Abogado de negligencia médica en Tampa

People go to the hospital to get well, not to get worse. Unfortunately, some hospital visits do not go according to plan. Surgeons operate on the wrong body part, emergency room doctors misdiagnose heart attacks, and nurses fail to administer the appropriate amount of medication. Hospitals require close attention to detail, and mistakes can happen even under the best circumstances. This is when you will need the help of a skilled medical malpractice attorney.

Medical negligence refers to the other types of mistakes: the kind that happen out of recklessness, a lack of training, or a lack of oversight. Failure to properly diagnose or treat conditions can result in life-altering injuries and Muerte por negligencia. In a hospital environment, some mistakes are preventable and unacceptable.

A form of medical malpractice, hospital negligence cases arise in hospital settings. When staff members including physicians, nurses, personnel, or technicians fail to use a reasonable level of care and patients suffer, the hospital or individual may face legal responsibility for the outcome. At Fiol & Morros Law Group, our Tampa Bay personal injury lawyers represent all patients who suffer injuries, illness, or complications as the result of a hospital caregiver's negligence.

¿Qué se considera negligencia médica?

Medical negligence, or medical malpractice, is any act or omission that falls short of an ordinary and prudent health care facility's standard of care. Any negligence on a health care professional's part, resulting in injuries or damages to a patient, is medical malpractice. A patient must generally establish four elements to prove a medical malpractice claim in Florida:

• En el momento de la presunta negligencia hospitalaria, existía una relación médico-paciente.
• El hospital o el médico proporcionaron una atención al paciente deficiente o negligente.
• The defendant's substandard care caused or contributed to the patient's injury.
• The patient suffered quantifiable damages because of the hospital's negligence.

The burden of proof in a Florida medical malpractice case requires showing that another similarly skilled professional would not have made the same judgment call or error.

¿Cuánto tiempo tengo para presentar una demanda por negligencia médica en Florida?

A statute of limitations in Florida assigns a length of time you have to file a medical malpractice and negligence claim. Statutes of limitations motivate claimants to file as quickly as possible, while evidence is still available for both parties. Each type of civil case has a different statute of limitations, and a medical negligence claim in Florida has a two-year deadline.

Since HB 837 (effective March 24, 2023), the general personal injury statute of limitations under F.S. §95.11(3)(a) has also been shortened to two years. As a result, medical malpractice and standard personal injury claims now share the same two-year filing window; the medical malpractice window is no longer half as long as a standard PI window, as it once was.

The two-year time limit will start counting down on the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the hospital's negligence. This may or may not be the same date the malpractice occurred. If you were the victim of a surgical error, for example, you may not discover a foreign object forgotten in your body until months after the surgery. The clock will not start ticking until the date of discovery. Regardless of when the malpractice occurred, however, you must file within four years. This is the statute of repose under F.S. §95.11(4)(b).

Florida Medical Malpractice Pre-Suit Requirements (F.S. §766.106)

Florida is one of the strictest states for medical malpractice claims. Before a lawsuit can be filed, claimants must complete a mandatory pre-suit investigation process under F.S. §766.106. Failing to follow these steps will result in dismissal of the case. The table below maps every required step and why each one matters for your claim.

¿Qué indemnización podría recibir?

If a hospital is guilty of negligence or medical malpractice, a civil claim could result in payment for many damages. Proving malpractice could make you eligible for a settlement award or a jury verdict. The hospital's insurance provider may agree to give you a settlement if it believes you have a valid claim. Otherwise, your medical malpractice attorney may need to take the hospital to court to fight for fair compensation for damages.

• Gastos de atención médica pasados y futuros
• Dolor o angustia física
• La angustia emocional
• Pérdidas de ingresos
• Pérdida de capacidad para ganar
• Pérdida del disfrute de la vida
• Pérdida del consorcio
• Grief and funeral expenses in a wrongful death case
• Punitive damages in cases of intentional misconduct or gross negligence

The compensation you could receive for a successful medical malpractice claim depends on your unique and specific losses. Your attorney can help you prove your damages using evidence such as medical bills, treatment documentation, medical expert testimony, and statements from people close to you, such as friends or family members. The potential value of your case will depend on the severity of the malpractice.

Leyes de negligencia médica de Florida

Medical negligence occurs when hospital staff members either fail to provide reasonable services or make an error during the course of treatment. To file a medical malpractice claim against a hospital or caregiver in Florida, a claimant must first obtain an affidavit from a medical expert that corroborates the opinion within the claim of negligence. Under the law, the medical expert must hold a professional degree and practice in the same or a similar discipline as the defendant in question.

In general, claimants must file a malpractice claim against a hospital or any professional caregiver within two years of discovering the injury. The state may extend or suspend the statute of limitations in certain cases, so we highly recommend contacting an attorney as soon as possible to begin reviewing your situation.

El costo de los errores médicos

Medical errors remain a leading, and largely preventable, driver of harm in the U.S. healthcare system. A widely cited peer-reviewed study published in the BMJ (Journal of Patient Safety, 2016) estimated that medical errors contribute to more than 250,000 deaths per year in the United States, making them one of the top causes of death nationally. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) continues to track the enormous financial and human costs tied to preventable harm:

• Preventable medical errors are estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $20 billion annually in additional care, extended hospitalizations, and lost productivity.
• Approximately 7% of hospital and other inpatient admissions result in some form of medical injury.
• Preventable errors are responsible for tens of thousands of avoidable deaths and hundreds of thousands of serious injuries each year.
• American workers and employers lose millions of days of work annually to short-term disability caused by preventable medical errors.

