Personal Injury & Wrongful Death

When it comes to medical malpractice, time is of the essence. If you believe you have been a victim of medical negligence, you may wonder how long you have to take legal action and sue for medical malpractice. The timeline for categorizing a medical malpractice lawsuit can vary depending on many elements, including the jurisdiction and the nature of the case. In this article, we will delve into the intricacies of the medical malpractice statute of limitations and provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the time limits involved.

Understanding the Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

The medical malpractice statute of limitations sets the timeframe within which a lawsuit must be filed after the alleged malpractice incident. It serves as a legal safeguard to ensure that claims are brought forth promptly, protecting both the rights of the patients and the healthcare providers. Being aware of these limitations is crucial, as failing to file within the prescribed time can result in the forfeiture of your right to seek compensation.

Motorcycle accidents can have severe consequences, often resulting in injuries or even fatalities. Understanding the statistics and factors involved in motorcycle accidents can provide valuable insights into the risks riders face on the road.

Common Causes Of Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle accidents can occur due to various reasons, including:

When it comes to medical malpractice cases, time is of the essence. Patients who have experienced harm due to medical negligence often wonder how long it will take to resolve their lawsuit. While there is no definitive answer, as each case is unique, it’s essential to understand the typical timeline and factors that influence the duration of a medical malpractice lawsuit. This article will delve into the different stages of a medical malpractice case and provide insights into the time it may take to resolve.

Typical Timeline of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

The Initial Stages: Filing a Law-suit

Product liability law refers to the legal framework that holds manufacturers, distributors, and sellers accountable for defective products that cause harm or injury to consumers. It is based on the principle that companies are responsible for ensuring the safety & quality of the products they bring to the market. When a product fails to meet these qualities & results in harm, the injured party may have grounds for a product liability claim.

Understanding product liability law is crucial for both consumers and businesses. Knowing their rights and obligations enables them to navigate the complexities of product liability cases more effectively.

Understanding The Product Liability Law

Medical malpractice cases are governed by statutes of limitations, which define the timeframe in which a patient can file a lawsuit against a healthcare professional or institution for negligence. These statutes vary according to the jurisdiction and facts of the case. Individuals seeking legal redress for medical malpractice must first understand the limitations period. This article will delve into the complexities of the medical malpractice statute of limitations, its significance, the factors influencing it, and how to effectively navigate the legal process.

Understanding the Law of Limitations for Medical Malpractice

The statute of limitations for medical malpractice refers to when a patient can initiate legal action against a healthcare provider for alleged negligence. Knowing this timeframe is crucial as it holds great importance in assessing the feasibility of pursuing a medical malpractice case. Although the exact duration varies across different jurisdictions, it generally commences either from the occurrence of the malpractice or from its discovery, often referred to as the “discovery rule.”

Medical malpractice is when a healthcare expert, such as a doctor, nurse, or other medical personnel, deviates from the obtained standard of care, resulting in harm or injury to a patient. On the other side, negligence is a broader legal concept encompassing various forms of professional medical malpractice and misconduct.

Medical malpractice takes place when a healthcare provider fails to provide the quantity of care that a reasonably skilled and competent professional in the same field would provide under similar circumstances. It involves an act or omission that falls below the standard of care, causing injury, harm, or even death to a patient.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?

Punitive DamagesAs mentioned in Part I, punitive damages are not available as part of the wrongful death claim. They are, however, available in connection with the estate’s claims for the decedent’s predeath injuries and pain and suffering. Donson Nursing Facilities v. Dixon, 176 Ga. App. 700, 701 (1985).

Like with the wrongful death claim itself, punitive damages were not allowed under common law.

They are statutory in nature, and consequently, they are strictly construed.

Punitive Damages LawyerThis is Part I of a discussion concerning what damages are available in Georgia wrongful death cases.  Part II will be published next week.

Wrongful death claims in Georgia are typically divided into two separate claims: (1) the wrongful death per se as measured by the “full value of the life of the decedent” without deducting for any of the necessary or personal expenses of the decedent had he or she lived; and (2) the estate claims, or the claims that would have accrued to the decedent had they lived and include medical expenses incurred prior to death, funeral and burial expenses, conscious pain and suffering prior to death, and punitive damages.

The “full value of the life of the decedent” is measured from the decedent’s perspective.  This is different from many other states which focus on the impact the decedent’s death has on the surviving family members/party plaintiffs. The “full value of the life” concept has two distinct components, one is economic and the other is non-economic. The economic component consists of the “items having a proven monetary value, such as lost potential lifetime earnings, income, or services, reduced to present cash value.” The non-economic portion comprises those “intangible items whose value cannot be precisely quantified, such as a parent’s “society, advice, example and counsel . . . .” Consol. Freightways Corp. of Delaware v. Futrell, 201 Ga. App. 233, 233 (1991).

