The State Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that a jury can decide if the Standard of Care was breached in Medical Malpractice cases involving Emergency Rooms. A recent case was reported by the Fulton County Daily Report where a man was arguably not transferred in a timely fashion to another hospital from the Emergency Room (ER) and, therefore, subsequently lost his finger.
Traditionally, the Standard of Care in Emergency Room Medical Malpractice Cases in Canton, GA, Atlanta, GA, and the Entire State of Georgia has been that it has to be shown that the hospital committed gross negligence to be liable in these types of cases and a jury did not decide these questions of fact. Recently, however, the tide is turning and the Court is ruling that a jury should, in fact, determine whether or not an Emergency Room committed gross negligence by not transferring a patient to another hospital in a timely manner.
In the case in point, a man lost his finger and it was argued that he should have been transferred from the ER to a traditional hospital setting, and that this was not done in a timely fashion causing the loss of his finger. The Court ruled that a jury will decide whether or not there was a deviation from the Standard of Care in the ER that would permit a jury to find by clear and convincing evidence that the ER doctors caused harm to the Plaintiff by Grossly Deviating from the Applicable Medical Standard of Care.
After, and many times before, the Standard of Care is evaluated in any medical malpractice case, the damage that the Plaintiff suffered is evaluated first to determine whether or not the case is worth the expense and time of pursuing. In the case in point, the man lost his finger. The loss of a limb can amount to a substantial amount of damages and, therefore, this case is a good case in which to evaluate whether or not the Standard of Care was breached that, in turn, caused the loss of the Plaintiff’s limb.
Contrary to some public belief, Medical Malpractice Attorneys are not trying to get rich on these cases nor are they overly litigious. It is actually the opposite since these cases are extremely difficult to pursue, very expensive, require expensive expert witness testimony and time, and the Lawyer usually bears the expense of the case itself; win or lose the attorney takes a substantial risk.
Therefore, carefully examining the facts of each case by an experienced Medical Malpractice Lawyer is vital to save much time and expense for both the injured party and the attorney. Not to mention that the insurance companies tirelessly defend these types of cases so if an Attorney is not fairly certain that the Lawyer can prevail in a court of law, then it is a costly risk for even the most seasoned medical malpractice attorney.
At Julie A. Rice, Attorney at Law, & Affiliates, our Medical Malpractice Lawyers are experts at evaluating these types of cases and meticulously review the facts of the case before determining whether or not to undertake any medical malpractice case. This saves the client much time, effort, and energy in the long run, not to mention the expense that could be lost if the injured, or the family of a lost loved one, do not recover. You, our client, are our first priority and we take that very seriously every step of the way.
If you or a loved one have been injured or wrongfully killed in a medical malpractice incident, then we encourage you to call us for a complete free legal evaluation of your case. You may contact us 24/7 by phone at (770) 865-8654, and (813) 363-6664, by email at juliericelaw@outlook.com, or Contact Us on our website.
We are here to help you and will assist you every step of the way and you, our client, is our first priority. We also believe that any doctor, hospital, or healthcare staff should be held accountable if medical malpractice has been committed causing damage to another person. We look forward to hearing from you soon.