Elements of a Georgia Medical Malpractice Case — Duty

The first element of a Georgia medical malpractice claim is duty. More specifically, “duty” means a legal obligation to conform to a standard of conduct or standard of care. Of all the elements we will discuss, this is often the easiest to prove. If a doctor treats a patient, a doctor- patient relationship exists. Once the relationship exists, the doctor has the duty to treat and care for the patient in a manner that a reasonably prudent doctor under similar circumstance would. The relationship between a health-care provider and patient is established when a patient knowingly seeks the care of a health-care provider and the health care provider knowingly accepts the patient for treatment. http://www.lawriter.net/cgi-bin/texis/web/caselaw/+lQeDKWFezxbnme7i2wezyAxwwxFqEnAo5n3AtKV1MG5coDwGzwDKWqvIFqqHE/svindex.html?doc=1

Absent unusual circumstances, the doctor-patient relationship is usually present, so we will focus more on the other elements of the Georgia medical malpractice claim in future posts.