Medical Mistakes and Medical Malpractice Injury Lawyers in Atlanta

We trust doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals to have the necessary training, compassion and commitment to help us with our medical needs. Health care workers are people too, and people make mistakes for all kinds of reasons.

There are honest medical mistakes, mistakes caused by negligence and, in rare circumstances, intentional harm. While the cause of the mistake is important, it’s the effect the mistake has on the patient’s life that most influences the outcome of malpractice claims.

It's important to understand that not every bad medical outcome justifies filing a medical malpractice claim, and that not every mistake made by a health care worker necessarily rises to the level of negligence or malpractice. These cases can be extremely complex. Even if your situation does meet the criteria, there still may be a number of hurdles standing between you and a fair outcome for your case.

Working with an experienced personal injury lawyer who has represented Atlanta patients in past medical malpractice cases can be a great benefit. Our team is ready to help.

Establishing Medical Malpractice

By definition, medical malpractice is a health care worker’s failure to meet their standard of care. The standard of care is essentially the base line for what a medical professional in the same situation should do given the circumstances. Sometimes the standard of care is obvious – but sometimes it falls in a grey area.

The average patient’s health care journey is a complex, multi-step process. You schedule a consultation, go in for diagnostic testing, have your condition diagnosed by a doctor based on the results of your testing, receive treatment, are prescribed aftercare and receive ongoing condition management. Pharmacists, nurses, lab workers, diagnosticians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, oncologists, neurologists, cardiologists and a host of other medical workers might be involved in some of these steps. Each of those medical professionals has a standard of care they must uphold – and errors can occur at any step of the process.

It’s necessary to establish where the error occurred and clearly show (with evidence) that the responsible party failed to meet the standard of care. In Georgia, this means getting testimony from a certified medical expert in the same field. If an oncologist made a mistake, you need to find another oncologist in the same field or specialty to review the situation and testify to what the actual standard of care is and how your oncologist fell short.

You also need to prove causation and damages. This means being able to draw a clear line between the medical professional’s error and your injury, and then a line between your injury and the damages you suffered. Those damages are similar to the damages in other personal injury cases, including medical costs, lost wages and pain and suffering.

The Role of Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Personal injury attorneys play an important role in all types of injury situations, but they’re especially vital in medical malpractice cases. Although a car accident or slip and fall injury case can get complicated, they often end up being more straightforward than a medical malpractice case.

The need to work with medical experts and investigate a complex, multi-step process involving convoluted medical records – not to mention negotiating with high-powered insurance companies – makes the assistance of a lawyer incredibly valuable in these cases. An attorney can help you understand the evidence, comply with the many procedural rules in these types of cases and explain your options for recovery.

How Much Does a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Cost?

Personal injury lawyers of all types – including medical malpractice lawyers – usually work on a contingency fee basis. This means you don’t owe them any money up front. The law firm only gets paid when they negotiate a settlement or take your case to trial and win a verdict on your behalf. They’re then paid a percentage of what you win or settle.

Contingency fees are a vital aspect of medical malpractice cases. Finding doctors to provide expert testimony, digging through medical records and following through on an in-depth health care investigation takes time and resources, both of which are often in short supply for families struggling to recover from medical errors. By working on a contingency fee basis, our law firm can ensure our clients get competent, dedicated representation regardless of their financial situation.

Get Help With Your Medical Malpractice Situation in Atlanta

If you believe you or a loved one were injured by the mistake of a medical professional, you could benefit from speaking with a personal injury lawyer in Atlanta. Our team will listen to your story and advise you on your options moving forward – all at no cost to you. Call us today at (678) 921-4225 for your free, no-obligation case evaluation.