Maybe, but not necessarily. First, doctors sometimes “admit” mistakes to patients, but then change their story by the time a lawsuit is filed and they’re testifying at their deposition or at trial. Other times, what a patient hears as an admission of fault may really just be an expression of remorse. For example, “I’m so sorry the outcome wasn’t better, I wish this complication hadn’t happened.”
Further, even when a doctor does express regret, Georgia law severely restricts a medical malpractice victim’s ability to use the doctor’s words at trial. OCGA § 24-3-37.1 states:
“In any claim or civil action brought by or on behalf of a patient allegedly experiencing an unanticipated outcome of medical care, any and all statements, affirmations, gestures, activities, or conduct expressing benevolence, regret, apology, sympathy, commiseration, condolence, compassion, mistake, error, or a general sense of benevolence which are made by a health care provider or an employee or agent of a health care provider to the patient, a relative of the patient, or a representative of the patient and which relate to the unanticipated outcome shall be inadmissible as evidence and shall not constitute an admission of liability or an admission against interest.”
Occasionally, but very rarely, we’ll see cases where a doctor candidly tells a patient that an avoidable mistake occurred. Those cases tend to settle quickly. But most often when any doctor offers what may sound like an apology, it’s not as helpful for your case as you might otherwise think.