Tampa Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Reliable Negligence & Personal Injury Lawyers in Florida's Gulf Coast
When you go to the hospital or your local doctor’s office, you trust medical professionals to treat you well and make you feel better, if they can. Unfortunately, physicians, nurses, and other personnel sometimes make your situation worse or cause problems that were not there before. Any deviation from medical standards that results in injury or death is known as medical malpractice.
If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, Four Rivers Law Firm can help you hold the appropriate parties liable and recover the compensation you deserve.
Call us at (813) 331-5056 to speak directly with an attorney and learn more about what our firm can do for you.
Medical Malpractice, Defined
According to Medical News Today:
“Medical malpractice refers to professional negligence by a health care provider that leads to substandard treatment, resulting in injury to a patient… [it] occurs when a health care professional or provider neglects to provide appropriate treatment, omits to take an appropriate action, or gives substandard treatment that causes harm, injury, or death to a patient.”
In the United States, every medical malpractice claim must meet four (4) legal elements:
- A professional duty owed to the patient
- The breach of such duty
- An injury caused by the breach
- Resulting damages
Medical malpractice applies when a healthcare provider breaches the recognized “standard of care” while treating a patient. If another medical professional would have behaved differently under similar circumstances, then the original provider has acted negligently and violated the standard of care. If the patient was harmed as a result, this breach becomes medical malpractice.
Our Tampa medical malpractice lawyers are here to help patients who have been harmed by negligent acts or omissions by doctors or other healthcare providers.
Common Examples of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Common forms of medical malpractice include:
- Medication errors
- Failure to diagnose
- Misdiagnosis
- Improper treatment
- Surgical errors
- Retained surgical objects
- Wrong-site or wrong-patient surgery
- Pressure ulcers (bedsores)
- Infections
- Disregarding patient history
- Failure to order testing
- Misreading laboratory results
- Premature discharge
- Lack of follow-up care
- Failure to warn
Unfortunately, you cannot sue a doctor because you are unsatisfied with your care, nor for making a mistake that does not harm you. In order to have a successful medical malpractice claim, you must suffer a measurable injury or loss. A medical malpractice lawsuit is designed to help you account for losses, known as damages.
Types of Damages You Can Recover
In Florida, successful medical malpractice cases lead to economic, non-economic, and sometimes punitive damages. Economic damages help you afford monetary costs you face as a result of medical malpractice, including but not limited to:
- Your initial medical bills
- Any follow-up care you may need
- All current and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation
- Assistive care and devices
- Missed wages
- Lost future earnings
On the other hand, non-economic damages help account for costs that are harder to put a price on, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.
Punitive damages only apply in cases of extreme negligence and are designed to punish the wrongdoer and set an example so that what happens to you does not happen to anyone else in the future.
Florida formerly had a cap on certain kinds of damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, which limited the amount you could recover. In 2017, however, the Florida Supreme Court ruled this cap unconstitutional.
You can find all the most up to date rules for medical malpractice lawsuits in Chapter 766 of The 2020 Florida Statutes.
File Your Claim Today
When it comes to the statute of limitations, or the deadline for filing your medical malpractice lawsuit, Florida law is complex. While most personal injury claims give you up to 4 years to file a lawsuit, you only have 2 years to file a medical malpractice claim. That being said, the state also recognizes that injuries and losses (such as having a surgical sponge left in your body) caused by medical malpractice may not be evident right away, so there is a 4-year statute of repose. This means you must file your claim within 2 years of discovering your injury and 4 years of sustaining it. In cases that involve minors (age 8 or younger) or medical fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation, the statute of limitation extends to 7 years.
Because medical malpractice cases expire so quickly, you should not wait to contact Four Rivers Law Firm. We promise to handle your claim with a human touch, and you will always have direct access to your attorney.
To schedule your free consultation and get the legal help you need and deserve, please call us at (813) 331-5056 or contact us online today.
Hear From Our Happy Clients
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"We have found a law team and an amazing man, in general, to fight by our sides."Joe is patient, understanding to his client's anguish, and goes above and beyond to help- Jessica J.
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"The supporting staff is equally fantastic."Four Rivers Law Firm is extremely responsive, professional, and applies a client-first attitude.- Matthew K.
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"I wholeheartedly recommend this firm, particularly attorney Joe Southron."I found Joe to be an excellent source for legal advice and he has been very pleasant to work with.- Jon S.
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