If you feel you are the victim of medical malpractice in the State of Florida, the first thing you might want to do is understand exactly what medical malpractice is. You may feel you have been mistreated based on race or nationality, but that is another matter altogether. The laws concerning medical malpractice are quite specific. According to the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys, ABPLB, medical malpractice results from a doctor, hospital, or other health care professional causing injury to a patient through negligence or omission. Let’s take a brief look at the most common medical malpractice claims in Florida.
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1. Failure to Diagnose or Misdiagnosis
Millions of Americans are misdiagnosed every year. A patient presents with particular symptoms that are overlooked (negligence) and suffers a loss. This is often difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s why most people who feel they were misdiagnosed or there was a failure to diagnose rely on a board-certified, professional Miami medical malpractice attorney. Always remember that in any medical malpractice claims, the burden of proof is greatest on you as the plaintiff. You must prove that you suffered and deserve to be compensated. This is true even in the event of death where the patient’s representative is filing the claim.
2. Medication Errors
Florida is famous for its doctors who set up pill shops. They dispense medication without adequate need, and often, patients become addicts, and some die from an overdose. Sometimes doctors fail to inform patients of any side effects they may suffer. There are other times that a patient specified an allergy to medication but was prescribed something in the same family. While anesthesia errors are often listed separately as a common medical malpractice claim, they fall in the same category as medications and prescriptions.
3. Errors During Childbirth
Suffering the loss of a child in childbirth is painful enough emotionally, but when that loss is due to the negligence of the doctor, midwife, or nurse on duty, the tragedy is compounded many times over. That child was viable, and through negligence, its tiny life was cut short. Nothing will bring that baby back to mom and dad, but a good lawyer can get you compensation for the loss you suffered financially as well as emotionally. Sometimes those errors even render a woman sterile, and that makes it even more difficult to bear.
4. Errors Related to Surgery
You’ve heard horror stories about sponges being sewn into patients during surgery, leading to sepsis and sometimes even death. That is just one error, but other errors resulted from surgeons amputating the wrong limb, among other forms of negligence. Again, these are not always easy to prove except in cases like wrong side amputations or sponges left in. Still, a good lawyer can win compensation for the suffering and loss resulting from surgery errors.
If you feel you have been victimized by medical malpractice, talk to an attorney. They will know if you have a case or another kind of professional claim you should file. If you suffered a loss due to negligence or omission, you deserve to be compensated. It really is just that simple.