What is Medical Malpractice: Definition, Signs, and Lawsuits

Key Highlights

• What is medical negligence? Medical negligence occurs when a provider’s negligence results in injury or death.
• Florida law requires proof of duty, breach, causation, and damages to pursue any malpractice claims. 
• Common examples of medical negligence include misdiagnoses, errors in performing surgery, errors in prescribing medications, and injuries to newborns during delivery.
• Time limits for filing a claim for medical malpractice can be strict, so it is very important to obtain legal assistance early to protect your rights.

Patients show a great deal of trust toward their medical caregivers. When someone seeks treatment, they expect their providers to use knowledge, honesty, and compassion with each interaction. When an error is made leading to a preventable injury, their trust is broken, and the resulting emotional, physical and financial repercussions can change the lives of an injured party and their loved ones.

There are several key differences between medical errors and medical malpractice. Medical errors do not fall under the legal definition of medical malpractice. Understanding these differences is critical if you believe that your injury was caused by negligent care. This guide explains what is medical malpractice, common medical malpractice examples, who can be held liable, filing deadlines associated with filing a medical malpractice case, and what legal recourse you may be able to pursue under Florida law.

If you believe you have suffered a serious injury as a result of a medical error, then contact the Alpha Law Group for a free and confidential case evaluation.

What Is Medical Malpractice Under Florida Law?

Florida has very complicated medical malpractice laws and there are specific standards with which you must adhere in order for your case to be successful.

Medical malpractice happens when a medical provider violates their duty of care, resulting in a patient’s injury or death. This is not based on whether or not the provider intended to do something wrong, but rather if they acted with negligence (violating accepted medical care) when they provided care.

Florida’s Standard of Care (Fla. Stat. § 766.102)

Under Florida law, the standard of care is defined as the level of skillfulness and ability that a healthcare provider who has similar education and training would have provided to their patient under similar circumstances.

Bad Outcome vs. Malpractice

Who Can Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice?

There are a lot of parties involved in a medical malpractice case that can be held liable:

• Doctors & Surgeons: Doctors and Surgeons are liable for any diagnostic errors, surgical errors, or poor treatment decisions made by them that fail to meet local standards of care.
• Nurses & Physician Assistants: Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are liable for errors in prescribing medication or failing to monitor their patients properly or to recognize the signs and symptoms that would require intervention.
• Anesthesiologists: Anesthesiologists are liable for errors in administering anesthesia (e.g., administering the wrong dosage), or failure to monitor the patient’s vital signs properly, or to respond in a timely manner to complications during the surgical procedure. 
• Radiologists & Pathologists: Radiologists and pathologists have a duty to accurately interpret test results or radiological images, to avoid a delay in diagnosing a life-threatening condition. A delay in diagnosis can result in serious physical harm to the patient.
• Pharmacists: Pharmacists are liable for incorrectly filling or dispensing prescriptions, incorrectly dispensing dosages of medication, or failing to inform patients about the risks of taking one or more medications together.
• Midwives: Midwives have a duty to perform their jobs (i.e. by adhering to established medical protocols) in both the prenatal and postnatal periods.
• Hospitals & Medical Corporations: Hospitals and medical corporations can be held liable for the negligent acts of their employees (i.e. medical doctors) and/or for systemic failures that result in the creation of unsafe conditions for patients.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice Cases

Medical malpractice can happen at almost any stage of the process you receiving care. The most common forms of medical malpractice lawsuits in Florida are listed below:

Diagnosis Errors

Failure to diagnose, delay in diagnosis, and misdiagnosis can alter your ability to receive timely medical care, which can worsen your chances of having a successful outcome. 

Examples include:

• Not recognizing the signs of cancer or stroke.
• Confusing two similar medical conditions.
• Ignoring abnormal test results.

Surgical Errors

Mistakes made during surgery are frequently catastrophic and lead to permanent injuries. Common surgical errors include:

• Having the wrong patient or body part operated on.
• Performing an unnecessary surgical procedure.
• Leaving surgical tools inside your body following the procedure.

Medication Errors

A medical negligence claim based on medication can arise due to improper prescription, dispensing, or administration of the medication. 

Common medical negligence examples include:

• Prescribing the wrong drug.
• Giving the wrong amount of the ordered drug.
• Providing medication that interacts negatively with another medication.

Laboratory and Testing Errors

Lab errors can delay your diagnosis and treatment. Common examples of laboratory negligence include:

• Errors made when reading laboratory results.
• Mixed samples resulting in incorrect results.
• Not reporting critical or life-threatening information presented in test results.

Pregnancy and Birth Injuries

Prenatal negligence or negligence related to giving birth can result in lifelong injury.  Common examples include:

• Failure to monitor a fetus properly whenever there is fetal distress.
• Improperly using forceps or other delivery devices.
• Delaying an emergency Caesarean section.

Poor Aftercare and Follow-Up

If aftercare and follow-up are neglected, it results in a lack of proper care being provided:

Examples include:

• Failure to look for complications after a patient has been treated
• Lack of proper discharge instructions
• Not paying attention to a patient’s problems after treatment

Lack of Informed Consent

Patients have the right to understand risks before treatment.
Examples include:

• Not informing a patient of the risks involved with the treatment
• A patient not being given alternatives to the procedure
• A physician performing a procedure without obtaining consent.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice? The Four Elements of a Florida Medical Malpractice Claim

To win a medical malpractice claim in Florida, you need to prove all four legal elements with evidence and expert testimony.

