doctor may be liable for medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice can take almost as many forms as there are types of medical procedures. Some of the most common medical malpractice claims our Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys handle, include, but are not limited to:
- Misdiagnosis
- Missed or delayed diagnosis
- Insurance fraud
- Emergency room error
- Surgical errors
- Dental Malpractice
- Foreign objects left inside a patient’s body
- Operating on wrong body party
How an Attorney Can Help
If you are a victim of medical malpractice, it is essential that you begin working with an experienced medical malpractice attorney in Atlanta right away in order to protect your rights to obtain the compensation you deserve. In Atlanta, the time limit for filing a claim for medical malpractice is three years from the date the injury occurred, or within one year of discovering the injury. This is known as the statute of limitations. Therefore, if you do not file your claim in time, you may lose the opportunity to recover the damages you would otherwise receive. There are some exceptions, however. Your injury lawyer can take a look at your medical records and determine the deadline to which you must adhere.
Someone who is unsure of if they want to proceed into litigation can also benefit from discussing their case with an attorney. Sometimes, there are not that many benefits a person will receive from pursuing a case into litigation since collecting evidence and entering litigation can be time-intensive and costly.
The sooner you retain experienced counsel, the better. Your attorney will need to begin investigating your claim, interviewing witnesses who can corroborate what happened, and consulting medical experts and other expert witnesses who can testify as to whether the healthcare professional’s conduct fell below the accepted standard of care. No matter what kind of medical malpractice you have suffered or the severity of your injuries, consulting an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer is the first step toward holding the physician, health care worker, and/or hospital responsible.
While no outcome can be guaranteed, we will work diligently to seek the compensation you need in order to move forward with your life.