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A surgery usually comes with some inherent risk, and, unfortunately, not all surgeries bring the beneficial results that you hope for. While not all surgical errors or injuries are the result of malpractice, some are. When you or a loved one is injured because of a medical professional’s failure to take proper care, you may be able to file a claim to recover damages. A Savannah, GA, surgical errors lawyer can help you secure the most beneficial outcome to your claim.
People rely on their medical professionals for healthcare. Many medical providers take the necessary care when treating their patients and understand the responsibility they carry. Unfortunately, this is not true of all providers, and some are careless. This can cause significant harm to their patients, and those patients deserve compensation for their damages.
When you suffer a painful or even disabling injury after a surgical error, you need to obtain caring and effective legal representation. At Spohrer Dodd Trial Attorneys, our team has decades of legal experience, with more than 230 years of combined experience across all our attorneys. We have significant experience in medical malpractice cases, including:
We know how stressful and traumatic these injuries can be for you and your loved ones. We work hard to understand the specifics of your case, investigate the surgery, and help you make a decision about how you can obtain compensation. There are several unique requirements in medical malpractice cases that make them much harder than other personal injury lawsuit cases. Our team has the resources and experience to help you secure the compensation you need to recover.
Because there is an accepted risk level with a surgical procedure, several elements must be present and provable for a successful medical malpractice claim. Failure to inform a patient of the potential risks of a surgery is also a form of malpractice.
The first thing you must prove in a medical malpractice case is that the medical provider owed you a duty of care. When there is an existing doctor-patient relationship, and the doctor agrees to give you medical care, they owe you a duty of care.
One of the required elements to prove a medical malpractice case is that the medical provider failed to meet the standard of care set by the industry. Failing to meet or deviating from the expected standard of care without reason may be considered malpractice. The industry standard of care is determined based on expected treatment, and deviations are only for unusual circumstances.
You must be able to prove that a medical provider failed to meet the standard of care and that this failure directly caused your injury. A medical provider may make mistakes, but if you suffered no actual harm, you likely do not have a claim.
Some of the most common types of surgical errors include:
While some of these errors and injuries may have immediate consequences, some may take months or years before they are discovered.
If all elements of a malpractice claim are successfully proven, you have the legal right to recover all damages resulting from your injuries. These include:
Economic damages have no cap, as they reflect the actual financial damages you suffered. Pain and suffering damages are noneconomic damages, which are capped. If the claim is against a singular facility or provider, the cap is set at $350,000. If multiple facilities or providers are at fault, the cap is set at $700,000. Your attorney in Savannah, GA can help you determine the true value of your claim.
A: A surgical error occurs when a surgeon, nurse, anesthesia administrator, or another medical provider fails to uphold a standard of care during a surgical procedure. Surgical errors include:
Surgeries have inherent risks, and a patient should be aware of these risks. Failure to obtain informed consent from a patient is also a form of surgical error.
A: Injuries and long-term damage from surgical errors include:
When a medical provider fails to ensure a professional standard of care, and this causes a surgical error, the provider could face medical malpractice claims for personal injury or wrongful death. This can hold the provider accountable for their carelessness and the injury they caused their patient.
A: Georgia’s statute of limitations for personal injury medical malpractice claims is 2 years from the date of injury or the date of death. If an injured party was not aware that they were injured immediately following surgery, they have 2 years from the date they discovered the injury or error or from the date they should have noticed it.
Even this rule has limitations, as no claim can be filed 5 years after the date when the injury was sustained. If you are unsure whether your claim is still valid, discuss your situation with a qualified surgical error attorney.
A: A surgical error can occur without medical malpractice. There are inherent risks to many surgeries, so medical providers can act in the expected standard of care and injuries can still occur. To have a valid medical malpractice claim for a surgical error, the following must be true:
The injured individual could then recover damages.
Contact Spohrer Dodd Trial Attorneys to learn how we can help with your Savannah medical malpractice claim.