What is Standard of Care?

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of medical malpractice, you are likely entitled to receive compensation. However, you must first take care to ensure that your case falls under medical malpractice and is not simply a situation in which the results were not what you had hoped.
Georgia law requires that medical professionals exercise a “reasonable degree of care and skill” in their practice. This is referred to as the standard of care, which holds all medical professionals to the same level of care and helps to standardize procedures. Proving that a doctor or other professional did not show reasonable care can be difficult.
Proving Malpractice
It can be tempting to think that any surgery gone wrong is medical malpractice. However, if a doctor did everything possible to keep you safe and healthy, then there are no grounds for a malpractice suit. In order to file a suit, you must be able to prove that the doctor or other medical professional did not provide a reasonable standard of care or lacked the reasonably required skill and that this violation caused your injuries.
Proving the violation of the standard of care is incredibly difficult. You and your attorney will need to work together to compile evidence, including:

• Medical records
• Medical expert testimony
• Medical bills
• Evidence of lost wages

Your medical records and bills should help to paint a clear picture of your health before and after the malpractice, establishing that the medical professional’s actions are responsible for your injuries. Medical experts can testify both to the standard of care and how your treatment fell below that standard and to the likely cause of your injury. Finally, evidence of lost wages helps to show the seriousness of the injury, the reason for your time off work, and the timing of the injury.
Collecting Compensation
Obtaining compensation for your injuries and expenses is a difficult process. Before filing a lawsuit, you and your attorney must first work to build a case. Proving malpractice, answering the defense claims, and waiting through the often slow court system can be exhausting. However, with an experienced attorney by your side, you can get the compensation needed.
There are time limits to filing your medical malpractice lawsuit. The typical case must be brought within two years of the injury or death resulting from the malpractice, and no case may be brought more than five years after the surgery or procedure. There is only one exception to this statute of limitations, which is that you may bring a case after the typical statute has run out if a foreign object is found to have been left in your body after surgery. Foreign object malpractice cases must be brought within one year of the discovery of the object.
Contact an Attorney
Proving medical malpractice is extremely difficult and time-consuming, so do not attempt to create your case alone. The attorneys at Jonathan R. Brockman, P.C. can help you to prove malpractice and collect the compensation you need to cover your expenses. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.