Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is part of WellStar Health System, one of Georgia’s largest healthcare systems. As a Level I Adult Trauma Center with over 630 beds, it provides emergency services (the second largest in the state), heart/vascular care, neurosurgery, and cancer treatment.
Despite its prominent presence in Marietta, WellStar Kennestone Hospital has faced medical malpractice lawsuits alleging the following:
- Delayed diagnoses
- Surgical mistakes
- Emergency room negligence
- Other failures are tied to patient injuries and wrongful death claims
If you suffered injuries after treatment at the facility, you may have the right to file a medical malpractice claim. At The Champion Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.C., our WellStar Kennestone Hospital malpractice lawyers can investigate the treatment you received and pursue financial compensation for your medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future care needs.
Why Hire Our Hospital Malpractice Lawyers?
Across the U.S., an estimated 800,000 people die or are disabled due to malpractice every year. Facilities like WellStar Kennestone Hospital and malpractice insurance defense lawyers fight these lawsuits because payouts can reach millions of dollars when the damage is especially severe. The Champion Firm handles injury lawsuits involving disputed liability, permanent injuries, surgical complications, and fatal medical errors.
When you hire us as your legal representation, we bring the following advantages to your claim:
- Thorough Investigation: Our medical malpractice attorneys review your medical records and other evidence to identify treatment mistakes, delayed diagnoses, medication errors, surgical procedure failures, and other acts of medical negligence.
- Pushback Against Stubborn Insurers: Medical malpractice insurance providers try to reduce payouts by disputing liability, blaming preexisting conditions, and minimizing the damage caused. The Champion Firm handles communication with insurers and fights back against any attempts to minimize your compensation.
- Access to Medical Experts: Georgia malpractice lawsuits require testimony from medical professionals who can explain how a healthcare provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care. The Champion Firm works with physicians and medical professionals who can provide an Affidavit.
- Trial Readiness: Some hospitals and insurers refuse to offer a fair settlement. The WellStar Kennestone Hospital malpractice lawyers at The Champion Firm are always ready to litigate your case.
- No Fees Unless We Win: We take all personal injury claims on a contingency fee basis: you don’t have to come up with a retainer and you only pay attorney fees if we win. It’s one more way that we give you peace of mind during a difficult time.
What Is Hospital Malpractice?
Hospital malpractice occurs when a hospital, physician, nurse, or healthcare worker causes injury to a patient through medical negligence. Victims must show that a healthcare provider failed to provide treatment that met the accepted medical standard of care and that failure caused injury, additional medical complications, or death.
Hospitals can face liability for the actions of doctors, nurses, surgeons, technicians, and other medical staff members involved in patient care. In some lawsuits, the claim addresses a physician’s treatment decision. In others, the hospital itself may face liability for staffing shortages, communication failures, faulty diagnostic tests, recordkeeping errors, or delayed emergency treatment. A malpractice lawsuit may also involve multiple defendants connected to the same course of treatment.
Some of the most common forms of professional negligence in hospitals include:
- Delayed Diagnosis: A delayed diagnosis can allow infections, internal bleeding, cancer, or other medical conditions to worsen before treatment begins. In many cases, the delay results in permanent injury or reduces a patient’s chance of recovery.
- Surgical Errors: Surgical malpractice includes operating on the wrong body part, damaging internal organs, leaving medical instruments and other foreign objects inside the body, anesthesia errors, and post-operative negligence causing infection or other complications.
- Emergency Room Errors: Emergency rooms handle patients suffering from strokes, heart attacks, internal bleeding, respiratory distress, and other medical emergencies. Delayed triage, discharge mistakes, or failure to recognize medical emergencies can cause permanent injury or death.
- Prescription Errors: Patients may receive the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or medication that conflicts with existing prescriptions or medical conditions. Medication mistakes can cause organ damage, severe allergic reactions, internal bleeding, or fatal complications.
- Birth Injuries: Medical errors during labor and delivery can cause oxygen deprivation injuries, nerve damage, brain injuries, maternal injuries, and fatal complications affecting both the child and mother.
- Infections in Hospitals: Hospitals must follow sanitation and infection-control procedures intended to reduce the spread of dangerous infections. Failures involving sterilization, contaminated equipment, or unsanitary conditions can expose patients to severe illness and further medical complications.
Medical malpractice lawsuits need evidence showing how the healthcare provider’s actions departed from the accepted standard of care. Your medical malpractice lawyer must also connect this negligent treatment directly to your injuries.
Injuries Caused by Hospital Malpractice
Medical malpractice inside a hospital can leave patients with life-altering injuries. Some patients may need months of treatment, while others suffer permanent disabilities affecting their ability to work, care for themselves, or return to daily activities. Some of the most common injuries linked to hospital malpractice include:
- Brain Injuries: Delayed treatment, oxygen deprivation, anesthesia mistakes, medication errors, and untreated infections can cause permanent brain damage. Patients may experience memory loss, speech problems, cognitive impairment, loss of motor function, or permanent disability.
- Spinal Cord Injuries and Paralysis: Surgical mistakes, delayed diagnosis of spinal injuries, and untreated infections can damage the spinal cord and lead to partial or complete paralysis.
- Organ Damage: Medication errors, surgical negligence, untreated infections, and delayed emergency treatment can damage the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, or other internal organs. Some patients need long-term treatment or organ transplants after these injuries occur.
- Severe Infections: Patients exposed to contaminated equipment, unsanitary conditions, or untreated post-operative infections may develop sepsis or other life-threatening conditions.