• Duty: A legal obligation existed because a doctor-patient relationship formed, which created the obligation of the provider to provide care in a manner consistent with the medical community.
• Breach:  The medical provider departed from the standard of care by either doing something that a provider couldn’t reasonably do or failing to do something a provider could reasonably do.
• Causation: The breach above was the cause of the injury itself as opposed to the patient’s condition being the cause of the injury.
  
• Damages: The injury resulted in damages related to the injury, including medical bills, lost wages, pain, and emotional anguish.

Expert witnesses are very critical in establishing how the negligence occurred and linking the breach to the individual’s injury.

Florida’s Medical Malpractice Laws, Deadlines & Special Rules

Legal guidance at the outset of a medical malpractice case in Florida is extremely important because of Florida’s very complicated laws regarding medical malpractice.

Pre-Suit Requirements

Florida requires that a plaintiff perform a pre-lawsuit investigation, which necessitates obtaining a valid affidavit from a medical expert, issuing a Notice of Intent to sue, and awaiting a 90-day tolling period in which the insurance company will investigate.

What is the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice & Repose?

The medical malpractice statute of limitations on most negligent actions is 2 years from the date of the plaintiff’s discovery of the injury. Florida also has a 4-year statute of repose, which applies to most medical negligence actions, and has a limited number of exceptions to that statute (fraud, concealment, and minors under Tony’s Law).

Important Florida-Specific Issues

Sovereign immunity applies to claims against state-owned hospitals; Florida’s modified comparative negligence may reduce the amount of damages paid to the plaintiff if the plaintiff is also responsible for causing his or her own injury (the amount of damages is reduced in proportion to the percentage of negligence attributable to the plaintiff). Electronic Health Records (EHR’s) will often provide an audit trail showing that alerts were ignored, or that test results were missed.

Compensation Available in Florida Medical Malpractice Cases

Medically negligent patients can be compensated for money and personal losses they have experienced.

Economic Damages

Economic damages will pay for measurable losses in money.

• Medical, rehabilitation, and future medical expenses for their injury.
• Lost income and reduced earning capacity due to the injury.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages will pay for the injured person’s personal suffering.

• Pain and suffering from the physical injury or medical treatment that was invasive.
• Emotional distress, mental distress, and psychological trauma resulting from the injury.
• Loss of enjoyment of life as a result of physical injury or permanent disability.

No Damage Caps

Florida has no non-economic damage limits after the Court ruled that previous caps on damages in negligent medical malpractice cases were unconstitutional.

Wrongful Death Claims

Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows family members who survive to recover damages from the death of their loved one as a result of negligent medical malpractice. Damages include loss of familial support, loss of companionship, and funeral expenses.

Why Choose Alpha Law Group for a Florida Medical Malpractice Case?

When dealing with sophisticated medical negligence claims in Florida, Alpha Law Group has the experience and resources to perform such tasks properly and efficiently. We have on our team lawyers who have dealt with over 10,000+ personal injury cases and we also have a board-certified healthcare attorney who knows every insurance company tactic to reduce compensation. 

We have an in-depth understanding of all aspects of Florida’s medical malpractice rules and regulations, including:

• A thorough understanding of all aspects of Florida’s laws pertaining to medical malpractice.
• Extensive experience in managing complicated investigations and obtaining the expert evidence required by law.
• A network of respected medical professionals who specialize in different areas of medicine to assist with developing persuasive and solid evidence in support of the plaintiff’s personal injury claim.
• A familiarity with Electronic Health Records (EHR), audit trails, or any other means of storing patients’ health records electronically.
• They represent clients on a contingency fee basis which means that the client doesn’t have to pay any out-of-pocket expenses when pursuing a legal remedy for their injuries.
• Our goal is to keep the injured parties and their families safe from the abuse of large healthcare systems and their insurance companies.

Protecting Your Rights After Medical Negligence

If you are wondering, ‘What is medical malpractice?’ Then the laws around malpractice are very technical in nature and have strict rules that must be followed to the letter or you will lose your case forever! If you miss one of the many different deadlines or “procedural steps” along the way, then you will never be able to pursue compensation.

Getting early legal advice to help preserve important evidence, obtain expert medical opinion, and protect your right to receive compensation all depend on quick action.

You should call the Alpha Law Group at (941)-304-1500 if you or someone close to you may have been a victim of medical malpractice to schedule your free and confidential initial consultation with one of our attorneys today!

Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Malpractice in Florida

What is a medical malpractice lawyer?

Medical malpractice attorneys assist persons harmed by medical negligence with investigations, obtaining expert testimony, handling negotiations, and filing lawsuits against a medical provider or facility that caused the harm.

What is medical malpractice negligence?

Medical malpractice describes negligent acts committed by a physician in their role as a healthcare provider, causing harm that could have been prevented if correct measures were taken and standards were followed

What is a medical malpractice lawsuit?

A medical malpractice lawsuit is a type of civil lawsuit designed to obtain compensation for the injuries caused by medical negligence. Compensation includes non-economic, economic, and punitive damages, and the victim’s family can also get compensated for wrongful death.

How much is the average medical malpractice settlement?

Average medical malpractice settlement amounts will vary significantly based on the severity of the injury and how long it lasts, the cost of treating the injury, and the evidence presented.

What is malpractice tail coverage?

When a physician’s employment ends, there is an insurance product known as tail coverage that can be used to pay for the victim’s damages. In the event a doctor has already retired, tail coverage will continue to allow individuals who have been injured by the doctor’s actions to be compensated for their injuries.

How are medical malpractice settlements paid out?

Medical malpractice settlements will usually be paid in a lump sum or as structured payments after attorney’s fees, other costs, including court fees, and economic liabilities have been satisfied.

How common is medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice cases are an epidemic; however, many people are still not aware of how common it is, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors of Florida civil litigation.