If you suffered an injury or illness due to medical malpractice, you should hire the seasoned Cumming medical malpractice attorneys from Jonathan R. Brockman, P.C. to help you with your case. We have experience seeking justice for our clients and securing the maximum compensation available from the negligent medical provider.
When you have a medical problem, you trust that your doctor will provide the right treatment and won’t cause harm. Unfortunately, mistakes happen. A doctor can misdiagnose your condition or prescribe the wrong medication. During surgery, the surgeon might make a mistake that causes an infection or worsens the symptoms of your illness.
When a healthcare professional causes an injury to their patient through a negligent act or omission, that’s known as medical malpractice. You might be entitled to financial compensation for the suffering you endured. Jonathan R. Brockman, P.C. is ready to speak with you about your case and hold the medical provider accountable for their carelessness. Call us at 770-205-8827 today, and one of our Cumming medical malpractice lawyers will help you get on the road to recovery.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice
Some of the most common types of medical malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Failure to treat
- Surgical errors
- Birth injury
- Misread medical charts
- Medical device injury
- Failure to warn about risks
- Prescribe incorrect medication or dosage
Negligence Laws in Georgia
In any personal injury case, there’s a legal theory known as negligence. Someone is negligent if they fail to show a standard of care that any reasonable person would under similar circumstances to prevent harm to another. If one party causes injury to another, they can be held negligent for their actions.
In terms of medical malpractice, you’ll have to prove that the medical provider was negligent in their duty to provide reasonable care without causing an injury or illness. There are five elements you must show existed:
- Duty: The medical provider owed a duty of care to prevent you from harm;
- Breach of duty: They breached their duty;
- Cause in fact: If it wasn’t for their breach, you wouldn’t have suffered an injury;
- Proximate cause: It was their breach of duty that was the direct cause of your injury; and
- Damages: You incurred damages.
Determining the Maximum Compensation You Deserve
When you file an insurance claim or lawsuit to recover compensation, the amount you receive will depend on various factors, including your total damages. Damages are losses suffered due to an accident or injury. In a medical malpractice case, there are both economic and non-economic damages you could potentially incur.
Economic damages are expenses, while non-economic damages are intangible losses. Examples include the following:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation
- Ongoing medical care
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
While reviewing your case’s details, the insurance company or jury members will determine the maximum financial award you deserve based on some of the contributing factors below:
- Total expenses incurred
- If you made a full recovery or require further treatment
- Type and severity of the injury or illness
- Total lost wages from inability to return to work
- Impact of the injury on your daily routine, relationships, and quality of life
- If your injury led to a permanent disability, impairment, or disfigurement
- Duration of medical treatment necessary to heal
You’ll likely receive higher compensation if you have a severe injury instead of a minor one. If you become physically or mentally disabled due to your injury, your payment could be even more significant. Anything that interferes with your life will factor into the decision the insurance company or jury makes about how much money the at-fault party should pay.
How Our Experienced Legal Team Can Help You
Medical malpractice cases are among the most complex types of personal injury cases. There are specific procedures you have to follow and deadlines to comply with if you want to recover any compensation.
We have the experience and resources to perform a thorough investigation into the incident that caused your injury. We will take care of each step of the process and fight aggressively to reach a favorable outcome in your case.
Below are just a few examples of what our Cumming medical malpractice lawyers can do if you retain us to work on your medical malpractice case.
Background Details
The first thing we’ll need to do when we begin working on your case is to collect basic information about your injury or illness. We’ll request copies of your medical records, prescriptions, imaging results, diagnostic reports, mental health history, and other documents associated with your past and current medical condition. All of it will help us prove your injury was the result of the medical professional’s negligence instead of a pre-existing medical issue.
Financial Information
We’ll review all the costs related to your injury and the necessary treatment to determine how much money we should demand from the at-fault party. We’ll obtain records, such as:
- Costs of treatment at the ER, physical therapy, rehabilitation, etc.
- Paystubs from your place of employment to prove the total income you were unable to earn while out of work
- Out of pocket expenses associated with your injury and treatment
- Negligent party’s liability insurance policy and additional information
- Witness affidavits and psychological records to monetize any emotional trauma or loss of quality of life
Other Evidence
When we’re working on a medical malpractice case, we’ll need to collect more than just medical records. There’s other documentation we’ll need to locate to support your claim that your doctor caused your injury. Examples of relevant evidence include:
- Physician letters and notes discussing the incident that caused your injury
- Receipts, invoices, and other documents that show your procedure’s date and when you suffered an injury or started experiencing symptoms of an illness
- Manuals or instructions from a medical device to prove there was a defect if that’s how your injury occurred
What’s the Deadline for Filing a Lawsuit?
There’s a statute of limitations victims must follow if they want to sue the at-fault party for their negligence. In Georgia, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is two years. That means you must file your lawsuit within two years from the date your injury occurred.
According to the statute of repose, there’s also a five-year deadline for pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit. If you didn’t discover the injury immediately after the doctor’s error was made, you won’t have to follow the two-year statute. Instead, you could sue the at-fault party within five years from the date you discovered that your doctor made an error.
If your malpractice case involves a foreign object that a doctor left inside your body, the statute of limitations you would have to follow is one year.
Wrongful Death Caused By Medical Error
If you lost your loved one because of medical malpractice, you could file a wrongful death lawsuit for compensation. In Georgia, the law defines wrongful death as someone’s death that resulted from another person’s reckless, negligent, criminal, or intentional acts.
There are specific individuals who may file a lawsuit for a wrongful death that occurred due to medical malpractice. First in line is the surviving spouse. If they have minor children with the deceased, they must include them in the lawsuit to recover compensation. Despite the number of children, the spouse can’t receive less than one-third of the total financial award.
If there isn’t a surviving spouse or children, the following individuals can file a lawsuit:
- Surviving parent or parents
- Personal representative of the estate
Two types of damages are available in a wrongful death case. One places value on the deceased’s life, while the other compensates the family for any losses related to the death. Examples of these damages include:
- Loss of companionship, care, and other intangible benefits provided to family members by the deceased
- Lost wages and benefits, and what the deceased would have earned if they survived
- Funeral and burial costs
- Medical expenses associated with the fatal injury or illness
- Pain and suffering the deceased experienced before their death
Wrongful death lawsuits in Georgia follow a two-year statute of limitations. There are two exceptions to this deadline that could pause the clock:
- If there’s a pending criminal case for the same incident as your medical malpractice lawsuit. The clock will begin once the criminal case concludes.
- The deceased’s estate won’t go through the probate process. The surviving family member could potentially have up to five years from the date of their loved one’s death to file suit.
Contact Jonathan R. Brockman, P.C.
Our Cumming medical malpractice lawyers understand the trauma you experienced. You thought you could trust your doctor to help you with your medical condition and ended up suffering even more. You shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes they made. We’ll help you hold them financially responsible and ensure they pay the money they owe you.
When you hire us, we’ll fight hard for your rights. We care about our clients and will treat you like a priority. You can depend on us to remain by your side to offer support and guidance throughout this overwhelming time in your life.
If you were the victim of medical malpractice and want to find out more about our legal services, call us today at 770-205-8827. One of our Cumming medical malpractice lawyers will be happy to meet with you for a free consultation to discuss your case.