Forms of Medical Malpractice in Atlanta
In Atlanta, what typically constitutes medical malpractice is when a patient is harmed by a doctor or some other medical professional caring for the patient. If a person suffers any complications that could have been avoided, medical malpractice has occurred. Warshauer Woodward Atkins’s Atlanta medical malpractice attorneys and medical consultant can review your claim and advise you of your legal options.
Because there are several forms of Atlanta medical malpractice, it is important for victims and their families to retain a firm who is trusted and qualified to handle such cases. A dedicated medical malpractice attorney will have the experience and knowledge to help victims and their families pursue compensation when their lives have been altered by medical or hospital malpractice.
Elements of Medical Malpractice
There are four elements regarding the types of Atlanta medical malpractice and the negligence to prove the common types. There will always be a relationship between the doctor and the patient. As a result, the first element would be duty. That is the duty that the doctor, nurse, or healthcare professional owes to the patient to exercise a reasonable degree of care and skill. That is the duty all medical professionals owe to their patients.
The second element would be a breach of that duty. They have to exercise their professional judgment in a way that other doctors or nurses normally would not do.
The third element is causation. Lawyers have to be able to show that the negligence or the breach of the duty, whatever they believe that the medical professional did wrong, caused injury to the plaintiff or to the patient in a medical malpractice case.
Lastly, lawyers have to be able to show damages. That is the fourth element; an attorney would have to be able to show that the person did suffer damages that were caused by the breach of the duty and negligence.
Types of Atlanta Medical Malpractice
In Atlanta, one of the common types of medical malpractice is a birth injury. These are cases where there is evidence of negligence, error, or any mistakes that come up either during a woman’s pregnancy or during the labor and delivery process. Surgical errors are common, which are defined as cases where something went wrong during the surgery. There are commonly emergency room cases, where a patient is admitted to the emergency room and something goes wrong.
There are also misdiagnosis cases where a physician missed something. For example, a patient comes down with symptoms that the doctor did not initially pick up on. If the patient’s condition worsens, and they learn that the problem that the person developed was a result of the doctor’s negligence, then that could be considered one of the forms of Atlanta medical malpractice.
Difference Between a Mistake and Medical Malpractice
An incident can go from an error or mistake to medical malpractice when a person is able to determine that the doctor, nurse, or facility taking care of them did something wrong and can show that their conduct was below the standard of care. When considering the forms of Atlanta medical malpractice, it is important to understand the nuance.
If several doctors ask, “How would you treat this type of patient?” and one medical professionals gives an answer outside of the consensus of the others in the room, that would be an example of a departure from the standard of care. That is when an accident would be elevated from an error to a case of potential malpractice.
