Health care providers are obligated to avoid causing their patients harm by providing safe and quality treatment. When a patient is harmed or killed because of medical negligence, he or she deserves justice and compensation.
At Roden Law, we strongly advocate for victims’ rights and believe negligent parties deserve to be held liable for the pain and suffering they cause. If you believe that you or someone you love is a victim of medical negligence, do not hesitate to schedule a free, no obligation consultation with our Macon medical malpractice attorneys. We will discuss your claim to determine if you may be entitled to compensation for your injury and losses.
We provide all of our services on a contingency fee basis. This means from the moment our Macon personal injury lawyers begin representing your case, our work is provided at no upfront cost to you. The only time we require payment is if we recover compensation for your claim. There is no risk in contacting us to find out if you have a medical malpractice case against a negligent health care provider.
Call 1-844-RESULTS to find out if you have a case.
How Can an Attorney Help My Medical Malpractice Claim?
A medical malpractice claim can have serious complications that many people without the proper knowledge or training will find difficult to handle alone.
Deciding whether or not to hire a Macon medical malpractice lawyer is a decision that you should weigh very carefully. Because cases involving medical negligence have high stakes, it is often in your best interest to consult a Macon medical malpractice attorney for qualified legal help.
To help you reach the fairest results for your claim, our Macon medical malpractice lawyers will:
- Investigate every aspect of your claim. This includes the medical staff that provided you treatment and the hospital or medical facility in which you or your loved one was admitted.
- Research the condition you or your loved one was diagnosed with to determine if the resulting injury or death was caused by the health care provider’s negligence.
- Consult with medical experts to acquire an independent perspective of how other health care providers would have treated you or your loved one under similar circumstances.
- Examine any available evidence related to your case. This includes documents detailing your past medical history, hospital records, admittance forms and notes taken by your treating health care provider.
At Roden Law, our skilled Macon medical malpractice lawyers have decades of combined legal experience handling cases involving negligence. Our experience has brought us strong knowledge and understanding of how medical malpractice claims are handled to reach a fair outcome for the victim and his or her loved ones.
As attorneys dedicated to helping victims of personal injury, we will relentlessly pursue any options available to help you recover the compensation you deserve. Our firm’s Founding Partner Eric Roden is a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and has helped our clients recover millions in verdicts and settlements.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form to get started.
How Do I Know if I Have a Medical Malpractice Case?
Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider or medical facility provides treatment below the accepted standards of the medical community, placing the patient at risk of injury or death.
However, there are certain elements that must be present for a medical error to be considered malpractice, as not every mistake is considered malpractice.
Doctor-Patient Relationship
To prove medical negligence, you must be able to establish that a professional relationship existed between you and the health care provider.
For a doctor-patient relationship to exist, the health care provider must have agreed to diagnose or treat your condition. This forms a legally established duty of care in which the health care provider is obligated to provide you with competent treatment and care.
You Were Provided Negligent Care
Next, you will need to show your health care provider failed to live up to the standards of the medical community when treating your condition. This means your treating health care provider did not follow the standard of care that others with similar training and experience would have under similar circumstances.
Typically, proving negligent care relies on the testimony of expert witnesses, such as other physicians and health care providers, to explain how skilled and competent medical professional should have performed in the same situation.
Your Macon medical malpractice attorney will use this testimony to precisely show how the health care provider failed to live up to the level of care you needed when performing your treatment.
Connection Between Negligence and the Injury
Once you have established the health care provider’s negligence, you will need to show that his or her actions, or inaction, caused you further harm or worsened your condition.
With the help of a Macon medical malpractice lawyer, you must be able to establish a direct link between your injury and your health care provider’s substandard level of care. Additionally, you and your attorney must be able to show your adverse condition is not related to a pre-existing injury or another condition unrelated to your treatment.
Damages
The final step to determining if you have a medical malpractice claim is proving you suffered economic damages because of the health care provider’s negligence.
Economic damages are the financial losses you suffered since receiving substandard medical treatment. This can include additional medical bills, lost wages due to illness or injury, as well as pain and suffering caused by the health care provider’s negligence.
During your free consultation, our Macon medical malpractice attorneys will review the circumstances behind your claim to determine if it meets the standards of medical negligence. If we find that you have a case, we will pursue every option available to obtain the justice and compensation you deserve.
Do not wait to find out if you have a case. Call 1-844-RESULTS today.
How Can I Be Compensated for a Medical Malpractice Case?
Medical malpractice cases can involve significant harm to the patient, the need for long-term medical treatment, and may result in life-long disability. Because of these complications, victims of medical negligence may be entitled to compensation for their financial losses and pain and suffering.
During your free consultation, our medical malpractice attorneys will discuss your claim to determine if you may be entitled to compensation for:
- Additional medical treatment
- Doctors’ visits
- Corrective surgery
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Assistive medical equipment
- Prescription medication
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of enjoyment of life
In a 2010 decision, the Supreme Court of Georgia deemed it unconstitutional for courts to limit the damages medical malpractice victims can pursue or be awarded. This means medical malpractice victims can receive the full amount of compensation they may be entitled to for their pain and suffering.
Additionally, O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1 states that victims of medical malpractice may be entitled to punitive damages up to an amount no more than $250,000. However, punitive damages are rare and awarded only in cases that involve extreme wrongdoing or negligence.
Through our experience as Macon medical malpractice attorneys, we understand how to accurately estimate a claim’s value. We will help you determine a fair amount of damages you may be owed to help compensate you for your losses.