These figures underscore why holding hospitals and providers accountable is essential, not only for individual families but also for driving system-wide safety improvements.

Tipos de negligencia médica

Patients place a high degree of trust in hospital employees. Not all mistakes constitute negligence or malpractice. Malpractice only occurs if the professional acted incompetently and another similarly skilled professional would not have made the same judgment call or error. Some of the most common types of hospital negligence we see in our practice include:

Errores de medicación

Hospitals handle hundreds of different medications and patients on a daily basis. In a properly run environment, a physician writes an order for medication in a patient's medical record. The hospital pharmacist fills the prescription, and a nurse administers it and watches the patient for reactions or results. Hospitals need to give patients the right medication for a condition, in the right dosage, at the right frequency.

Failing to take allergies and interactions into consideration, providing the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, or the wrong frequency could result in serious medical complications. Patients with advocates at their sides who can actively monitor their own medication administration can reduce the risk of medication errors, but some patients receive medications while incapacitated and must rely entirely on hospital staff.

Lesiones al nacer

Muscle and nerve injuries, fractures, and misdiagnosed pregnancy conditions can all complicate the delivery process. A baby may also suffer if a physician uses the wrong medications or mishandles an infant in the moments after birth.

Algunas lesiones al nacer son accidentes terribles, mientras que otras resultan de casos claros de negligencia médica. Los padres pueden no darse cuenta de la presencia de una complicación hasta días o semanas después del parto. El retraso en el desarrollo cognitivo, la debilidad muscular y las enfermedades recurrentes pueden indicar la presencia de una lesión al nacer.

If you recognize abnormal symptoms in a baby, ask for documentation from the delivery process. Talk to nurses, and write down everything you remember happening in the hospital. To pursue a birth injury claim, a claimant must prove the illness or injury happened as the result of the delivery process and that an act of negligence caused it.

Errores quirúrgicos

Foreign objects left inside a patient. Surgical tools, sponges, and other items left inside a patient's body are a well-documented and preventable category of surgical error.

Operar en la parte del cuerpo o al paciente equivocado. Always ask your surgeon to mark the area of the body for surgery prior to the event to avoid confusion. Miscommunication in the hospital setting may result in a surgeon operating on the wrong patient or body part, performing an unnecessary surgery instead of the needed one.

Daños innecesarios. Surgeons must use extreme care, particularly when working around nerves and delicate body parts. If a surgeon carelessly makes the wrong move while performing surgery, a patient may suffer chronic pain, numbness, or other complications afterward. If you wake up from surgery with more pain or a condition you did not expect, the surgeon may have committed an act of malpractice.

Errores de anestesia. An anesthesiologist is a highly trained member of a health care team. The professional should understand the standards for administering anesthesia, including possible complications, drug interactions, and correct dosages. When anesthesiologists make mistakes, a patient might wake up too soon, or not at all.

Standard of Care by Medical Specialty: What Florida Law Requires

The "standard of care" is the benchmark every Florida malpractice case turns on. It is defined by what a reasonably competent healthcare professional in the same specialty, in the same or similar community, would do under the same circumstances (F.S. §766.102). The table below maps the standard of care for the specialties most commonly involved in Tampa malpractice claims.

Nuestro enfoque ante las reclamaciones por negligencia médica

Since 2002, Fiol & Morros Law Group has built a reputation of success in Florida. Our medical malpractice attorneys have decades of experience pursuing medical negligence claims in a state known for its stringent malpractice laws. We understand the effect a hospital error can have on your life, and we will relentlessly pursue your case against even the most well-known malpractice defense attorneys.

Cuando nos contacte con inquietudes sobre negligencia médica, lo atenderemos donde más nos necesite. Incluso podemos reunirnos con usted en el hospital. Nuestros abogados, con gran empatía, lo guiarán a través del proceso de reclamación e investigarán cada aspecto de su situación. Para que una reclamación por negligencia hospitalaria tenga éxito, necesitamos pruebas irrefutables de que una acción negligente o incompetente dentro del hospital causó su lesión, enfermedad o complicación.

Algunos hospitales y profesionales médicos intentarán encubrir las pruebas de negligencia. Le recomendamos encarecidamente que se ponga en contacto con un abogado en Florida lo antes posible para iniciar una investigación y preparar su caso. Juntos, podemos evitar que otros sufran negligencias similares.

Qué hacer si sospecha de negligencia médica

If you suspect medical malpractice or negligence, take the following steps to protect your right to file a claim:

• Record everything. Write down everything you remember before your memory starts to fade.
• Keep files, receipts, and records of all medical care you have received.
• Seek a second medical opinion from another healthcare professional.
• Contact a Florida medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.

Because the statute of limitations can run out and evidence can be lost, contact an attorney as soon as you suspect an act of negligence. During a free consultation, one of our attorneys can help you decide if moving forward with a claim makes sense.

Sus abogados especializados en negligencia médica

The attorneys at Fiol & Morros Law Group respect the work local hospitals do to protect residents in and around Florida. We also believe that the law acts as a much-needed check on medical authority. Especially if someone dies as a result of medical treatment, our wrongful death lawyers want to help. Allow us to serve as your legal representatives, and we will fight to secure full and fair compensation on your behalf.

We take all of our personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. As your law firm, our team can also represent you in front of insurance adjusters, employers, and bill collectors as we pursue your claim and help you find a path to maximum recovery.

Preguntas frecuentes sobre negligencia médica en Tampa