Alpharetta Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you suffered an injury because of the negligence or improper treatment of a healthcare professional or medical institution, you need to contact a lawyer who understands the complex nature of these claims.
A team of Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyers can use their collective experience and vast resources to help you. They even have an in-house doctor who can provide medical insight into your case. Contact them to discuss the details of your situation and to determine what options you have to secure the appropriate compensation for your injury.
Medical Malpractice Definition
Medical malpractice is the negligent or unskilled treatment of a patient by a healthcare professional or a medical institution. For a valid claim for medical malpractice, a person must establish that he or she was a patient of the healthcare professional or medical institution. He or she also needs to establish that the healthcare professional or medical institution violated the applicable standard of care in treating him or her and that the violation of the standard of care caused a compensable injury to the person. An Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyer could help the injured person prove the healthcare professional or medical institution violated the applicable standard of care.
Being able to establish all the requirements for a medical malpractice claim requires a detailed understanding of the applicable law and a team of medical experts who are qualified to provide expert testimony about what happened. It also requires someone to translate the injury into a quantifiable amount that can be awarded as damages.
Time Limits in Alpharetta
Just like every other state, Georgia established its own standards and limitations regarding medical malpractice claims. The most well-known is the statute of limitations that states a person must initiate any claim for medical malpractice within two years of the date of the injury or death. It is important to know that a death or injury may not be immediate. For example, a doctor may prescribe a medicine that ultimately causes injury months after it is first prescribed.
Regardless of when the injury or death occurred, a person must initiate any claim for medical malpractice within five years of when the incident occurred that led to the injury or death. This is called the statute of repose. There are a few exceptions that allow deadlines to be extended such as instruments that were left inside a patient during a surgical procedure.
Potential Damages for Medical Malpractice Victims
Georgia has also standards regarding the types of damages someone can receive in a medical malpractice case. Those include:
- Compensatory damages – compensate injured patients for certain types of financial losses
- Non-economic damages – compensate individuals for intangible losses
- Punitive damages – punish a healthcare professional or medical institution for such things as fraud, malice, and willful misconduct and to deter similar behavior
Let an Alpharetta Medical Malpractice Attorney Be an Ally
If you believe you suffered an injury as the result of an error or negligence of a healthcare professional or medical institution, it is important that you contact Alpharetta medical malpractice lawyers who are familiar with this type of case. It is also vital you do this as soon as possible after you become aware of – or even suspicious of – the injury.
Medical malpractice lawsuits often involve complicated legal issues and complex medical matters. In addition, they also require the ability to explain those things to average people in a way that will allow them to understand exactly what happened and why – and to award appropriate damages to the injured party. Potential clients are able to speak directly with lawyers so call today for a free case evaluation.