How Long Do I Have to Pursue a Medical Malpractice Claim in Georgia?
Each state has its own statute of limitations that dictates a time limit in which victims can pursue a medical malpractice claim.
In Georgia, you have two years from the date on which you discovered an injury or loved one’s death was caused by substandard medical treatment to file a medical malpractice claim. Furthermore, the date on which you file a claim cannot exceed five years from the date you initially received the negligent medical treatment, according to O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71.
However, this statute of limitations will not apply to cases in which a foreign object has been left inside a patient’s body. In this case, the victim must bring a claim within one year after discovering the foreign object left inside his or her body, according to O.C.G.A. § 9-3-72.
If you are pursuing compensation for medical negligence, it is important that you are aware of the statute of limitations that applies to your claim. Filing your claim after this deadline has passed could result in your claim being dismissed and losing the opportunity to obtain justice and compensation for your pain and suffering.
Call 1-844-RESULTS if you believe you have a case.
Types of Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice covers a wide range of medical-related errors and poor health care treatment. As seasoned Macon medical malpractice lawyers, we are qualified to handle claims concerning:
Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis
When a health care provider examines a patient, he or she has a duty to make an accurate and timely diagnosis of the patient’s condition. A health care provider can misdiagnose a patient by:
- Neglecting to listen to the patient describe his or her conditions
- Failing to recognize the patient’s symptoms
- Ignoring the patient’s medical history
- Failing to test the patient for multiple conditions
- Misinterpreting test results
To prove misdiagnosis, you must show that a health care provider with similar training and experience would not have misdiagnosed the condition or identified the correct diagnosis at a faster rate. Our Macon medical malpractice attorneys will work to show your treating health care provider’s misdiagnosis, or delayed diagnosis, directly caused your injury or worsened condition.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia errors can cause a patient serious harm or result in his or her death. Some common examples of anesthesia errors include:
- Administering the incorrect type of anesthesia
- Failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs
- Administering anesthesia too late
- Administering the wrong dosage
- Using faulty equipment
- Failing to use the machine properly
- Failing inform the patients of instructions regarding the procedure
- Failing to provide the patient with breathing tubes (intubate)
- Administering drugs that interact negatively with one another
Hospital Liability
In certain cases, a hospital or medical facility can be held liable for medical negligence for situations such as:
- Misusing or failing to provide necessary medical procedures
- Instituting policies or procedures that harm patients
- Being too short-staffed to care for patients
- Failing to provide a sanitary medical environment
- Hiring unqualified or undertrained staff
Hospitals and medical facilities have a duty to perform thorough background checks on potential applicants and staff members. If a medical institution fails to uphold this obligation, it may be held liable for any resulting harm that occurs to its patients.
Postoperative Negligence
Postoperative care refers to the monitoring and care that a patient receives following surgery or treatment. Health care providers have a duty to monitor patients for adverse complications and health effects caused by surgery or treatment, preventing and treating infections and monitoring vital signs.
Additionally, health care providers are required to provide detailed instructions to patients following post-surgical care, prevent further complications, and prescribe patients medication to aid their healing process.
Some common conditions that can arise during postoperative care include:
- Sepsis
- Internal bleeding
- Viral infections
- Blood clots and pulmonary embolism
- Respiratory infections, like pneumonia
- Viral infections
- Tissue decay
- Organ perforation
- Staph infections
- Peritonitis
- Urinary tract infections
If you or a loved one suffered any of the above mentioned conditions following a surgery or medical procedure, contact our Macon medical malpractice attorneys for a free consultation.
Medication Error
Medication errors can result from lack of communication, carelessness, system errors, understaffing, work overload and lack of precautionary measures.
This type of medical negligence can be caused by a prescribing doctor, nurse or pharmacist who:
- Prescribes the wrong type of medication
- Administers a patient with an improper dosage
- Gives a patient and unintended medication
- Fails to warn the patient of a medication’s risks
- Neglects to record the patient’s history of prescription drug use
- Prescribes or administers a dangerous mix of medication
Surgical Error
There are many risks associated with any type of invasive surgical procedure. If a health care provider strays from the accepted standard of medical care during a surgical procedure, he or she may be held liable for the patient’s injury or death.
Some common types of surgical errors include:
- Performing surgery on the wrong body part
- Leaving a tool or foreign object inside a patient’s body
- Misreading or ignoring lab or test results
- Discharging a patient too early
- Negligent use of surgical equipment
- Damaging a patient’s body parts
- Neglecting to perform sanitary procedures before a surgery
- Inattentive surgical staff
- Making reckless decisions during surgery
- Failing to follow up with a patient after surgery
If you have been injured or lost someone you love because of a health care provider’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. Do not hesitate to contact our Macon medical malpractice lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation to find out if you have a case.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form.
Contact an Experienced Macon Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you were injured or lost someone you love because of a health care provider’s negligence, you may be entitled to legal action.
At Roden Law, our Macon medical malpractice lawyers understand the difficulties that victims suffer after receiving substandard medical treatment. We are strong advocates for the rights of injury victims and will pursue all options available to help you obtain the justice and compensation you deserve.
We will provide you a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your claim and the adverse effects you may have suffered after your treatment. We will conduct an in-depth investigation into your claim to determine if you have a case against the at-fault health care provider and the amount of compensation you may deserve.
All of our services are provided on a contingency fee basis. This means our Macon medical malpractice attorneys will work on your behalf at no upfront cost and will only charge you legal fees if we recover compensation for your claim.
Call 1-844-RESULTS to schedule a free review of your claim.