There is nothing as devastating as watching a loved one suffer at the hands of another. Imagine your husband or child goes in for a routine operation and something goes wrong. Sadly, this happens all the time. Even doctors make mistakes. This is known as medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice is when any healthcare professional is negligent. We hold doctors and nurses to a high standard of care. They are trained experts and we should be able to trust that they know what they’re doing. However, nobody is perfect, and things do go wrong.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is when a healthcare professional violates their standard of care when taking care of a patient. This can be anything from prescribing the wrong medication to operating on the wrong body part.
The standard of care is the level of treatment which is reasonably considered appropriate by similar healthcare providers. In determining the standard of care, we take into account the condition and circumstances of the patient.
For example, if a doctor is aware that a patient has a heart condition, he must take this into account when prescribing medications. People with a heart condition cannot take certain drugs, such as some cold medicines. If a doctor prescribed a medicine that ends up hurting the patient, he may have been negligent.
Crestview Medical Malpractice Lawyers Understand Florida Law
Florida has its own rules when it comes to medical malpractice. You only have a certain period of time in which to file your medical malpractice claim. In Florida, this is two years. Unlike a car accident where you know when the two years starts, with medical malpractice, it’s a little trickier.
The two years stars when the plaintiff should have known that an injury occurred. It could be months or over a year before you find out there was negligence involved. Medical malpractice defense lawyers will argue that you should have known much sooner.
You want to rely on an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Crestview to prove your case. They can hire experts and do the case research to show when you actually learned that you had been injured.
Types of Malpractice Cases Personal Injury Attorneys in Florida Handle
There is really no limit to the types of medical malpractice cases. Florida personal injury attorneys see all types of cases. Here are some of the most common types:
- Misdiagnosis – A doctor sends a patient home with a prescription for bronchitis medicine and fails to do additional tests. It turns out a few months later the patient has lung cancer and the doctor failed to catch this.
- Surgical errors – A common situation involves doctors who leave surgical sponges inside the body by accident.
- Failure to treat – This is if a doctor is aware that a patient has a condition and tells him there’s no need to treat it. This is different from a misdiagnosis. Here, the doctor is aware something is wrong, he just chooses not to treat it.
- Birth injuries – In this type of claim, the baby may suffer oxygen deprivation due to a doctor’s negligence and end up with cerebral palsy.
- Prescription drug errors – Oftentimes a doctor prescribes a medication to a patient not realizing that it has a dangerous interaction with another medication the patient is taking.
Experienced medical malpractice attorneys know how to handle all of these types of cases.
Why Healthcare Professionals Carry Malpractice Insurance
Doctors and hospitals understand that mistakes happen. This is why doctors and nurses carry malpractice insurance. If you or a loved one have a claim for medical malpractice, you will have to file a claim against their insurance. If the insurance doesn’t pay the claim or doesn’t cover the entire claim, you will have to file a separate lawsuit.
The damages involved with a medical malpractice case include both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include things like lost wages and medical bills. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering.
Up until June of 2017, Florida used to limit pain and suffering to $500,000. They increased this to $1 million if the victim died or was left in a permanent vegetative state. However, in 2017, the courts ruled that this was unconstitutional. Florida now has no limit on pain and suffering.
You want an experienced attorney by your side to make sure you get the compensation you deserve. Proving damages is difficult and you do not want to attempt to do this yourself.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Crestview Today
If you or a loved one have been injured in a medical malpractice case, contact a personal injury lawyer today. There is no way you will want to go up against an insurance company alone. You will need to focus on getting better. Let your lawyer handle the legal side of things.
Remember, you shouldn’t wait too long to do this. The clock starts ticking right away and you don’t have much time. The law is very strict when it comes to the statute of limitations. You don’t want to miss a deadline and have your case thrown out.
Contact a personal injury lawyer in Florida today to book your first consultation. It is absolutely free and gives you a chance to ask any questions you may have. You will not have to pay until you win your case.