Georgia trucking accidents and commercial vehicle accidents are significantly different than typical motor vehicle collisions that involve two individuals driving privately in vehicles and are not working on behalf of their employer at the time of the wreck.  The primary reason for this is that tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which have also been adopted by the State of Georgia.  A “commercial vehicle” is defined as any vehicle used on the highway or interstate transporting people or property with a gross weight lading of 10,001 pounds or more.  This means that if the vehicle, trailer, and load equals more than 10,001 pounds, the vehicle is a “commercial vehicle.”  And subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (“FMCSR”).

The FMCSR is a comprehensive framework of policies and procedures governing the operation and maintenance of tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles.  Every company that operates commercial vehicles is subject to these regulations and the State of Georgia and all over the Country.  A company can be held liable for any trucking accident or commercial vehicle accident that resulted from a violation of the FMCSR.  Every driver of a commercial vehicle must perform a Pre-Trip inspection which involves inspecting the service brakes, parking brake, steering mechanism, lighting devices and reflectors, tires, horn, windshield wipers, rear vision mirrors, and coupling devices.  The driver must document this Pre-Trip inspection and the driver’s employer must maintain these Pre-Trip inspection forms and keep them on file.

For drivers operating commercial vehicles in excess of 26,001 pounds, employers are required to conduct a comprehensive background check of the driver prior to beginning their employment.  A driver applying for a job with a trucking company must complete an Application disclosing any moving violations or accidents for the 3-year period prior to the date of application and identifying each employer for whom the driver has worked for the past ten (10) years.  In turn, within thirty (30) days of hiring a driver, the trucking company must send written inquiries to the driver’s prior employers for the 3-year period prior to the date of their employment and also must obtain a Moving Violations Report (“MVR”) from any state that has issued a license to the driver for the preceding 3-year period.  The driver is also required to undergo an examination by a physician and obtain a Medical Examiner’s Certificate of Fitness.  A Pre-Employment Drug and Alcohol Screening is also mandatory.

Prior the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to successfully bring a medical malpractice claim in Georgia, a plaintiff was required to offer expert medical testimony to the effect that the defendant physician or healthcare provider failed to exercise that degree of care and skill which would ordinarily have been employed by the medical profession generally under the circumstances.  See Boling v. Foster, 254 Ga. App. 374 (2002).  The legal duty owed by medical professionals was to exercise “a reasonable degree of care and skill.”  See O.C.G.A. § 51-1-27.  This is the standard that applied in the vast majority of medical malpractice cases.  A narrow exception existed for the provision of emergency medical care in a hospital emergency department or obstetrical department, where it is necessary to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that the physician or healthcare provider’s actions showed “gross negligence.”  See O.C.G.A. § 51-1-29.5(c).

This threshold for proving liability in Georgia medical malpractice cases changed with Governor Kemp’s Executive Order entered April 14, 2020 concerning the Covid-19 crisis.  Executive Order 04.14.20.01, limits liability for any harm done by the employees, staff, and contractors of healthcare institutions and medical facilities  during the “Public Health State of Emergency” as to negligence, but not gross negligence, regardless of whether such service is related to the Public Health State of Emergency.  “Gross negligence” is the absence of even slight diligence, and slight diligence is defined as “that degree of care which every man of common sense, however inattentive he may be, exercises under the same or similar circumstances.”  Gliemmo v. Cousineau, 287 Ga. 7 (2010).  The Executive Order applies to all clinics, hospitals, nursing & assisted living facilities, as well as ambulatory surgical centers.

The Executive Order further provides that “The employees, staff, and contractors of healthcare institutions and medical facilities shall be considered auxiliary emergency management workers pursuant to Code Section 38-3-35.”  O.C.G.A. § 38-3-35(b) provides that auxiliary emergency management workers are immune from liability for harm, including death, sustained by persons as a result of “emergency management activity”, unless such emergency activity causing the harm was due to willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad faith.  O.C.G.A. § 38-3-3(2) defines “emergency management” broadly, as “the preparation for the carrying out of all emergency functions … to prevent, minimize, and repair injury and damage resulting from emergencies … These functions include, without limitation … emergency medical services … together with all other activities necessary or incidental to the preparation for and carrying out of the foregoing functions.”  This means that “auxiliary emergency management workers” are immune from liability even if they acted negligently in providing medical care to a patient in Georgia.  Instead, in order to recover a plaintiff must prove that the medical care provided constituted gross negligence.

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