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How do Georgia malpractice attorneys evaluate lab result error claims?

Published November 7, 2026
No. 51 of 195 in this folder

Filed in Georgia Medical Malpractice FAQ

Last updated: November 7, 2026. Georgia law changes; check the date before relying on any deadline or rule below.

A lab error evaluation follows the result from the order to the decision it should have changed. The evaluation asks where the chain broke, who was responsible at that link, and whether the broken link more likely than not caused an injury (Zwiren v. Thompson, 2003). A wrong result alone is not a case; a wrong result that changed care for the worse can be.

Following the chain

Order. Was the right test ordered at the right time?
Collection. Was the specimen drawn from the right patient, labeled correctly, and handled properly?
Analysis. Was the test run correctly?
Reporting. Was the result sent to the right chart and, if critical, communicated directly?
Review. Did the ordering provider see the result?
Action. Did the provider respond as a careful provider would, including telling the patient?

The attorney looks for the first link that failed. Later links may also have failed, which affects how fault is divided (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33).

The records that answer each question

Link	Records
Order and collection	Requisition, collection log, specimen labels
Analysis	Lab report, any corrected or amended report
Reporting	Result transmission logs, critical-value call documentation
Review and action	EHR inbox records showing when a result was opened, follow-up notes, patient messages

When the lab and the ordering practice are separate, each is its own records custodian and has 30 days to answer a proper request (§ 31-33-2). Inbox and transmission logs may need a specific request.

The causation question

The attorney asks a qualified expert what would have happened if the result had been right and acted on. The answer has to be specific: an earlier diagnosis, a medication stopped before damage, an infection treated before it spread. If the correct result would not have changed care, the claim does not meet Georgia’s causation standard.

Classifying the claim

If the failure was clerical, such as filing a result in the wrong chart with no professional judgment involved, Georgia may treat it as ordinary negligence without the expert affidavit requirement (Upson County Hospital v. Head, 2000). If it involved interpretation or clinical decision-making, the complaint needs an affidavit from a qualified expert (§§ 9-11-9.1, 24-7-702). When uncertain, the attorney files the affidavit.

Reasons an evaluation ends

The error was caught before any decision relied on it.
The correct result would not have changed treatment.
The patient was told of the result and declined the recommended follow-up, which shifts fault (§ 51-12-33).
The two-year limitation period or five-year repose has run (§ 9-3-71).

Find the two dates that matter in a lab claim

Find the date the result was available in the system and the date anyone acted on it. The gap between those dates, and what happened to you during it, is what the attorney will evaluate.

This article explains Georgia law in general terms. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines in malpractice cases are short and fact-specific, so talk to a Georgia lawyer about your own situation.