Common Causes of Medical Malpractice in Georgia

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Medical malpractice occurs when healthcare providers fail to meet the standard of care—the level of skill and diligence that a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would exercise under similar circumstances—resulting in preventable harm to patients.

At Williams Elleby Howard & Easter, we investigate misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, birth injuries, anesthesia complications, and informed-consent failures to determine whether negligence caused your injury. If mistakes were made, we build cases backed by expert testimony that hold the negligent healthcare providers accountable.

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Key Takeaways for Georgia Medical Malpractice Cases

  • Diagnostic errors represent the leading cause of medical malpractice claims, with cancer, heart attacks, and infections most frequently missed or delayed.
  • Georgia requires expert affidavits at the time you file suit, meaning you need a qualified medical expert willing to testify that the defendant breached the standard of care before your case even starts.
  • Emergency-room malpractice claims face a higher “gross negligence” standard, requiring proof of willful or wanton misconduct rather than simple negligence.
  • In most cases, you have two years from the date of injury (or when you discovered or should have discovered it) to file suit, with a five-year statute of repose barring claims filed more than five years after the negligent act.
  • Georgia’s medical malpractice non-economic damages cap was struck down in 2010, so current Georgia law allows for full and fair pain and suffering awards.

Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis

Diagnostic errors, like misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose, consistently rank as the most common medical malpractice allegations nationwide. Cancer, cardiovascular events, and infections are the conditions most frequently missed or diagnosed too late to prevent serious harm.

Cancer Misdiagnosis

Breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and melanoma all present symptoms that primary care physicians and specialists sometimes attribute to less serious conditions.

Early-stage cancers respond to treatment with high survival rates. Late-stage cancers metastasize, require aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, and carry significantly lower five-year survival rates.

The difference between a stage-one diagnosis and a stage-four diagnosis could stem back to a provider who failed to order appropriate imaging, didn’t follow up on abnormal test results, or misread pathology reports.

Heart Attack and Stroke Misdiagnosis

Three common categories of medical malpractice include surgical errors, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, and medication errors Emergency room physicians and urgent care providers sometimes misdiagnose heart attacks as anxiety, indigestion, or musculoskeletal pain, particularly in women and younger patients. Stroke symptoms may be attributed to migraines, vertigo, or intoxication, delaying the clot-busting medications that prevent permanent brain damage when administered within the critical three-hour window.

Diagnostic protocols exist for chest pain and neurological symptoms. EKGs, troponin blood tests, CT scans, and stroke-assessment scales catch most life-threatening events when providers follow standard procedures.

Malpractice can occur when physicians skip these steps, misinterpret results, or discharge patients without appropriate monitoring.

Infection Misdiagnosis

Sepsis, meningitis, and post-surgical infections progress rapidly when undiagnosed. This could manifest as a fever and confusion dismissed as the flu, or post-operative abdominal pain attributed to routine healing, when in fact imaging would reveal an abscess.

Blood cultures, imaging, and laboratory tests help identify infections and guide the selection of antibiotic or antifungal medication.. Delays in ordering tests, failures to recognize early warning signs, or misreading lab results all may constitute diagnostic negligence when the standard of care required earlier intervention.

Surgical Errors and Wrong-Site Surgery

Surgical malpractice encompasses a range of preventable errors during operations, including operating on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments or sponges inside patients, damaging nerves or organs adjacent to the surgical site, or performing unnecessary procedures based on misdiagnosis.

Wrong Site, Wrong Patient, Wrong Procedure Events

Wrong-site surgery violates multiple safety protocols designed to prevent exactly these errors. The Joint Commission’s Universal Protocol requires surgical-site marking, pre-procedure verification, and team time-outs to be performed before incision. Yet, these “never events” still occur when providers skip steps or fail to speak up when something appears to be wrong.

Retained Surgical Objects

Sponges, clamps, retractors, and needles left inside body cavities after surgery cause infections, obstructions, and perforations. Surgical counts (tallying instruments and materials before closure) catch most retained objects. However, count errors, miscommunication between surgical nurses, or surgeons closing without proper verification can create malpractice liability.

