Damages in Atlanta Meningitis Malpractice Cases

Medical malpractice cases involving meningitis can—and often do—have catastrophic consequences. Accordingly, meningitis patients who suffer harm from a doctor’s negligence regarding their condition can seek compensation for a variety of short-term damages, as well as for permanent disabilities or wrongful death as their circumstances require.

In order to effectively pursue damages in an Atlanta meningitis malpractice case, you may need help from a seasoned legal professional who can utilize an in-house medical professional and cutting-edge technology. A qualified malpractice lawyer could walk you through every step of your claim and help you pursue as much compensation as your injuries and losses justify.

Potentially Available Damages

If an individual sustains brain injuries or learning disabilities because his or her meningitis was not treated appropriately by a doctor, that person may be facing a lifetime of additional care. Costs and personal losses associated with life care plans, future losses of opportunities, and future medical treatments would all be recoverable damages in addition to past medical expenses.

For people who were wage earners with a job or career, their loss of income throughout the course of their working years would be recoverable as well, as would the loss of their labor in the household. Finally, the legal damages for meningitis malpractice cases in Atlanta involving wrongful deaths are usually the value of the person’s life, the loss of income that person would have had for the remainder of his or her life, and the surviving family’s loss of companionship and society.

The Importance of Expert Witnesses

Since meningitis treatment is a specialized area of medicine that is often difficult for laypeople to understand, it is often important, and required, to have an expert witness for these medical malpractice cases. Expert witnesses can help explain a particular area of medicine to a jury in a way that makes sense and outlines how the negligent healthcare professional(s) breached the standard of care in a way that directly led to the misdiagnosis that caused the patient’s injuries.

Expert witnesses can hugely impact cases. A good expert witness can convincingly help a jury understand the mistakes that led to the injury, which enables the jury to make a more informed decision. Alternatively, a poor expert witness can severely hamper a case if they are unable to articulate the complexities of medicine in layman’s terms. As such, it is critical for people attempting to recover damages in Atlanta meningitis malpractice cases to have an attorney who could vet the credibility of an expert witness beforehand.

Finding the Right Expert Witness

Generally speaking, an expert witness in an Atlanta meningitis malpractice case can be anyone who has had an active practice or taught in the area of medicine at issue in three of the five years before the wrongdoer’s negligence occurred and at a frequency sufficient to testify to the performance of the procedure, the diagnosis of the condition, or the rendering of the treatment.

While any qualified individual can be an expert witness, plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases would not consider the doctor in question to be an expert witness because that doctor would be the alleged wrongdoer. Instead, the victim would have to secure his or her own expert witnesses who are qualified to speak on the issues.

Talk to an Atlanta Attorney About Pursuing Damages for Meningitis Malpractice

Recovering compensation for medical malpractice is complex under any circumstances, but it can be especially difficult to manage in cases involving meningitis. Given the many forms and potential dangers inherent to this disease, plaintiffs often require skilled legal counsel and at least one expert witness to successfully pursue a case.

Fortunately, a knowledgeable attorney could help structure an Atlanta meningitis malpractice case so that you can pursue damages effectively and efficiently. Call today as attorneys are ready to take calls after hours, speak directly to you, and offer a free case review.