Emergency Room Malpractice in Atlanta
When someone is injured due to medical malpractice in the emergency room, the doctor could be held liable for the injuries. A doctor is not off the hook just because the procedure was an emergency situation. In Georgia, emergency room doctors receive some special protections, however, they still can be held accountable for negligence. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to emergency room malpractice in Atlanta, it may be in your best interest to contact a compassionate lawyer today.
Reasons Why Emergency Room Doctors Receive a Special Leniency
Quite often when someone goes into the emergency room, they are incapacitated or in a lot of distress. They might have life-threatening injuries. The patient may not be able to give the doctor a history or a list of medications they are allergic to. Usually, when someone visits the doctor, the doctor has medical records of the patient available. In an emergency setting, the doctor does not have a complete picture of the patient’s history. They do not have the luxury and time to do tests and think about how to treat the patient. Because the person’s treatment involves split-second decisions, Georgia legislators made the decision that doctors in the emergency room deserve more protection.
Misdiagnosis in Emergency Rooms
It is common for there to be a misdiagnosis in emergency rooms because of the fast pace nature of the emergency room and doctors do not have the time to go through a different diagnosis. A misdiagnosis can result from not fully thinking something through, not ordering the appropriate tests, and not taking the patient’s symptoms seriously. Also, there could be a delay in a diagnosis when someone has to sit in the waiting room for too long.
Liability in Emergency Room Accidents
There is a higher burden of proof for emergency room malpractice in Atlanta. Most of the time in medical malpractice cases, the burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. In an emergency room case, one must prove the case by clear and convincing evidence, which is a higher standard. Also, one has to be able to show that the emergency room provider, doctor, or nurse, was grossly negligent. All medical malpractice cases in Georgia have an expert who could say the care was grossly negligent. A lawyer could help a patient determine if their injuries were caused by gross negligence.
Who Can be Liable for Malpractice?
A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed against doctors, nurses, hospitals, or medical practices. Doctors are usually employed by a medical practice, so the doctor and the medical practice are sued. Nurses are usually employed by the hospitals, which means when an individual sues a nurse for nursing care, they can sue the nurse and the hospital.
With a medical malpractice case against a nurse, instead of having a doctor do the affidavit and being the expert witness, there is usually a nurse expert who might say that the nurse departed from the nursing standard of care.
How a Lawyer Could Help with an Emergency Room Malpractice Claim in Atlanta
When someone is injured due to an emergency room malpractice in Atlanta, they should seek the services of a lawyer as soon as they can. An attorney could protect your rights and evaluate your case.
The first steps a lawyer will take when they are contacted is conducting a thorough interview when the injured person or injured person’s family. An attorney needs to identify the who, what, when, and, where of the malpractice. They will also examine all of the patient’s medical records to determine if there is a viable case. When it is apparent that there is a case, the lawyer gets a medical expert to review the situation and confirm what the healthcare providers did wrong.