Nerve and Organ Damage

Surgeons operating near critical structures sometimes cause permanent damage through poor technique, inadequate visualization, or failure to identify anatomy correctly. Not every complication constitutes negligence. However, damage that occurs because a surgeon deviates from accepted technique or fails to recognize and correct an error during the procedure may support malpractice claims.

Anesthesia Errors and Failure to Monitor

Anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) control patients’ airways, breathing, and vital signs during surgery. Errors in anesthesia administration, inadequate pre-operative evaluation, or failure to monitor patients properly cause brain damage, cardiac arrest, and death.

Dosing Errors and Drug Interactions

Administering too much anesthesia depresses respiration and cardiac function; too little allows patients to wake during surgery. Failing to account for patient weight, age, comorbidities, or drug interactions creates a risk of overdose or adverse reaction.

Intubation Complications

Difficult intubations delay oxygen delivery and cause hypoxic brain injuries when providers don’t recognize the problem quickly and switch to alternative airway management techniques. Esophageal intubations are fatal unless detected and corrected immediately.

Inadequate Monitoring

Anesthesia providers must continuously monitor oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood pressure, and end-tidal CO₂. Equipment failures, alarm fatigue, or providers leaving the operating room for non-emergent reasons all compromise patient safety. When monitoring lapses allow unrecognized hypoxia, patients suffer permanent brain damage or death.

Medication Errors

Medication mistakes occur at multiple points, including prescribing, dispensing, and administration.

Prescribing Errors

Negligent doctor holding pills and medicines. Physicians who prescribe the wrong medication, wrong dose, or fail to check for drug interactions commit prescribing errors. Examples of negligent prescribing include:

  • A patient on warfarin who was prescribed a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that increases bleeding risk
  • A pediatric patient given an adult dose of medication
  • Antibiotics prescribed to a patient despite documented allergies
  • Immune suppressing drugs given to a patient suffering from an infection

Pharmacy Dispensing Errors

Pharmacists who fill prescriptions with the wrong medication or wrong strength, fail to counsel patients about side effects, or miss dangerous drug interactions share liability for resulting injuries. Look-alike and sound-alike drug names can lead to dispensing errors when pharmacists fail to carefully verify prescriptions.

Administration Errors

Hospital nurses who administer medications via the wrong route (IV instead of oral), at the wrong time, or to the wrong patient violate medication-administration protocols. Barcode scanning and double-check procedures prevent most administration errors, but shortcuts and distractions still cause preventable harm.

Birth Injuries and Obstetric Negligence

Labor and delivery complications, like shoulder dystocia, umbilical cord compression, placental abruption, and uterine rupture, require immediate recognition and intervention to prevent brain damage and death. Obstetricians, labor nurses, and neonatologists who fail to monitor fetal distress, delay emergency cesarean sections, or misuse delivery instruments cause permanent injuries to mothers and babies.

Failure to Monitor Fetal Distress

Electronic fetal monitoring tracks the baby’s heart rate and identifies patterns that suggest oxygen deprivation, including late decelerations, minimal variability, and prolonged bradycardia. Providers who misinterpret monitoring strips, fail to escalate care when tracings worsen, or don’t recognize non-reassuring patterns allow preventable brain injuries.

Delayed Cesarean Section

When vaginal delivery becomes dangerous, obstetricians must perform emergency cesarean sections quickly. The “decision-to-incision” time has a direct impact on outcomes. Delays caused by unavailable operating rooms, staffing shortages, or physician hesitation cause hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), cerebral palsy, and death.

Improper Use of Forceps and Vacuum Extractors

Forceps and vacuum extractors assist difficult deliveries but cause skull fractures, brain bleeds, and nerve damage when misused. Excessive traction, multiple pull attempts, or the use of instruments when contraindicated can create malpractice liability.

