The Georgia Supreme Court recently issued a key ruling clarifying when the duty to preserve evidence arises in a medical malpractice case.

The case involved Lee Phillips and Santhonia Hector, who sued Henry Medical Center after their child suffered severe injuries during birth. The plaintiffs claimed that the hospital destroyed fetal heart monitor strips, which were vital to proving their case, and asked the court to issue a spoliation charge—a legal instruction to the jury about destroyed evidence.