What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice happens when a healthcare provider deviates from the accepted standard of care, resulting in injury or harm to a patient. This standard of care is defined as the level and type of care that a similarly qualified healthcare professional would provide under similar circumstances.

Examples of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
• Surgical errors
• Medication errors
• Birth injuries
• Anesthesia mistakes
• Failure to obtain informed consent

What Is “Medical Malpractice” Under Georgia Law?

In Georgia, “medical malpractice” is a specific type of legal claim. It isn’t just “bad medicine” or a disappointing outcome.

Georgia law defines an “action for medical malpractice” as a claim for injury or death arising from medical, health, dental, or surgical services, including diagnosis, prescription, treatment, or care by a licensed healthcare provider or facility.

Separately, Georgia’s standard-of-care statute says that a person who practices medicine or surgery for compensation must use a reasonable degree of care and skill. If the provider’s failure to use that level of care and skill injures a patient, the patient may recover damages.

The Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case in Georgia

To file a successful medical malpractice lawsuit in Georgia, your case must prove the following four key elements:

Duty of Care — A Provider–Patient Relationship Existed

A doctor-patient relationship must exist, establishing the healthcare provider’s legal duty to provide competent medical care. There must be a professional relationship: the person or facility actually treated you, consulted on your care, or supervised your treatment. Casual advice at a cookout or a quick conversation in a hallway usually does not create this legal duty.

Breach of Duty — The Standard of Care Was Violated

The provider must have done something (or failed to do something) that fell below the standard of care — the level of skill, care, and diligence that reasonably careful providers with similar training would have used in similar circumstances.

This is almost always established through expert medical testimony.

Causation — The Negligence Actually Caused the Injury

You must prove that the breach of duty directly caused your injury. It’s not enough to show that the provider made a mistake. You must show that the mistake was a proximate cause of your injury — in other words, that the harm would not have occurred “but for” the negligent act (or omission), and that the injury was a reasonably foreseeable result of that negligence.

Typically, this is the most heavily contested part of a case, especially when the patient was already very ill or had complex medical conditions.

Damages — You Suffered Real, Compensable Harm

There must be measurable harm, such as:

• Additional medical treatment or surgeries
• Permanent disability or loss of function
• Disfigurement or scarring
• Lost income or reduced earning capacity
• Significant physical pain or emotional suffering

Without meaningful damages, even clear negligence usually does not justify a full-blown malpractice lawsuit — the cost, risk, and time involved are too high relative to the potential recovery.