Maternal Injuries

Mothers suffer injuries during labor and delivery, too. This may include:

  • Severe perineal tears
  • Hemorrhage from uterine atony
  • Infections from retained placental tissue

Providers who fail to repair lacerations properly, don’t recognize and treat post-partum hemorrhage promptly, or miss signs of infection cause long-term complications and sometimes death.

Failure to Obtain Informed Consent

Georgia law requires physicians to obtain informed consent before performing procedures, explaining the nature of the treatment, material risks, alternatives, and consequences of refusing treatment. Patients who undergo procedures without understanding risks, or who would have chosen differently if properly informed, may pursue lack-of-informed-consent claims even when the procedure was performed competently.

Georgia courts recognize that reasonable patients need access to material information to make informed healthcare decisions. “Material” means information that a reasonable person in the patient’s position would consider significant in deciding whether to proceed.

Providers who withhold risks, overstate benefits, or pressure patients into consenting deprive patients of autonomous medical decision-making.

Radiology and Laboratory Errors

Radiologists interpret imaging studies, including X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds, while pathologists analyze tissue samples and laboratory results. Errors in reading films, delayed reporting of critical findings, or lost specimens cause diagnostic delays and treatment failures.

Missed Findings on Imaging

The doctor examines the x-ray Radiologists who miss fractures on X-rays, fail to identify tumors on CT scans, or don’t recognize pulmonary embolisms on chest imaging commit diagnostic errors. Some findings are subtle and easily overlooked, but standard radiologic interpretation protocols exist to minimize missed diagnoses.

Peer review, double-reading high-risk studies, and structured reporting all reduce error rates.

Delayed Critical Results

A radiologist who identifies a life-threatening finding, but doesn’t immediately notify the ordering physician, commits negligence. Critical results policies require direct communication within minutes to hours, not simply filing a report that might sit unread in an electronic medical record for days.

Laboratory Mix-Ups

Specimens mislabeled, lost, or contaminated can produce false results, leading to incorrect treatments. A biopsy reported as benign when the tissue actually showed cancer, or blood-type errors that cause fatal transfusion reactions, all represent laboratory negligence.

Hospital-Acquired Infections

Infections contracted during hospital stays, such as surgical-site infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central-line bloodstream infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia, result from poor infection-control practices.

Hand hygiene, sterile technique during procedures, proper catheter care, and timely removal of invasive devices prevent the majority of hospital-acquired infections.

Providers who don’t follow CDC infection control guidelines, hospitals that tolerate noncompliance, or facilities with inadequate staffing that prevents proper cleaning and monitoring create conditions where preventable infections thrive. When these infections cause sepsis, prolonged hospitalization, additional surgeries, or death, the responsible providers and institutions can face liability.

Emergency Room Malpractice in Georgia

Georgia law treats emergency medical care differently from routine healthcare. O.C.G.A. § 51-1-29.5(c) requires plaintiffs to prove gross negligence. Gross negligence is characterized by willful and wanton misconduct or a conscious indifference to the consequences.

This higher standard recognizes the time pressure, incomplete information, and resource constraints emergency providers face. Discharging chest-pain patients without EKGs or troponin tests, sending head injury patients home without CT scans when clinical guidelines require imaging, or ignoring obvious signs of stroke or sepsis all may meet the gross-negligence threshold.

Emergency room malpractice cases require careful analysis of triage decisions, diagnostic testing, and discharge instructions to determine whether the provider’s conduct rose to the level of conscious indifference rather than mere misjudgment.

Georgia Medical Malpractice Expert Affidavit Requirement

Georgia imposes procedural requirements that distinguish medical malpractice claims from other personal injury cases, making early attorney involvement essential.

O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 requires plaintiffs to file an expert affidavit with the complaint. This is a sworn statement from a qualified medical expert stating that the defendant’s care fell below the standard and caused injury. The expert must practice in the same specialty or hold relevant credentials.

Obtaining expert affidavits takes time. Experts must review complete medical records, research the standard of care, and prepare detailed opinions explaining how the defendant’s conduct deviated from accepted practice. This process requires weeks to months, making early case investigation critical to meet Georgia’s statute of limitations.

