Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

As the heat of summer arrives in full force, more Georgians than ever will be heading to the many beautiful lakes in our area for weekends away, or simply for a day of fun with family. Pleasant as these short trips can be, they pose potential hazards that can lead to unexpected tragedy. I was sad to read in the AJC online today about a 15 year old girl who was seriously injured while being pulled behind a boat on an inner tube in Lake Lanier. She was apparently stuck by another boat as it passed close by. As a Georgia personal injury attorney, and as a boat owner on a local Georgia lake myself, this sad story serves as a reminder of the damage that can be caused by water craft, and of the way these cases must be handled when seeking money damages for injuries caused by boating accidents in Georgia.

Under Georgia law, boats are treated essentially as floating cars for purposes of determining fault when accidents occur. As with auto accidents, boaters are liable for damages caused by their negligence while boating on public lakes in our state. This includes failure to yield the right of way to other water traffic, failure to keep a safe lookout for other boaters or swimmers, and failure to obey the established rules for operating water craft safely in Georgia waters. Rules for operating boats, jet skis and other water craft in Georgia include age restrictions, speed limits, and registration and titling requirements.

Continue reading "Georgia Boating Accidents Are as Dangerous as Cars Accidents" »

Georgia medical malpractice lawsuits pursuing damages for injuries caused when foreign objects are left in a patient's body must be brought within one year from when the negligent or wrongful act or omission is discovered. I touched on this in an earlier blog. The general statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases in Georgia is two years. When a foreign object is left in a patient, the statute is one year from the discovery of the object, except when the one year period would be less than the general two year provision. In that case, the patient will not be cut off by the one year provision.

Georgia law does not include as foreign objects chemical compounds, fixation devices or prosthetic aids or devices. The Georgia statutes do not specifically define a foreign object, but examples of foreign objects found by Georgia courts are a surgical sponge, steel arterial clamp and a bulldog clamp.

A case against a doctor for leaving a foreign object in a patient does not rely on showing professional judgment or discretion. The doctor is liable because he either knew about the object or should have known since he or she put it there and failed to take it out. This does not mean these types of cases can be handled by any lawyer. Any case claiming medical malpractice should be handled by an experienced attorney who regularly handles medical malpractice cases. For instance, knowing when the one year statute of limitations begins to run in a foreign object case can be the difference between having a case and not having a case.