Georgia Appeals Court Affirms $40 Million Medical Negligence Lawsuit Against Doctor

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently affirmed a landmark $40 million medical negligence verdict against an emergency room physician at North Fulton Hospital. The appellate court’s verdict solidifies what is believed to be the largest emergency room medical malpractice lawsuit in Georgia’s history. This sends a powerful message to emergency rooms across the state. Medical professionals must meet the standard of care their patients deserve.

The $40 million verdict stems from the case of a 32-year-old man who suffered a brain stem stroke after receiving a chiropractic neck adjustment in October 2015. The patient arrived at North Fulton Hospital’s emergency department in need of immediate care. However, critical delays in diagnosis and treatment ultimately led the patient to develop “locked-in syndrome,” a catastrophic condition that leaves a person fully conscious but unable to move or speak.

At trial, which occurred in 2022, the jury found that the doctor and the hospital’s radiologist were grossly negligent, apportioning 60% of the fault to the emergency room doctor. The jury awarded the plaintiff $75 million in damages with $40 million attributed to the emergency room doctor’s share of the liability. In March 2025, the appellate upheld the verdict in full, rejecting the doctor’s arguments against the trial court’s rulings and affirming that his actions constituted gross negligence.

The case highlights the importance of timely and accurate stroke diagnosis in emergency medicine. Both the jury and the appellate court recognized that had the doctor properly communicated key clinical findings and sought the appropriate specialist intervention, the outcome for the plaintiff would have been significantly better.

Medical malpractice lawsuits and emergency medicine 

Medical malpractice lawsuits are different from other types of personal injury lawsuits when it comes to proving negligence. Plaintiffs must establish that the defendant doctor failed to provide the prevailing standard of care for the profession. To accomplish this, the plaintiff needs to provide an expert witness willing to testify on the plaintiff’s behalf.

 Emergency personnel at hospitals have to deal with patients in a serious crisis as quickly as they possibly can. For that reason, they are generally held to a lower standard of care than primary physicians or specialists. It can be very difficult to prove a medical malpractice case against an emergency room doctor. The plaintiff must establish not only that the doctor caused an adverse medical event, but in so doing, they failed to provide their patient with the prevailing standard of care for the profession.

In the case mentioned above, the doctor failed to timely diagnose the plaintiff with a stroke, leading to a catastrophic injury from which the plaintiff will never recover.

Talk to an Atlanta, GA Personal Injury Lawyer Today 

The Forsythe Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits filed against negligent doctors and hospitals. Call our office today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your case right away.

Source:

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