When to Consult a Kennesaw Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice cases require more thorough investigation, expert coordination, and legal analysis than other types of personal injury cases. Healthcare providers carry substantial malpractice insurance but defend claims aggressively with experienced defense lawyers and well-paid expert witnesses who testify that care met the standard.

Early consultation allows attorneys to preserve medical records before they’re altered or lost, identify appropriate expert witnesses in the defendant’s specialty, and analyze whether Georgia’s expert affidavit and statute of limitations requirements can be met.

Situations requiring immediate legal consultation include:

  • Unexpected death or permanent disability following a medical treatment, surgery, or childbirth.
  • Significant complications that were not disclosed as risks during informed-consent discussions.
  • Diagnostic delays where earlier detection would have changed treatment options or prognosis.
  • Emergency room discharges followed by a rapid deterioration requiring hospitalization or causing lasting harm.
  • Birth injuries resulting in cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or developmental delays.

Our medical malpractice lawyers offer free consultations to review medical records, explain Georgia’s malpractice laws, and connect you with qualified medical experts who evaluate whether the standard of care was breached. We handle medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we recover compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Malpractice in Georgia

O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71 gives you two years from the date of injury or discovery to file suit, with a five-year statute of repose barring claims filed more than five years after the negligent act, regardless of discovery. The two-year clock sometimes starts when you discover the injury rather than when it occurred, but the five-year absolute deadline always applies.

No. Georgia’s non-economic damages cap was struck down as unconstitutional in Nestlehutt v. Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. (2010). Juries decide pain and suffering awards without statutory limits, though the strength of your expert testimony and evidence about injury severity and life impact drives case value.

Not every bad outcome constitutes malpractice. Medicine involves inherent risks, and complications occur even when providers exercise reasonable care. Malpractice requires proof that the provider breached the standard of care and that the breach caused your injury.

Georgia law allows the deceased’s spouse, children, or parents to pursue wrongful death claims under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2, recovering the value of the life lost, including income, benefits, and intangible loss of care and companionship. These claims are subject to the same two-year statute of limitations and expert affidavit requirements as other medical malpractice cases.

Yes. A provider’s admission strengthens your case but doesn’t eliminate Georgia’s expert-affidavit requirement under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1 or the two-year statute of limitations.

Hold Georgia Healthcare Providers Accountable for Preventable Harm

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Joel Williams, Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, birth injuries, and anesthesia complications cause preventable harm when healthcare providers breach the standard of care, but proving these claims demands thorough investigation, qualified medical experts, and experienced legal representation.

Williams Elleby Howard & Easter handles medical malpractice cases throughout Kennesaw and Cobb County. We review medical records, consult with experts in the defendant’s specialty, and build cases that meet Georgia’s expert-affidavit requirements. Our attorneys understand the law and how to present complex medical evidence to juries.

Call (404) 389-1035 or visit our contact page for a free consultation. We’ll review your medical records, explain Georgia’s malpractice laws, and fight to hold negligent providers accountable for the harm they caused.

What is Medical Malpractice?

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Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other healthcare provider harms a patient through a negligent act or a failure to act. In simple terms, it’s when a medical professional’s mistake, one that a reasonably skilled and careful professional would not have made, causes you injury. A medical malpractice lawyer can help you understand whether your situation meets this standard.

Understanding what does and does not count as medical malpractice can give you a clear picture of what it takes to hold a negligent provider accountable.

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Key Takeaways about Medical Malpractice Claims in Georgia 

  • Medical malpractice is defined by a healthcare professional’s failure to provide the accepted “standard of care,” resulting in patient injury or death.
  • A successful claim in Georgia must prove four key elements: a duty was owed to the patient, that duty was breached, the breach directly caused an injury, and the injury resulted in specific damages.
  • The “standard of care” refers to the level of competence and skill that a similar, prudent medical professional would have provided under the same circumstances.
  • Examples of medical malpractice include misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, and birth injuries.
  • Georgia law sets strict deadlines, known as the statute of limitations and statute of repose, for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Understanding the “Standard of Care” in Georgia

