Hollywood Medical Malpractice Lawyer
The patient-doctor relationship requires a strong level of trust and faith. We visit medical professionals to receive the care we need to recover from illnesses and injuries. As patients, we expect doctors to perform a certain standard of care and not make mistakes that could cause us further harm. When doctors breach this trust and cause further injury to their patients, they commit an act of medical malpractice. Under Florida law, you have the right to hold a doctor accountable for an act of medical malpractice. However, proving an instance of negligence requires the help of an experienced Hollywood medical malpractice attorney.
At Fischer Redavid PLLC, our Hollywood medical malpractice lawyers have the knowledge and resources necessary to protect your right to compensation.
- Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for clients in personal injury cases, including automobile accidents, premises liability, medical malpractice, and more.
- Our Hollywood medical malpractice lawyer operates on a contingency fee basis. You will not pay legal fees unless you receive a settlement.
- Fischer Redavid will advance all costs associated with your case, including investigation costs, expert consultation, and filing fees. Our attorneys will take a fixed percentage of your settlement for payment, lowering your out-of-pocket costs.
Contact Fischer Redavid PLLC today to schedule your free and confidential case consultation.
Hollywood Medical Malpractice Resources:
- How do you file a medical malpractice claim in Florida?
- Do you need a Hollywood medical malpractice lawyer?
- Examples of medical negligence?
- What is the difference between medical malpractice and medical negligence?
- What are the most common medical malpractice claims?
- What is the claims process?
- How long do you have to file a claim?
How Do You File a Medical Malpractice Claim in Florida?
Medical malpractice can occur due to a number of factors. Misdiagnosis, failure to provide the correct surgery, or giving a patient the wrong medication can all contribute to medical malpractice. However, your attorney will need to prove four elements in order to establish a strong malpractice case.
- Your doctor owed you a duty of care. In order to prove this element, your attorney will establish that you had a doctor-patient relationship. Doctors have an obligation to provide patients with the best care they can provide.
- Your doctor breached the duty of care. Medical malpractice does not refer to situations where a doctor could not remove a tumor fragment or find a cure for an unknown disease. If your doctor failed to provide you with treatment that another similarly trained and educated doctor would have known to give, he or she breached the duty of care.
- The breach of care caused your injuries. For example, your doctor misdiagnosed your cancer as another condition and that misdiagnosis led to the progression of the cancer.
- The injury harmed you. For example, if you could have avoided painful chemotherapy treatments if your doctor diagnosed you correctly early on, you could claim damages. Medical malpractice can lead to physical pain, disability, further medical bills, extensive treatment, emotional suffering, and lost income.
Your Hollywood medical malpractice attorney will have to prove each of these elements in order to successfully litigate your claim. Attending a free consultation with a Hollywood medical malpractice lawyer can help you determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit. After meeting with an attorney, you can begin the claim and investigation process. Your attorney will file all necessary paperwork in civil court to begin the claim. He or she will also collect evidence, seek expert testimony from medical professionals, and investigate the circumstances of your injury.
Do You Need a Hollywood Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
Having a medical malpractice attorney on your side can provide numerous benefits for you case.
- Your attorney will have access to medical experts who can provide testimony and strengthen your claim.
- Your attorney will handle all paperwork and filing processes so that you can focus on recovery, not deadlines.
- Your attorney has the tools and the authority necessary to conduct an in-depth investigation into the circumstances of your injury.
- Your attorney will be able to identify if you have a valid claim and the best way to express the facts of your case in the courtroom.
Examples of Medical Negligence
Medical malpractice can occur through a variety of different actions. Any medical professional with a duty of care can commit an act of negligence: physicians, nurses, midwives, surgeons, obstetricians, dentists, lab technicians, anesthesiologists, and others. With the help of one of our Hollywood medical malpractice attorneys, you can also hold an entity liable for malpractice injuries, such as residential care homes or hospitals.
Common forms of medical malpractice include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Performing surgery in the wrong area
- Failure to recognize symptoms of a condition
- Improper and unnecessary testing techniques
- Ordering an unnecessary surgery
- Failure to diagnose a condition
- Improper aftercare instruction and oversight
- Performing a medical procedure without obtaining informed consent
Medical malpractice can lead to serious injuries, worsening conditions, and additional illnesses or disabilities. Common injuries suffered by victims of medical negligence include:
- Allergic reactions to certain medications or vaccines
- Rejection of an organ due to blood type incompatibility
- Severe pain due to insufficient anesthesia
- Overdose on a medication due to an improper prescription or too much anesthesia
- Birth injuries, such as brain damage, due to insufficient fetal monitoring
- Worsening condition due to lack of specialist support or insufficient treatment
- Loss of a vital body part due to wrongful removal
- Birth defects or miscarriage due to inadequate testing of an expectant mother
What Is the Difference Between Medical Negligence and Medical Malpractice?
