Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Were you harmed by medical negligence in Atlanta, GA?

At Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers, we are trial-tested medical malpractice lawyers committed to thorough preparation in every matter.

If you were injured by a medical error in Atlanta, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, and other losses. Our Atlanta, GA medical malpractice lawyer can review your records, determine whether your care met the accepted standard, and pursue a claim against the responsible providers.

Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers represents injured patients and their families throughout the city. Our attorneys have experience defending doctors and hospitals in malpractice suits, and that background informs how we evaluate each claim. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal options.

Medical Malpractice Lawyer Atlanta, GA

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider fails to use the degree of care and skill that a reasonably careful provider in the same field would use under similar circumstances, and the patient is injured as a result. An unexpected result is not proof of negligence by itself. Medical malpractice claims require evidence of the accepted standard, a departure from it, and a connection between that departure and the harm.

In fiscal year 2020, the Georgia Composite Medical Board closed approximately 1,050 complaint cases, and 18 of them ended in public discipline, according to a state performance audit. Board action concerns a physician’s license. It does not compensate the patient. Compensation requires a civil claim, which our medical malpractice attorney in Atlanta, GA can evaluate.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle in Atlanta

Medical negligence occurs in many settings, for example, operating rooms, labor and delivery units, emergency departments, and retail pharmacies. As medical malpractice lawyers in Atlanta, we handle the following claims most often.

• Birth injuries. Harm to a mother or newborn may follow, for example, a delayed cesarean section, misread fetal heart monitoring, or improper use of Pitocin or delivery instruments. We review the labor records minute by minute to establish when the clinicians should have acted.
• Failure to diagnose. A missed or delayed diagnosis can allow a treatable condition to progress, for example, cancer, stroke, a serious infection, or a blood clot. These claims depend on what the symptoms and test results showed at each visit and what a reasonable provider would have ordered next.
• Hospital negligence. Hospitals are responsible for staffing, nursing care, patient monitoring, and the systems that relay test results between departments. When those systems fail, the hospital may be named as a defendant along with the individual providers.
• Pharmacy malpractice. For example, a pharmacy may dispense the wrong drug or strength, print incorrect instructions, or fail to flag a dangerous interaction. We obtain the prescription, the dispensing record, and the pharmacist’s verification history.
• Surgical errors. Some surgical mistakes fall outside the risks a patient accepts on a consent form, for example, wrong-site procedures, retained sponges or instruments, and avoidable injury to nearby organs. Our review compares the operative report with the imaging and the post-operative course.
• Anesthesia errors. For example, dosing mistakes, failure to secure the airway, and inadequate monitoring during sedation can cause oxygen deprivation, brain injury, or cardiac arrest. We compare the drug entries and vital signs against the procedure notes to identify when the patient’s condition changed and how staff responded.
• Medication errors. Prescribing and administration errors occur in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. For example, a patient may receive an incorrect dose, a drug the chart lists as an allergy, or two medications that interact.
• Negligent blood transfusions. For example, mismatched blood, improper screening, and failure to recognize a transfusion reaction can cause organ damage or death. We examine the blood bank records alongside the nursing notes from the transfusion.

Why Choose Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers as My Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Atlanta, GA?

Defense Experience Applied to Patient Claims

Daniel J. Moriarty has practiced law since 2012. He defended doctors, nurses, and hospitals for the first six years of his career and has represented injured patients since 2018. That history shapes how we assess a new claim, because it shows us how a defense firm will read the records and prepare its witnesses. He graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame and earned his law degree at the University of Texas. He has also led appeals before the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Eleventh Circuit.

Recoveries in Georgia Malpractice Cases

Our firm has recovered more than $200 million for clients. Two of our verdicts rank among the ten largest malpractice verdicts in Georgia history, and our results include the following.

• $50 million verdict in a dental malpractice case
• A $30 million jury verdict for a medical malpractice client
• $20 million settlement of a medical malpractice claim
• $17.5 million recovered in a separate medical malpractice matter

Our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers represent patients on a contingency fee basis. There are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.