Medical malpractice case file on a desk with legal documents, a stethoscope, and office supplies. When you hear lawyers and judges talk about medical malpractice, the term “standard of care” will come up frequently. So, what does it mean? Think of the standard of care as the set of unwritten rules that competent medical professionals are expected to follow. It’s the level of care and skill that an average, prudent provider in the same medical field would have used in a similar situation. It’s not about being perfect; medicine is complex, and bad outcomes can happen even with the best care. Instead, it’s about being reasonably careful and competent. For example, the standard of care for a heart surgeon in a metro-Atlanta hospital is based on what other reasonably skilled heart surgeons across the country would do during that same procedure. It’s not about a local custom, but a national benchmark of professional competence. A failure to meet this standard is often called a “breach” of the standard of care, and it is the first step in building a case for medical negligence.

The Four Elements You Need to Prove a Medical Malpractice Claim

To move forward with a medical malpractice claim in Georgia, you can’t just say a mistake was made. The law requires you to prove four specific things. Think of them as the four legs of a table—if one is missing, the whole thing falls apart.

Duty

First, you must show that the healthcare provider owed you a “duty of care.” This is usually the easiest part to establish. A duty is created the moment a doctor-patient relationship is formed. When you seek treatment from a doctor, and they agree to treat you, a professional duty of care is automatically established. They have accepted the responsibility to provide you with competent medical care.

Dereliction (or Breach) of Duty

This is the core of a medical malpractice case. Here, you must prove that the doctor or hospital failed to meet the established standard of care. This is the “negligence” part of the equation. It means the provider did something that a competent provider wouldn’t have done, or they failed to do something they should have done.  A breach isn’t just a simple mistake; it’s a departure from accepted medical practice. For instance, leaving a surgical sponge inside a patient or prescribing a medication despite a clear allergy noted in the patient’s chart are clear breaches of duty.

Direct Cause (Causation)

Next, you have to connect the dots. You must show that the provider’s breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of your injury. Proximate cause is a legal term that means the harm was a foreseeable result of the negligent action. It’s not enough that a doctor made a mistake; that specific mistake must be the reason you were harmed.  For example, if a doctor failed to diagnose cancer but the patient’s outcome would have been the same even with a timely diagnosis, causation may be difficult to prove. However, if the delayed diagnosis allowed the cancer to spread, making treatment far more difficult and a full recovery less likely, then causation is much clearer.

Damages

Finally, you must prove that you suffered actual harm, or “damages,” as a result of the injury. Damages are the law’s way of measuring the losses you have sustained. Without provable damages, there is no case. These can include a wide range of losses, both economic and non-economic.
  • Economic Damages: These are the tangible financial losses you’ve incurred. This includes things like additional medical bills to correct the error, lost wages from being unable to work, and the cost of future medical care or rehabilitation.
  • Non-Economic Damages: These are the intangible losses that don’t have a precise price tag but are just as real. This covers things like physical pain and emotional distress, mental anguish, permanent disability or disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Proving all four of these elements is essential for any medical malpractice claim to move forward and be successful.

Common Examples of Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice can happen in any healthcare setting, from a family doctor’s office in Kennesaw to a major surgical center. While every case is unique, many fall into several common categories.
  1. Misdiagnosis, Missed Diagnosis, or Delayed Diagnosis: This is one of the most frequent types of medical errors. It happens when a doctor incorrectly diagnoses an illness, fails to diagnose it at all, or takes too long to arrive at the correct diagnosis. When conditions like cancer, stroke, or heart attacks are missed, the consequences can be devastating.
  2. Surgical Errors: Mistakes made in the operating room can have lifelong effects. These “never events”—errors so serious they should never happen—include operating on the wrong patient, performing the wrong procedure, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving surgical instruments or sponges inside a patient’s body.
  3. Medication Errors: A mistake at any point in the medication process can cause serious harm. This includes a doctor prescribing the wrong drug, a nurse administering the wrong dose, or a pharmacist filling a prescription incorrectly.
  4. Anesthesia Errors: Anesthesiologists have a critical job, and even a small mistake can lead to brain injuries, coma, or death. Errors can include giving too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor a patient’s vital signs, or using defective equipment.
  5. Birth Injuries: Negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery can cause serious and permanent injuries to a newborn, such as cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy. These cases can result from a failure to monitor fetal distress, improper use of forceps or vacuum extraction, or a delay in ordering a necessary C-section.
These examples of medical malpractice illustrate just a few of the ways a patient can be harmed when the standard of care is not met.

