Atlanta Emergency Room Errors Lawyer
Emergency room doctors must be prepared to diagnose and treat a variety of ailments at a moment’s notice. A failure to provide an accurate diagnosis often leads to long-lasting injuries or even death. These instances of failure may give rise to a medical malpractice lawsuit.
A client-centered Atlanta emergency room errors lawyer could help you if poor care in an Atlanta emergency room has worsened your condition. This could include pursuing claims against negligent doctors, nurses, or even other contracted hospital workers. A team of experienced attorneys could place your needs first and work as a team for a favorable result.
Examples of Atlanta Emergency Room Errors
Patients expect that doctors and nurses are able to provide prompt and skilled care for a variety of conditions ranging from fevers and diseases, to broken bones, to heart attacks, and to strokes. Unfortunately, because of the urgent nature of many of these visits, a failure to provide proper care is often catastrophic.
However, the mere fact that an outcome was not ideal does not mean that a doctor committed malpractice. The laws in Atlanta hold medical professionals to a certain standard of care. According to O.C.G.A. §51-1-27, these professionals must perform their craft with a “reasonable level of skill and care”. The statute continues on to state that a failure to perform to this level may indicate malpractice. Further, Georgia law requires a higher burden of proof for claims arising from emergency room medical care. The plaintiff must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the medical providers were grossly negligent, in order to recover.
Ultimately, whether medical care is malpractice is often disputed which is why it is best to work with attorneys who could enlist the services of an in-house doctor for medical advice. An analysis of a doctor’s actions must take every fact of the interaction into consideration. The fact that an emergency room doctor sees a patient who may already be in the late stages of a heart attack, may already be unconscious from a car accident, or who is in the late stages of a disease somewhat lessens the expectations for a favorable result. An Atlanta emergency room errors lawyer could help victims by evaluating the care that they received under the lens of state medical malpractice laws.
Working with an Expert Witness
While a patient may firmly believe that a person committed medical malpractice following a visit to an emergency room, this belief has no weight in court. Even if a victim submits medical records showing an unusual deterioration in his or her condition following a doctor’s actions, this cannot result in a positive outcome in court.
This is because victims and other lay people are unqualified to present opinion as evidence concerning the actions of a doctor, nurse, or other medical professionals. In fact, O.C.G.A. §9-11-9.1 says that the only person who is qualified to present this opinion concerning malpractice is a qualified medical expert. Generally, this is a physician or nurse employed in the same field of medicine as the negligent doctor, nurse or other healthcare providers.
For example, an expert in emergency medicine may provide his or her opinion as to how any competent emergency room doctor should have recognized that the victim was having a stroke upon admission to the ER. That same expert may then testify as to why a wrongdoer’s failure to diagnose this condition resulted in the victim’s injuries. An Atlanta emergency room errors lawyer could help locate and hire these experts who are essential to a medical malpractice case and place a victim’s needs at the forefront of a case.
An Atlanta Emergency Room Errors Lawyer Could Assist
When people arrive in an emergency room, they expect the attending nurses and doctors to make quick and accurate decisions concerning care. Whether this includes ordering vital tests, taking diagnostic imaging, referring the case to a specialist, or admitting the patient for surgery, these decisions are crucial to your continued health.
Unfortunately, errors that occur in Atlanta area emergency rooms are common. If these errors are so egregious as to fall below the acceptable standard of care, that wrongdoer may have committed malpractice.
People who suffer adverse health effects from malpractice have the right to pursue compensation. An Atlanta emergency room errors lawyer could help you by gathering vital evidence, locating and hiring a qualified expert witness, and present your case during settlement talks and trial with cutting-edge technology. Contact an Atlanta emergency room errors lawyer at any hour for a free case review and to speak directly to an attorney.
