Suing A Hospital For Medical Malpractice

If you suffer an injury because of a medical error, you may be able to sue the “offending” physician, as well as the healthcare facility directly for their negligence. In Florida, you can also file a lawsuit against the facility for vicarious liability if their staff member caused your malpractice injury.

Medical negligence often leads to injuries that are extensive, leaving the patient requiring long-term care. Fortunately, by bringing forth a lawsuit against the liable parties, the patient can recover compensation for treatment, care, and other expenses and recuperation efforts easier.

Here’s everything you need to know about hospital malpractice.

What is medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice is the situation in which a medical institution, doctor, or other health professional causes injury to a patient with a negligent action or omission. Negligence might transpire due to errors in diagnosis, treatment, or aftercare. 

There are strict legal criteria for what constitutes malpractice, including:

• 
  Violation of the standard of care - legally speaking, medical standard of care is the degree of care a prudent physician or medical professional would exercise under particular circumstances. If these standards aren’t met and they lead to an injury, there is an element of negligence. 
• Injury was caused by the negligent act - if a medical professional violated a standard of care, it doesn’t mean the medical malpractice is valid. The plaintiff must also prove that the injury they sustained wouldn’t have occurred if the negligent event didn’t happen.
• Injury resulted in damages - for a valid case, the plaintiff must show that damages resulted due to the injury. In other words, they must have incurred significant medical bills, lost income, or other forms of damage such as pain and suffering. 

When is a hospital directly responsible for medical malpractice?

In some cases, the medical institution may be directly liable for medical malpractice. For instance, if the hospital is familiar (or should have reasonably known) that some of its staff had a history of making mistakes or worked under the influence of substances. 

Similarly, the hospital may also be liable if it didn’t take the proper precautions or implemented procedures to prevent the occurrence of medical errors. 

Lastly, if the medical facilities allow patients to get discharged early without providing them with adequate care or instructions, they are directly liable for the damages.

If you’re unsure whether hospital malpractice applies to your case, contact an attorney immediately. Each case is different and may require a close investigation by an experienced legal professional. A malpractice attorney can analyze the circumstances and identify which parties are liable for damages, which often includes ascertaining whether a healthcare facility is liable. 

What is vicarious liability?

In Florida, a healthcare organization is directly responsible for omissions or acts made by their employees. This doctrine is referred to as respondeat superior (“the master must answer” in Latin). Put differently, if a nurse, physician, pharmacist, technician, or other staff member makes a medical mistake, the hospital is financially liable for the consequences of their staff members’ mistake. 

Respondeat superior or vicarious liability may apply in the following circumstances:

• Misdiagnosis of a condition
• Surgical mistakes
• Incorrect monitoring of a patient
• Prescribing incorrect medication or the wrong dosage 
• Failing to report or ignoring clear or suspected symptoms
• Incomplete follow-up of a particular diagnosis

When it comes to hospital malpractice and vicarious liability, there are exceptions and the hospital may be shielded from liability for their staff’s malpractice. For example, if a medical mistake occurred in a healthcare facility under the ownership of a governmental entity, the facility isn’t responsible for your injuries. 

Another common scenario where the hospital is shielded is if the negligent physician was in fact an independent contractor. The doctor may have admitting privileges at the medical institution without being an attending physician. Many medical professionals prefer working like this, so if the doctor informs you of their independent contractor status, they will be solely responsible for what took place.

Technically, the hospital is also exempt from liability if the physician who caused harm to a patient exceeded the scope of employment as defined in their contract, or acted negligently outside of their scheduled hours. 

When should you file a malpractice suit?

Although it seems you have ample time to file a hospital malpractice claim, you must do it within an allocated time frame. This is called the statute of limitations set at two years in the Sunshine State. It starts when you discover an injury caused by medical evidence. 

While there are exceptions that may extend the deadline (mostly in cases with minors or children), if you miss it, you will lose your right to recover damages. Hence, you should act quickly and retain an attorney who will start investigating your case in a timely manner and see to it that your claim is filed within a reasonable time. 

What is the affidavit of merit?

In Florida, plaintiffs are required to support their suit with an expert affidavit that attests their case has merit. Attorneys generally create this affidavit by procuring a medical expert’s opinion. It may take a lot of time to prepare this affidavit, so when you combine it with the fact that the filing deadline is relatively short, it just makes it all the more important to hire an attorney as soon as possible. 

Get your hospital malpractice case off the ground

Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter and the technical nature of the medical field, malpractice cases are the most complex types of civil cases. This is why you shouldn’t contend with an attorney who primarily deals with personal injury - you want someone who also has deep experience with malpractice cases.

 
Here at Sowell Chakour, we only handle malpractice cases and have helped plenty of Florida citizens who suffered harm due to a physician recover millions of dollars in compensation. Due to our skills and knowledge, we’re capable of identifying and pursuing a case against all parties who bear liability for your harm, which includes both staff members and the medical institution. 

Schedule a case review by calling (833) 633-6257 or filling 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.