What Happens If a Hospital Does Not Provide a SART Exam?

When a woman goes to the emergency room after being sexually assaulted, there's a short window where evidence collection matters - physically, medically, and legally. That's the purpose of a SART exam, a Sexual Assault Response Team exam. Most states and most hospital protocols require facilities to have a trained SANE nurse available or a clear plan to transfer the patient to one. When a hospital skips that step, says it's "not available tonight," or rushes someone through a general exam without proper evidence collection, it isn't just a lapse in care. It's a failure of a legal duty, and the consequences for the patient can last for years. Sometimes it's the quiet failures that end up mattering most.

Evidence that should have been preserved - DNA, injury documentation, a timeline established by a trained examiner - is gone. It doesn't magically reappear the next day. So if the survivor later chooses to pursue criminal charges, her case may be significantly weaker, not because of anything she did wrong, but because the facility didn't do its job.

And beyond the legal impact, there's the physical and emotional toll: untreated injuries, missed preventive care for STIs or pregnancy, and the trauma of being turned away or mishandled during one of the worst moments of someone's life. That combination of harm is exactly why medical negligence and hospital liability laws exist.

What many people don't realize is that hospitals can be held accountable in civil court, regardless of what happens in the criminal case - or even if there is no criminal case at all. If a facility had a duty to provide a SART exam under state regulations or its own policies and didn't, that's a potential negligence claim. If staff acted dismissively, gave incorrect information about a patient's rights, or discouraged her from seeking the exam elsewhere, that can strengthen the case.

These aren't rare technicalities. They happen more often than people think, especially at smaller or under-resourced hospitals that don't keep SANE-trained staff on call. It's important that medical facilities understand and abide by the proper laws. For instance, there have been times when a hospital claims that a police department must request the SART exam before conducting one; this is false. There are many wonderful people who work in emergency care... however, the laws and procedures were written to protect survivors - which necessitate compliance.

The hardest part is that most survivors don't learn the exam was skipped until much later - maybe when a detective mentions the missing evidence, or when they start asking why nothing was documented properly. By then, many assume it's too late to do anything. It usually isn't.

Georgia gives injured parties time to bring a claim, and an attorney familiar with these cases can review hospital records, staffing logs, and internal protocols to pinpoint where the breakdown occurred and whether it rises to legal liability.

If you or someone you love went to a hospital after an assault and left without the exam you should have received, it's worth having a conversation with someone who understands both the medical standards and the legal implications. This is exactly the kind of case our firm, Cohen Hirsch, LP, handles.

You shouldn't have to carry the weight of a system that failed you, and you shouldn't have to figure out alone whether you have a case. Reach out to Cohen Hirsch, LP for a confidential consultation. Sometimes the first step toward accountability is simply saying the question out loud.

If you are unsure whether you should have been provided with a SART exam, please reach out to a law firm who can help you. At Cohen Hirsch, your initial consultation is free. We are compassionate and understand the difficulty survivors are already facing, so let us assist you.