What Is Important to Understand About a Medical Malpractice Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Medical Malpractice Cases

Liability consists of four elements: a provider-patient relationship that created a duty of care, a breach of the accepted standard, causation, and resulting harm. Hospitals and physician groups may also be liable for the conduct of their employees. A signed consent form covers the known risks of a procedure. It does not cover preventable surgical errors.

Georgia applies modified comparative fault under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. A patient’s award is reduced by the patient’s own percentage of fault, and a patient found 50 percent or more responsible recovers nothing.

Compensation in a Georgia malpractice case may include the following.

• Economic damages. These may include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and the cost of long-term care.
• Noneconomic damages. These may include physical pain, emotional distress, disfigurement, and lost enjoyment of life. Georgia does not currently cap noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases.
• Punitive damages. These require clear and convincing evidence of willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or conscious indifference to consequences. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, they are generally limited to $250,000 unless a statutory exception applies.

Our Atlanta, GA medical malpractice attorney documents each category with records, bills, and testimony from treating physicians.

What Are Important Aspects of a Medical Malpractice Case?

Medical malpractice claims depend on the patient’s records and on the specialty involved. Five issues arise in most of the claims we evaluate.

1. The provider’s field sets the standard. For example, a cardiologist is measured against cardiologists, and an emergency physician against emergency medicine practice.
2. Causation is often the central dispute. Many patients were already ill, so the claim must show that the error, rather than the underlying condition, caused the additional harm.
3. Diagnostic claims require a visit-by-visit review. Each visit is compared against the symptoms, vital signs, and test results available at the time, for example, in a claim involving a missed pulmonary embolism. In the Harvard Medical Practice Study, as summarized by AHRQ’s patient safety network, diagnostic error accounted for 17% of preventable errors among hospitalized patients. A physician’s inaction on symptoms or abnormal results can support a claim as well.
4. Filing deadlines are strict. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71, a claim generally must be filed within two years of the date the injury or death occurred. No claim may be brought more than five years after the negligent act, apart from narrow exceptions, for example, a foreign object left in the body.
5. Regulatory complaints are a separate process. The Georgia Composite Medical Board reviews complaints about physicians. The Department of Community Health accepts complaints about licensed facilities. Neither process awards compensation to the patient.

What Is The Medical Malpractice Case Timeline?

The length of a case depends on its complexity and on whether it resolves before trial. Most cases follow these stages.

• Record collection. We request the complete chart, including nursing notes, medication administration records, and monitoring data. For example, in anesthesia error claims, the time-stamped anesthesia record is often the most important document.
• Medical review. A physician in the relevant specialty reviews the care to determine whether it met the standard and whether a departure caused harm.
• Filing suit. The Fulton County State Court is among the courts that hear medical malpractice cases arising in Atlanta.
• Discovery. Both sides exchange documents and take depositions of the providers, the patient, and the physician witnesses.
• Resolution. Many cases resolve through negotiation or mediation. When a case does not settle, our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers prepare it for a jury trial.

What Should You Bring to Your Medical Malpractice Consultation?

Bring the documents you already have. We can request anything missing after the meeting. The Department of Community Health publishes the record copy rates that apply to many requests.

• A list of the providers and facilities involved, with approximate dates of treatment
• Discharge instructions, test results, imaging reports, and any records you have received
• Medical bills, insurance statements, and pay records that show time missed from work
• Your own notes on symptoms, conversations with providers, and how a condition developed, for example, sepsis after surgery

When you meet with our medical malpractice lawyer in Atlanta, GA, we review the timeline of your care and explain whether the facts support a full record review. The consultation is free and carries no obligation.

Reach Out to Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation

Contact us to speak with our Atlanta medical malpractice attorney about what happened during your care. Moriarty Medical Malpractice Lawyers handles these cases on contingency, so you pay no attorney fees unless we obtain compensation for you. At the free consultation, we will examine your records, answer your questions, and outline the next steps.