When you go to the doctor or enter a hospital for surgery or other treatment, you expect your providers to deliver appropriate care, and we understand how important that expectation is. You also expect them to use the utmost caution when treating your family. When doctors fall below that standard of care and a worse injury or illness results, you naturally want compensation.
A Richmond Hill medical malpractice lawyer at Bowen Painter Injury Lawyers understands that providers can act carelessly or negligently and cause you serious harm. When that happens, our attorneys help you understand how a medical malpractice claim works and what steps you can consider.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Unfortunately, medicine has limits, and even skilled doctors cannot prevent every outcome. However, if a doctor or another medical professional acted carelessly in your treatment or failed to follow a basic standard of care, they engaged in negligence. If this negligence injured you, it becomes medical malpractice.
Georgia law requires medical providers to act with a reasonable degree of care and skill. Doctors meet a higher standard of care because of their training and the expectations their patients place on them. If a provider fails to meet this standard in your care, you may hold them liable for the injuries their actions cause.
Malpractice can be an act or a failure to act. The question becomes whether another doctor with comparable training and experience would have acted the same way when treating you under the same circumstances. Our Richmond Hill attorneys can explain how this information affects your medical malpractice case.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice can involve paperwork errors, such as failing to have you sign an informed-consent form, or surgical errors, such as leaving surgical equipment inside your body. The results of malpractice can include:
- Worsening of your existing medical condition
- Development of new medical issues
- Infection or sepsis
- Loss of mobility from nerve damage
- Wrongful death
Our attorneys in Richmond Hill can help you determine whether medical malpractice occurred because a provider failed to monitor you after surgery, gave inadequate post-surgery instructions, or did not explain your medication regimen. Doctors are responsible for ensuring that you understand all instructions before you are discharged or sent home.
Proving Medical Malpractice
When you bring a Richmond Hill medical malpractice claim, our lawyers do everything we can to help you present your case effectively. Because the law holds medical professionals to a heightened standard of care, showing that your doctor deviated from this standard may require expert testimony. Other physicians must explain how their treatment would have differed and how your care contributed to your continued illness or injury.
Your malpractice claim must show that the provider’s actions directly caused your harm. Expert testimony may be necessary to connect your current condition to the treatment you received. For example, if you developed blood clots because of improper post-surgery care, an expert can explain how appropriate care would have prevented them.
State law requires an expert affidavit before your case can proceed to trial. We assist you in obtaining this affidavit and ensure that it meets all legal requirements.
Contact a Richmond Hill Attorney for Help With Your Medical Malpractice Claim
At Bowen Painter Injury Lawyers, we have experience proving how substandard medical care can affect your recovery. Contact a Richmond Hill medical malpractice lawyer today to learn more about how we can help you gather the documentation and find the expert witnesses you need to support your legal claim.
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