What Steps Can You Take If You Suspect Medical Negligence?

Medical malpractice case file on a desk with legal documents, a stethoscope, and office supplies While your health should always be your top priority, there are a few practical steps you can take to start gathering information and protecting your rights.
  • Get a Second Opinion: The most important step is to ensure you are getting the proper medical care now. See another doctor who is not affiliated with the one you suspect of negligence. This will help you understand your current health status and what treatment you need moving forward. It can also confirm whether your previous care was appropriate.
  • Request Your Medical Records: Under federal law, you have the right to obtain copies of your medical records. Contact the hospital or clinic’s medical records department and request a complete copy of your file. These documents contain the detailed story of your treatment and are essential for evaluating what happened.
  • Keep a Detailed Journal: Memory can fade over time, so it’s a good idea to write everything down. Document your symptoms, pain levels, and any limitations on your daily activities. Note all medical appointments, conversations with doctors, and medications you are taking. This personal record can be incredibly valuable.
Taking these steps can help you feel more in control and provide a clear foundation of information as you decide what to do next.

Georgia’s Time Limits for Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim

One of the most critical things to understand about medical malpractice in Georgia is that you have a limited window of time to take legal action. This deadline is set by a law called the statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a law that sets a strict time limit on your right to file a lawsuit in civil court. In Georgia, the general rule for medical states that you must file a claim within two years from the date the injury or death occurred. Georgia also has a second, stricter deadline called the statute of repose. This is an absolute deadline that says no claim can be filed more than five years after the date of the negligent act, regardless of when you discovered the injury. There are very few exceptions to this rule. Because these deadlines are so strict and can be complex, it is crucial to understand how they apply to your situation. If you miss the deadline, you may lose your right to seek compensation forever.

How a Georgia Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help Navigate the Process

Navigating a medical malpractice claim is an incredibly complex process filled with legal hurdles and medical jargon. An attorney who handles these types of cases can help you understand your options and guide you through each step. Research from institutions like Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that medical errors are a significant public health issue, and addressing them requires a thorough understanding of both medicine and law. A legal team can take on the burden of the process, allowing you to focus on your health and recovery. Here are a few ways an attorney can assist:
  • Investigating Your Claim: They will conduct a deep dive into the facts of your case, gathering medical records, and identifying exactly what went wrong.
  • Consulting with Medical Reviewers: To prove your case, you need testimony from other medical professionals. An attorney will work with qualified reviewers in the appropriate field to determine if the standard of care was breached.
  • Filing the Right Paperwork: Georgia has specific procedural requirements for malpractice cases, including filing an “affidavit of merit” along with the lawsuit. This is a sworn statement from a medical professional confirming that there is a basis for the claim.
  • Dealing with Hospitals and Insurers: They will handle all communications with the healthcare provider’s legal team and their insurance company, advocating for your best interests.
An attorney serves as your advocate, working to build the strongest case possible while ensuring all legal rules and deadlines are met.

Medical Malpractice FAQs

Here are answers to some common questions people have when exploring this topic.

Yes, in many situations, a hospital can be held responsible for the negligence of its employees, such as nurses, technicians, or staff doctors. This legal concept is called vicarious liability or “respondeat superior,” which means the employer is responsible for the actions of its employees while they are on the job. A hospital can also be held directly liable for its own negligence, such as failing to properly screen its staff or not having adequate policies in place to promote patient safety.

