What You Need to Know Before Filing a Medical Malpractice Suit in Florida

Medical malpractice injuries can occur at any time. Any practice by a medical professional that is not the standard by the medical field is known as medical malpractice or negligence. Therefore, you should consult a Miami medical malpractice lawyer right away if you are a victim of negligence. As a patient, you depend on the expertise of physicians and their staff and put their trust in them to help you with your health problems. Unfortunately, sometimes medical professionals or their staff can be negligent. It is important you seek a Miami Medical Malpractice attorney right away to assist you in your case.

Our experience, hard work, and determination are all key factors which will lead us as we fight for the justice you deserve. We are a team of professionals who will work tirelessly to defend you, no matter the complexity of your medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice cases are fundamentally about holding medical providers accountable for the harm they’ve caused, and if you’re suffering, then you are legally entitled to seek compensation. If you are successful, you may find that you can live a more comfortable life despite your injuries in addition to some financial relief after spending thousands of dollars on unnecessary or harmful medical treatments.

At Suarez & Montero, many of our clients experience this same crisis when trying to figure out whether they should pursue a medical malpractice claim. We understand how agonizing it can be to navigate through the complex legal process. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys can make your life a little easier by providing you with all of the information you need and keeping you informed throughout the entire process. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most important parts of a medical malpractice claim.

What is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

Medical malpractice occurs when a person is injured or otherwise harmed by a healthcare provider who fails to properly treat or diagnose an illness. If the plaintiff is able to prove his or her case by a greater weight of the evidence, the healthcare provider will be responsible for any damages. This means that the healthcare provider will be responsible to pay for any financial expenses like medical bills and lost income, as well as non-economic damages like pain and suffering. The civil court system allows us to hold negligent healthcare providers accountable for their actions.

What Is the Standard of Care in Florida?

Like most types of personal injury lawsuits, the likelihood of success in a medical malpractice case will greatly depend on the legal theory of negligence. Negligence can only occur if there is an established relationship between the healthcare provider and you as the plaintiff. You cannot, for example, argue that a doctor who has never treated your injuries committed negligence. There has to be an existing doctor-patient relationship in place, one that was disrupted when they failed to meet the appropriate standard of care. In the practice of medicine, the standard of care is how a doctor or nurse’s actions on the surgical table or in the hospital are measured. No matter the context, all healthcare professionals are expected to have the knowledge and qualifications to make reasonable decisions about your medical treatment.

If you can prove that your doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider did not apply the appropriate standard of care, and that a reasonably careful healthcare provider under the exact same conditions would have acted differently, then that can be considered negligence. Arguing that a healthcare provider failed to meet the standard of care is fundamental in medical malpractice cases. The prevailing professional standard of care in Florida for any given health care provider shall be that level of care, skill, and treatment which, in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.

Restrictions and Requirements for Medical Malpractice Claims

There are some limits and regulations you should be aware of if you are considering a medical malpractice claim. The most important thing to keep in mind is the statute of limitations: Most states only allow a few years after discovering your injuries to file a claim. In Florida, you have two years to file and the time begins to run from the date the malpractice was discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due care. Before filing suit, Florida law also requires you to conduct a presuit investigation of the claim for medical negligence and obtain a supporting opinion from a medical expert in the same specialty.

Fla. Stat. § 766.104 Medical negligence cases; reasonable investigation required before filing. (1) No action shall be filed for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence, whether in tort or in contract, unless the attorney filing the action has made a reasonable investigation as permitted by the circumstances to determine that there are grounds for a good faith belief that there has been negligence in the care or treatment of the claimant. The complaint or initial pleading shall contain a certificate of counsel that such reasonable investigation gave rise to a good faith belief that grounds exist for an action against each named defendant. For purposes of this section, good faith may be shown to exist if the claimant or his or her counsel has received a written opinion, which shall not be subject to discovery by an opposing party, of an expert as defined in s. 766.102 that there appears to be evidence of medical negligence.

Once you conduct your presuit investigation, you must notify the healthcare provider, institution, or hospital that that you plan on bringing a claim. This is called a “Notice of Intent” under Florida Statutes Chapter 766. In medical malpractice claims, it takes an experienced attorney to determine who is liable for a patient’s injuries and damages. Some clients will come in and want to blame the doctor for their injuries, but many times we’ll find that the hospital was negligent too. Making sure we hold accountable all negligent parties is one of the most important functions of medical malpractice attorneys. Florida law allows you to sue hospitals, doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals if they injure you. However, to obtain compensation for injuries, a plaintiff has the burden of proving the elements of a medical malpractice cause of action by the greater weight of the evidence. The elements of a cause of action for medical malpractice are:

1) a duty of care owed by the health care provider to the injured patient;

2) breach of that duty by failure to abide by the appropriate standard of care; and

3) a causal connection between the breach and the patient’s injury or death.

This is all the more reason to hire an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who regularly handles complex medical negligence cases.

Contact our Miami Medical Malpractice Lawyers Today!

Medical malpractice claims are complex because they involve highly technical medical and legal facts. Because health care providers are also heavily insured, these claims can be contested aggressively by companies that put profits over people and want only to deny or minimize your compensation. As such, working with a skilled medical malpractice lawyer in Florida can make all the difference in your case. If you have additional questions about your medical malpractice case, you should contact an experienced Miami medical malpractice attorney today!

The attorneys at Suarez & Montero protect your rights, understand how the medical malpractice process works and know how to present a strong medical malpractice claim. We encourage you to reach out so that we can explain more about the different ways that our law firm and attorneys can provide legal help and guidance with your medical malpractice claim. Make an appointment with us at one of our many locations. Our skillful attorneys are genuinely committed to our clients. We will fight to make sure that you get the maximum amount of compensation owed to you.