There is no need for anyone to suffer injury and damages as a result of a physician’s medical negligence without having the opportunity to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. As a result of such a suit, they may be able to receive compensation for their costs and suffering. However, the physician must have acted in a way that meets the requirements for medical negligence.
Medical negligence must meet several requirements before it becomes legally actionable. First, there must be a medical relationship between the physician and the victim. In addition, the physician’s treatment must fall below the standard of skill and care that are generally expected in that community and by a doctor with the same credentials in that area of practice. The negligent action must have injured the victim in some way. The injury must also have resulted in damages to the victim. Medical costs, pain and suffering, lost income, and emotional distress can all be considered damages to the victim.
In addition to medical negligence, a medical malpractice claim must meet Georgia state requirements for such a claim.
Georgia Statutes for Medical Malpractice
Most medical malpractice lawsuits are subject to new revisions enacted on February 16, 2005. Some were deemed unconstitutional, but others remain active, including a statute relieving emergency room physicians of liability for medical malpractice unless the victim can prove gross negligence by that physician. Others fall into the following categories:
- Time limits on filing – personal injury or wrongful death claims due to medical malpractice must be filed within two years of the date of injury or death, but no more than five years after the act that caused that injury or death. The statute of limitations on foreign objects left in a surgical patient’s body is one year from learning of the negligence.
- Monetary limits because of modified comparative negligence– a victim is barred from collecting damages if they are more than fifty percent liable for their own injury. If they are less than fifty percent liable, they will only collect the percent of damages for which the defendant is liable. In addition, if the victim should have been able to avoid injury by reasonable care on their part, they are barred from any damages.
- Expert testimony – medical malpractice lawsuits must generally include an affidavit from an expert confirming that negligence actually occurred.
- Monetary limits on damages – the only limits that remain intact in Georgia law limit punitive damages. Such damages can only be obtained where the liable party is proven to be willfully malicious, fraudulent, wanton, oppressive, or consciously indifferent to consequences. However, such damages are limited to $250,000 unless the harm is found to be intentional or include drugs or alcohol.
Getting Legal Help with Doctor Lawsuits in Georgia
Not only are there specific requirements for those cases of medical malpractice filed in Georgia, the statutes may have once been enacted but been deemed unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court. It is vital that those elements be known and considered by a victim and their attorney in order to realize a successful outcome to these important types of medical malpractice lawsuits.
