Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Medical Malpractice Information
Medical malpractice is a form of negligence where an injury results from the failure of a medical professional or medical facility (doctor, nurse, medical technician, psychiatrist, hospital, or healthcare facility) to exercise adequate care, skill or diligence in performing a duty. The determination of whether a duty of care is met depends upon the standard of care for that professional or facility. In other words, the applicable duty arises from the accepted practices of other professionals or facilities in the same field. In the case of a doctor who is a medical specialist, the standard of care is determined by the standard of medical practice in that specialty.
It is important to remember that the duty of a medical professional is not the duty to cure, or even to guarantee a good outcome from treatment. Medical malpractice does not occur every time medical treatment is not successful. Rather, the duty is to provide medical care according to accepted standards in the medical profession. Medicine is not an exact science, and doctors are not required to be right every time they make a diagnosis. A misdiagnosis can be arrived at even when all proper tests are performed accurately or evaluated by a skilled doctor with the utmost care. A misdiagnosis constitutes malpractice, however, if the doctor fails to get a medical history, order the appropriate tests, or recognize observable symptoms of the illness. In Georgia, in order to prove that you were injured due to the failure of a health care provider you must show: (1) The health care provider failed to exercise a duty of care, and (2) the failure was the proximate cause of the injury.
Contact a skilled Atlanta medical negligence attorney at Wayne Grant, P.C. to discuss your Georgia medical malpractice claim.
