Are you a victim of medical malpractice in Florida? You could potentially sue for compensation. Contrary to popular belief, medical malpractice is more common than people think. If a patient endured injuries & suffering because a healthcare professional failed to follow standard protocols or didn’t adhere to the standard of care, the latter is liable for damages. However, winning such lawsuits is not easy because of inherent challenges. If you believe that you have a valid claim, consider talking to a Miami medical malpractice lawyer at the earliest. Here are some key aspects worth knowing. Click here to check their website.
Understanding medical malpractice
It is hard to understand the scope of medical malpractice, but there are notable examples. For instance, if you were misdiagnosed and given wrong medications, the doctor is liable for your suffering. A missed diagnosis can also have other severe consequences for patients. Many medical malpractice cases involve surgical errors, which may leave a patient with devastating consequences, including the need for additional corrective surgeries. Other examples include anesthesia errors, issues related to wrong prescriptions, and birth injuries.
Proving medical malpractice in Florida
As we mentioned, winning a medical malpractice case in Florida can be hard. You have to prove a few things –
- You shared a doctor-patient relationship with the concerned doctor.
- The doctor was negligent or didn’t adhere to the standard of care
- You sustained injuries because of the doctor’s negligence
If you win the lawsuit, you can claim compensation for both economic and noneconomic losses. A medical malpractice lawsuit can help you recover medical bills, the cost of corrective surgeries and additional treatments, lost wages, lost future income, and other losses. You can also seek compensation for your pain and suffering. In some cases, patients can also sue the doctor or surgeon for loss of consortium.
Do you need a lawyer?
No surgeon or doctor would ever admit their fault right away. People are often surprised to know that hospitals, nursing homes, and medical facilities in the US pay huge every year in settlements for medical malpractice and negligence cases. However, it is not easy suing the big names. These healthcare services and professionals have the best lawyers and huge financial resources at their disposal. Until you have a reliable injury lawyer on your side, your chances are slim.
Contact an attorney soon after you discover a possible case of medical malpractice. You have limited time to take action. The statute of limitations in Florida allows two years for the victim to pursue a lawsuit.
What to Know Before Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
With an average of 250,000 medical malpractice death claims being filed in the United States every year, we know that they are very common. Most people, however, don’t understand what exactly goes on behind the scenes of a medical malpractice case. They don’t know what it takes to sue a doctor for malpractice or what effect it might have on medical providers all across the nation.
What does this mean for those who wish to file a claim against a doctor’s negligence that caused a patient to become injured or die? Continue reading to learn what you should know before deciding to sue a doctor for medical malpractice.
Disfigurement, Loss of Ability to Experience Life’s Pleasure, Permanent or Temporary Loss of Function
Let’s imagine a situation where a surgical error results in loss of part or all the jaw bones of a patient. As a result, the person endures physical suffering from the surgery and every time, he tries to eat.
But there are more to his physical pain and suffering. Emotional stress presses heavily on the injured as he might feel depressed and embarrassed due to disfigurement. The plaintiff would be awarded compensation if they jury find that the injured has suffered impairment or a permanent loss of function due to the jaw bone surgery.
The jury, in all probability, would take into consideration the injured plaintiff’s loss of ability to enjoy life’s entertainment and pleasures such as, eating or kissing. Remember that everything is based on the proofs of what the patient used to enjoy before his injury and what he lost after it.
A jury can consider other aspects such as, the expected lifespan of the plaintiff, his lifestyle habits and whether the person was in good health before suffering the injury to figure out the sum of compensation.
Demographics also figures in proving pain and suffering. A teenage girl or a promising model is most likely to receive higher compensation than a 65-year old person. In a nutshell, the jury award for compensation is subjective and that explains for its ‘inconsistent’ character.
What Should You Know About Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice claims can be brought against anyone in the medical field whose actions resulted in the injury or death of a patient. This includes hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies. Medical malpractice is when a medical professional fails to meet the Standard of Care.
Medical negligence ranks as the third leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease and cancer.
The common types of medical malpractice are:
- Failure to diagnose and misdiagnosis
- Major errors including surgical errors, medication errors, birth injuries
- Failure to warn patient about risks
- Failure to check-in with the patient
In most instances, these death and injuries occur even though it was completely preventable. If it hadn’t been for the doctor’s actions, the victim might still be alive or uninjured.
The idea that at any time a medical provider, i.e., physician, surgeon, anesthesiologist, pharmacist, might make a critical mistake causes so much stress on anyone in the medical field. Sometimes this stress becomes so great that the chance of burnout increases among medical providers.
Not Every Case Goes to Trial
Most malpractice cases are settled before it goes to trial. As a matter of fact, only around 7 percent of cases make it to the trial stage of the process. For a case to go to trial, the cost of the death or injury will usually outweigh the cost of litigation. In most cases, it is cheaper for the doctor (and their insurance company) to settle than to pay for the costs of litigation.
When Do You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
Time is of the essence. As soon as you realize that you or your loved one was a victim of malpractice, you need to hire a medical malpractice attorney. A medical lawyer is going to be well-versed in medical malpractice cases and will be able to help you win your case.
Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, you may have a potential lawsuit. If this is the case, you need to act on it as soon as possible. Hiring a medical lawyer will be the best decision you could ever have made when it comes to building a solid case.
If you found this post helpful, check out our other law-related posts for more great content.