- Birth Injuries: Medical negligence during labor and delivery can cause brain injuries, nerve damage, fractures, oxygen deprivation injuries, and maternal complications affecting both the child and mother. Cerebral palsy and Erb's palsy are common pediatric injuries.
- Wrongful Death: Some hospital malpractice cases involve fatal treatment errors tied to surgical complications, delayed diagnoses, medication mistakes, infections, or emergency room negligence. Surviving family members may have the right to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
Compensation Available in a Hospital Malpractice Lawsuit
A medical malpractice lawsuit can seek compensation for the financial and personal losses caused by negligent treatment. The amount available in a claim generally depends on the severity of the injuries, the cost of medical care, the effect on your ability to work, and the long-term impact the injuries have on your daily life.
Some of the damages available in a medical malpractice lawsuit include:
- Emergency Medical Expenses: Patients injured by negligent medical treatment may need emergency surgery, hospitalization, imaging scans, medication, specialist care, and intensive treatment after the malpractice occurs. Those medical expenses may become part of the lawsuit.
- Future Medical Treatment: Some malpractice injuries require continued treatment long after the initial hospitalization ends. Patients may need rehabilitation, additional surgeries, physical therapy, mobility equipment, prescription medication, or in-home nursing assistance.
- Lost Income: Serious malpractice injuries can prevent you from returning to work for weeks, months, or even permanently. A lawsuit may seek compensation tied to lost wages and reduced future earning ability caused by the injuries.
- Pain and Suffering: Georgia law allows injured patients to pursue damages tied to physical pain, emotional suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, and reduced quality of life resulting from negligent medical care.
- Wrongful Death Damages: Fatal medical mistakes may allow surviving family members to pursue compensation tied to funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the loss of the deceased family member’s life.
- Long-Term Care Costs: Some patients require assisted living services, mobility assistance, home modifications, or continued medical supervision after suffering permanent injuries caused by malpractice.
What to Do After Suspected Malpractice at WellStar Kennestone
If you believe negligent treatment at WellStar Kennestone Hospital caused your injuries, we recommend that you take the following steps:
- Seek Further Medical Treatment: Your health should remain the priority after a suspected medical mistake. Another healthcare provider may identify complications or diagnose conditions missed during the original hospitalization.
- Request Your Medical Records: Hospital records can contain physician notes, medication logs, imaging results, surgical reports, discharge instructions, and treatment timelines connected to the malpractice claim. Request copies of your records as soon as possible.
- Document Your Symptoms and Complications: Keep records showing how the injuries affected your health, ability to work, mobility, and daily activities. Photographs, medication records, appointment summaries, and written notes can help document the progression of your condition.
- Preserve Bills and Financial Records: Medical invoices, insurance statements, prescription costs, rehabilitation expenses, and proof of lost income can help establish the financial losses arising from the malpractice injuries.
- Avoid Speaking With Medical Malpractice Insurers: Insurance representatives may contact patients shortly after complaints or complications arise. Be careful: statements made during those conversations may later be used to dispute liability or reduce the value of the lawsuit.
- Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer: Hospital malpractice lawsuits require investigation, medical testimony, and extensive review of treatment records. A malpractice lawyer can examine the care you received, identify liable parties, and determine whether the hospital or medical providers violated accepted standards.
Frequently Asked Questions About WellStart Kennestone Malpractice
Can You File a Lawsuit Against a Hospital and a Doctor at the Same Time?
Yes. Many medical malpractice lawsuits name multiple defendants connected to the patient’s treatment. A claim may involve the hospital, physicians, surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, or outside medical contractors involved in the care provided to the patient. Liability depends on who caused the negligent treatment and the role each party played in the injuries.
How Long Does a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Take?
The timeline depends on the severity of the injuries, the number of defendants involved, the amount of medical evidence requiring review, and whether the case settles or proceeds into litigation. Some malpractice lawsuits resolve through settlement negotiations, while others take longer because hospitals and malpractice insurers dispute liability and damages.
What Evidence Can Help Support a Hospital Malpractice Lawsuit?
Medical records, imaging scans, physician notes, surgical reports, medication logs, witness testimony, and testimony from medical professionals can all support a malpractice lawsuit. Billing records, employment records, and documentation showing the effect of the injuries on your daily life may also help establish damages tied to the claim.
Do Hospitals Destroy Evidence After a Medical Malpractice Claim Is Filed?
Hospitals maintain large amounts of documentation tied to patient treatment, including medical records, medication logs, imaging results, physician notes, and internal communications. Once a malpractice claim becomes likely, preserving that evidence becomes extremely important. A medical malpractice lawyer can send preservation notices requesting that records and other evidence connected to the patient’s treatment remain intact during the lawsuit.
Can You Still File a Lawsuit if You Signed Hospital Paperwork Before Treatment?
Yes. Signing consent forms before surgery or medical treatment does not automatically prevent you from filing a malpractice lawsuit. Consent forms acknowledge known medical risks connected to treatment, but they do not excuse negligent medical care, surgical mistakes, medication errors, delayed diagnoses, or other treatment failures causing injury.
Speak With a WellStar Kennestone Hospital Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you suffered injuries after treatment at WellStar Kennestone Hospital, you may have the right to pursue compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit. Hospitals, physicians, and malpractice insurers fight these claims aggressively, particularly in cases involving permanent injuries or wrongful death, so you want an equally diligent team on your side.
The Champion Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.C. represents injured patients and families pursuing claims tied to negligent treatment. Contact our personal injury law firm today to schedule a free consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer and learn how we can help you recover the compensation you deserve.