Attorneys cannot establish medical malpractice without the existence of medical negligence. Medical malpractice refers to an instance of medical negligence that causes serious injury to a patient. Medical negligence refers to the action and the breach of care.
Not all cases of medical negligence end up as medical malpractice claims. For example, another doctor can quickly recognize the errors the negligent doctor made and provide treatment before you suffer further injury or illness.
What Are the Most Common Medical Malpractice Claims?
While medical malpractice circumstances vary from case to case, certain claims are more common than others.
- Childbirth injuries are a common form of medical negligence. The labor and delivery processes are common medical procedures and many attending physicians receive extensive training in this area. However, a number of fetal injuries can arise due to negligent prenatal care, failure to monitor a baby’s oxygen and heart rate, failure to order a Cesarean section, or incompetent removal of the baby using forceps or vacuum.
- Surgeons can also make mistakes in the operating room. Surgeons can operate on the wrong body part, damage internal organs, or accidentally leave medical instruments in the body, and their nursing staff can neglect proper aftercare.
- Medication errors are also unfortunately common. Sometimes, doctors write incorrect dosages on prescriptions or a nurse administers the incorrect dose. Medication errors can lead to overdose or the worsening of a condition.
- Doctors can also misdiagnose or delay diagnosis for patients. Misdiagnosis leads many patients to miss treatment opportunities that could prevent death, or experience condition worsening or serious injury.
- An anesthesiologist can also perform medical malpractice by administering too much or too little anesthesia. Anesthesiologists may also fail to monitor patient vitals, use defective equipment, or fail to properly insert a breathing tube. These actions can lead to severe pain during surgery, death, or serious injury.
Have you suffered injuries due to medical negligence? Contact Fischer Redavid PLLC today to schedule a free consultation with a Hollywood medical malpractice lawyer at our Hollywood, Florida offices.
What Is the Claim Process?
When you obtain the services of a Hollywood medical malpractice attorney, you will schedule a free consultation and discuss the circumstances of your case. If your attorney believes that an act of malpractice occurred and the at-fault party refuses to settle, you can move forward with the lawsuit. He or she will file paperwork in a Florida civil court on your behalf and notify the defendants of the impending action.
The medical malpractice claims process consists of five steps: investigation, claim, negotiation, filing, and trial.
- During the investigation period, your attorney will look into the circumstances surrounding the medical malpractice. He or she will collect evidence that the medical professional was negligent while caring for you. Your attorney may obtain medical records, patient charts, doctor’s notes, aftercare instructions, discharge paperwork, and other documents related to your injury. In addition, your attorney may obtain the services of a medical expert to validate the act of negligence and testify on your behalf.
- The attorney will then create a claim to support your medical malpractice case. This claim will contain your allegations along with the collected evidence. In the claim, your attorney will take inventory of your injuries and make the argument that the health care professional acted in negligence.
- During the negotiation process, you and your attorney will meet with the defendant(s) and their legal representation to discuss the case. In many medical malpractice cases, the two parties reach a settlement during this stage. However, if you do not reach a settlement, your case will go to trial.
- If you do not reach a settlement, your attorney will file an official lawsuit in Florida civil court. You and the defendant may continue negotiations through this period if you wish to do so.
- Finally, your lawsuit will reach the courtroom. A judge and jury will oversee your case and both parties will have the opportunity to present evidence. The jury will decide if an incident of malpractice occurred and how much money you may receive in settlement.
At the end of this process, you can receive compensatory damages for a number of losses. Damages can be economic, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and treatment costs. Some damages are non-economic, such as pain and suffering. In the state of Florida, you can claim up to $500,000 for non-economic damages.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?
Florida law sets a statute of limitations before which you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Unlike many personal injury cases, you may not know about your medical malpractice injury until a few weeks, months, or even years after the incident.
In Florida, you have two years from the date of discovery to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. At the latest, you can file your claim four years from the date of the malpractice. The date of discovery refers to the date on which you found out about the injury or when you should have known about it.
The only exception to the statute of limitations is if the medical professional concealed the malpractice from you. In these cases, you have two years from the date of discovery or seven years from the date of the malpractice.
