3 Common Reasons for Medical Malpractice Cases in Georgia

A wide variety of situations can lead to Medical Malpractice claims — from a doctor failing to tell a patient that a prescribed drug might cause severe migraines or heart problems, to a doctor leaving a piece of medical equipment in a patient’s abdomen during an operation. Most Georgia Medical Malpractice Claims fall into one of these three categories, and most revolve around the area of a Doctors Competency within a given situation or prescription option:

Improper Treatment of a Given Condition. If a doctor treats a patient in a way that no other competent doctor would, the patient could have a Medical Malpractice claim. Similarly, it may also be medical malpractice if a doctor selects the appropriate type of treatment but administers it incompetently.

Failure to Diagnose. If a competent doctor would have discovered a patient’s illness or made a completely different diagnosis, which would have led to a better outcome than the one actually achieved, then the patient may have a medical malpractice claim.

Failure to Warn, a Patient of Known Risks. Doctors have a duty to warn patients of known risks of a procedure or course of treatment; this is known as the duty of informed consent. If a patient, once properly informed of possible risks, would have elected not to go through with the procedure, the doctor may be liable for Medical Malpractice if the Patient is Injured by the procedure.

Here are other important things you need to know about medical malpractice in Georgia.