What is the difference between a medical malpractice lawsuit and a personal injury lawsuit?

Medical malpractice lawsuits and personal injury lawsuits are both forms of civil lawsuits, however they differ in several ways. Medical malpractice cases involve a breach of duty by a healthcare provider, such as a doctor, nurse, hospital or other medical professional, resulting in harm to a patient. Personal injury cases involve a party’s negligence that causes harm to another person either in the form of physical injuries or economic harm, such as loss of time or wages. In Georgia, the standard of proof for a medical malpractice lawsuit is that the healthcare provider acted negligently and fell short of the accepted "standard of care" in the community. This means that they did not address a health issue in the same manner that any reasonably competent doctor in Georgia would. In other words, the healthcare provider must have acted outside the range of acceptable medical practice. For a personal injury case, an injured person must prove that a responsible party was negligent and that their negligence caused the injury. The standard of proof is that the responsible party owed everyone a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach of duty caused the injury and damages. In conclusion, medical malpractice and personal injury cases both involve negligence, but the requirements to prove negligence and liability are different in each case. In medical malpractice cases, the medical professional must have acted outside the standard of care. In a personal injury case, a responsible party must have breached their duty of care, resulting in injury.

What is the difference between a medical malpractice lawsuit and a personal injury lawsuit?

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