Have you been injured as a result of doctor or hospital negligence? The unfortunate truth is that the majority of patient malpractice injuries can be prevented, yet these incidents occur at an alarming rate here in the United States. Statistics show that about 195,000 people lose their lives because of medical errors every year. Out of the 37 million hospitalizations in the U.S., approximately 1.14 patient-safety incidents occurred- these injuries however, would not have happened if everyone was following protocol and ensuring the patient's health and safety.
Every year there are around 15,000 to 19,000 malpractice lawsuits filed against doctors in the U.S. because the malpractice victims wish to justice and fair compensation for their injuries. Malpractice cases however, can be some of the most difficult to prove when it comes to establishing negligence and liability. That is where we come in- an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice attorney will be able to help you build a strong case and prove the fault of the other party. Our legal team has litigated dozens of multi-million dollar cases and obtained positive results and we can help you in successfully obtaining a settlement.
When it comes to proving fault in a medical malpractice case, you will have to be able to establish the following:
- That there is a valid doctor/patient relationship and as such, the heath care professional has a sense of duty owed to their patient
- Establish what the standard level of care is and what is to be expected. Then, clearly establish how the health care professional deviated from that standard and breached the duty owed to their patient
- You must be able to draw a correlation between the deviation of standard duty and the patient's injury
- Clearly prove that there were injuries sustained as a result of negligence
These legal theories are meant to show that the general accepted standard of medical care was not met and that the medical professional negligently performed below the standard. As the victim and plaintiff in the case, you will have to share testimony on what the applicable level of care is and how the standard of care was not met in your case. In order to better build your case you could bring in a medical expert from the same field of medicine who can clearly define the standard level of care that would be expected from a competent and qualified medical professional. The expert can then share what the medical health care provider should have done according to the applicable professional standards.
The law has recognized that it can be difficult for plaintiff's to prove guilt in malpractice cases, which is why the "Res Ipsa Loquitur" Doctrine was adopted. Translated in Latin, this simply reads "the thing speaks for itself." When an injured patient does not know exactly how their injuries were sustained but that they would not occurred without the negligence of their health care provider, then the burden of proof is shifted over to the defendant. Once this doctrine is invoked, as the plaintiff you will only need to establish that you were not responsible for your injury, the defendant was in in complete control in instrumenting the events that caused your injury and that the injury could not have been caused any other way in which the defendant did not have primary control.
If you or a loved one has recently been injured as a result of medical malpractice, then you owe it to yourself to seek justice and take swift legal action. Speak with a qualified Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer from our firm today to help you prove negligence in your malpractice case.