Florida Medical Malpractice Rules You Should Be Aware Of

Rules surrounding medical malpractice can be so complex even legal professionals have a hard time grasping the concept of negligence in relation to medical providers. 

This is why we put together a simple article outlining all the main Florida medical malpractice rules including details on what’s considered malpractice in the first place. 

Let’s get started. 

What is considered medical malpractice?

Florida medical malpractice rules are very strict and your case must meet various standards to be considered valid. Not every unsuccessful procedure makes for a valid case. In fact, complications with some medical procedures are very common and may even lead to death, despite the doctor’s best efforts.

The elements required in a malpractice case include:

• Existence of a formal doctor-patient relationship
• Negligence
• Injury
• Breach of accepted standards of care
• Causation

More precisely, Florida medical malpractice rules state that you must demonstrate that a physician failed to provide adequate care. This generally requires testimony from a medical expert practicing in the same field as the defendant. 

Furthermore, it’s also necessary to prove negligence directly led to your injury. 

Common types of medical malpractice cases

To help you understand the matter a lot better, here are some examples of common medical malpractice claims:

1. Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis occurs when a medical professional fails to identify a condition. This can lead to later problems, such as incorrect treatment which often leads the condition to worsen. 

Since timing is often essential to providing medical treatment, misdiagnosis can cause the issue to become untreatable, leading to irreversible complications or death. 

Florida medical malpractice rules state that for misdiagnosis to be considered malpractice, the treating physician must have missed something another medical professional of similar skill level wouldn’t. 

2. Surgical errors

Surgical errors are also very common. The surgeon may perform the wrong procedure, perform an unnecessary surgery, cause damage to tissues, nerves, or organs, or provide an inadequate level of aftercare. 

In some cases, surgeons may even accidentally leave medical equipment inside the patient.

It’s important to make a clear distinction between a clear surgical mistake and the risk of the procedure itself. If you were affected by any risks the doctor informed you of, you sadly don’t have a valid malpractice case. 

On the other hand, if an error that shouldn’t have happened occurred during the procedure, you have the right to file a claim. 

3. Failure to treat

When a patient is diagnosed correctly but the physician never follows through with the diagnosis, they are liable for any ensuing injuries. For example, a physician may prematurely discharge a patient, provide suboptimal follow-up care, and so on. 

4. Prescription drug errors

It’s quite common for doctors to order or fill the wrong prescription, causing a wide array of problems, especially if they interfere with other medications the patient is taking. 

5. Anesthesia errors

Anesthesia keeps patients from feeling pain during surgery. Yet, if the anesthesiologist provides you with the wrong dose of anesthetic, they can cause intense consequences, such as pain, trauma, brain injury, or even death. 

In addition, if the anesthesiologist fails to monitor your vital signs properly while you’re under anesthesia or use defective equipment, you might have a malpractice case on your hands.

6. Failure to prevent an infection

When staying in hospitals, patients are at a high risk of developing an infection. This often happens if the conditions are unsanitary or physicians use unsterilized equipment. In such circumstances, the hospital or the staff may be guilty of failing to prevent an infection due to poor sanitation standards.

Malpractice can also occur if infection develops and doctors fail to treat it. 

Damages you can recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit

A medical malpractice lawsuit allows you to recover economic losses such as medical costs, lost wages, and loss of future earnings. These damages are easy to substantiate because they have a clear dollar value. 

In contrast, non-economic damages are hard to quantify and are awarded to cover compensation for non-material effects of the injury, including:

• Loss of quality of life
• Mental anguish
• Anxiety
• Acute pain
• Loss of consortium

Currently, there is no cap on damages in malpractice cases in Florida.

How to find the right medical malpractice attorney?

If you believe you were a victim of negligence, you should reach out to a specialized attorney immediately. This allows you to recover in peace while you have a legal professional sorting out the technical details of your claim. 

Yet, not all attorneys are equally qualified. For malpractice cases, the skill and the experience of your attorney have a direct impact on the outcome of the case. Even though some personal injury attorneys offer affordable medical malpractice services, you'll benefit more from choosing someone who specializes in malpractice.

Why?

Simple. Because malpractice is such a complex field, an inexperienced attorney may end up making mistakes that could harm your case. Plus, since most malpractice cases are settled off court, you should hire someone who can negotiate the right deal and help you avoid a lengthy litigation process.

Start the fight for justice

While the Florida medical malpractice rules are complex, you have no other choice but to file a claim to recover compensation. Considering a medical professional’s mistake can lead to lifelong health issues, you’re entitled to be made whole again. 

While there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever make a full recovery or erase the trauma, recovering full compensation is a good first step towards healing. 

A lawyer's experience will play a key role in the process. This is why we recommend you hire one of the most experienced and effective malpractice attorneys in the Sunshine State - Sowell Chakour. 

We’ve created our law firm with the intent to focus strictly on this area of the law. As such, we put together an effective legal team that has extensive experience not only with the law but also the medical field. For example, our leading attorney has worked for years as a qualified surgeon. 

This approach can be described as unorthodox, but ask any of our former clients, it sure does make the difference when it comes to working such complex cases as medical malpractice-

Schedule a free case consultation - call (833) 633-6257 or fill out our contact form.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.