Most personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice cases work on a contingency fee basis. This means you do not pay any upfront fees to the lawyer. Instead, the lawyer’s fee is a percentage of the financial compensation they recover for you, whether through a settlement or a court verdict. If you do not win your case or receive a settlement, you do not owe the attorney a fee.

Signing a consent form is standard practice before most medical procedures. In it, you acknowledge that you have been informed of the known risks, benefits, and alternatives to the treatment. However, a consent form is not a waiver of your right to competent care. It does not give a doctor permission to be negligent or make a preventable mistake. You are consenting to the known risks of a procedure, not to harm caused by a failure to meet the standard of care.

Get the Answers and Support You Deserve

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Joel Williams, Medical Malpractice Attorney in Kennesaw
We know that suffering an injury because of a medical professional’s mistake is a profound betrayal of trust that can leave you feeling lost and powerless. The compassionate attorneys at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter are here to listen to your story and help you understand your options. We treat our clients like family, offering clear guidance and dedicated advocacy every step of the way.  If you believe you or a loved one has been harmed by medical negligence, contact us at (404) 389-1035 or through our online form for a free, no-obligation consultation. Let us help you find the answers you deserve.
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Bedsores: Can a GA Nursing Home Be Held Liable?

Elderly woman in nursing home bed.

Bedsores are one of the most common injuries that occur in Georgia nursing homes.  When you place a loved one in a nursing home, it is typically because they can no longer care for themselves and you are not able to provide the care they need. When you choose a nursing home, you are entrusting the nursing home’s administrators and staff with one of the most important duties imaginable: caring for another human being, your loved one.

Finding out that your loved one has developed bedsores can understandably feel like a violation of that trust. In Georgia law, you may have a legal claim against the nursing home and/or some of its staff members for the harm.

Pressure Ulcers and Bedsores

Pressure ulcers and bedsores are two different terms for the same condition of skin sores that develop as a result of limited blood flow to an area. Blood flow is limited when a part of the body is pressed up against something, like a bed or wheelchair, for a long period of time. Bedsores are more likely to develop on the skin atop bony areas such as the hip, ankle, back of head, and tailbone.

Bedsores range in severity from a red, swollen area on the skin’s surface to a deep open wound that may never fully heal. Their severity is identified by stages; stage 1 is the least severe and stage 4 is the most severe. More severe cases can lead to severe complications including sepsis, which is a body-wide infection, and even death.

Causes of Pressure Ulcers

Bedsores are a common problem in nursing facilities, particularly among patients with limited or no independent mobility. These patients are often spending the bulk or all of their days in bed or between a bed and a wheelchair. Being in the same position creates pressure at certain spots, which cuts off blood flow and causes bedsores.

Nursing homes sometimes argue that pressure ulcers and bedsores are unavoidable, but this is deceptive. It is true that even with the best nursing home care, pressure ulcers and bedsores sometimes develop. However, there are ways to significantly reduce the risk of bedsores. In fact, the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center estimates that 95% of all pressures sores are preventable.

Legal Liability for Pressure Ulcers and Bedsores

Two of the most important steps for preventing bedsores in nursing home patients are repositioning the patient frequently and make sure skin is kept dry.   This means nursing home staff must promptly clean up any urine or feces for bedridden patients. Nursing homes are obligated to take these and other steps to prevent pressure sores. They must also provide adequate medical care for any bedsores that do develop. Unfortunately, nursing homes do not always live up to these responsibilities.

Get Legal Help for Nursing Home Malpractice and Negligence

There are far too many cases where a Georgia nursing home resident’s bedsores could have been avoided or complications minimized if the nursing facility provided the care it was ethically and legally required to. Fortunately, nursing homes and their staff can be held liable for their misconduct.  

Proving that pressure ulcers and bedsores are the result of negligent or intentional misconduct by a nursing home or its staff members and not an unavoidable consequence of being largely bedridden, can be difficult. Having counsel experienced in nursing home lawsuits can improve your likelihood of successfully obtaining fair compensation. If you would like more information or would like to discuss your case, contact Attorney Marc Howard at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter today to schedule a free consultation by calling 833-LEGALGA.