Can You Sue a Doctor in Florida?

You can sue a doctor in Florida for medical malpractice if they failed to treat you according to the accepted standards of their profession, and their actions caused you injury. You can also hold hospitals, medical facilities, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, and other healthcare providers liable for medical malpractice.

Examples of malpractice include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Medication errors, including administering the wrong medication, wrong dosage, or not accounting for adverse drug interactions
• Surgical errors, including botched surgeries, unnecessary surgeries, or wrong patient/wrong-site surgeries
• Anesthesia errors
• Laboratory errors
• Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis
• Failure to treat
• Negligent inpatient care
• Premature patient discharge

The above errors happen more often than you may think. According to Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, medical mistakes result in around a quarter of a million patient deaths annually, making them the third-leading cause of fatality in the United States.

If you have injuries and financial losses caused by medical negligence, you can seek compensation with a medical malpractice insurance claim or lawsuit. In general, awards for medical negligence may include the following economic and non-economic damages:

• Medical treatment. You can recover compensation for current and future treatments related to your injury. Medical damages may include surgeries, hospitalizations, doctors’ fees, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and long-term nursing.
• Lost income. You can recover your lost wages and employment benefits. You can also seek compensation for your lost future earnings and lost earning capacity.
• Various non-economic damages. You can pursue monetary damages for intangible losses related to your physical, mental, and emotional suffering. This can include compensation for pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, and diminished quality of life.
• Wrongful death-related damages. If your loved one passed away because of a medical error, you can seek wrongful death damages on behalf of their estate and survivors. Awards may include medical bills, funeral and burial costs, the deceased’s lost wages and future financial support, the loss of your loved one’s companionship and guidance, and survivors’ mental pain and suffering.

Proving a doctor or another healthcare provider committed malpractice can be complex. You must present clear, strong evidence showing that your injury resulted from their wrongful actions and was not merely the result of an unavoidable bad outcome.

For your case to succeed, it must also demonstrate these four elements:

• Professional duty of care. All doctors, providers, and healthcare facilities have to treat their patients according to the medical field’s accepted standards.
• Breach of duty. A doctor breaches their duty of care when they act in a manner that most other physicians would not deem reasonable. A breach can also be a failure to act when needed.
• Causation. Causation establishes a link between your provider’s actions and your injury.
• Damages. Damages are proof your injury led to pain and suffering and financial losses.

To prove the above factors, you must have evidence to support your allegations. Evidence in a medical malpractice claim may include the following:

• Medical records
• Lab test results and diagnostic imaging scans
• Eyewitness testimony
• Video footage
• Medical and scientific testimony

There are deadlines when suing a doctor in Florida. First, before you can file a lawsuit, you must serve the negligent provider with a notice of your intent to sue. This notice must include an affidavit of merit from a medical professional stating that your case has grounds. Service of the notice begins a 90-day pre-suit process.

If parties do not come to terms during the pre-suit process, you can proceed with taking legal action. Here, you must file your case in civil court before the statute of limitations expires. According to Florida Statutes § 95.11(4)(b), you usually have two years to sue for personal injury or wrongful death.

The court will likely refuse your case if the statute of limitations runs out. In addition, if you can no longer sue, it will significantly decrease your insurance bargaining power.

There are a few simple steps you can take if you believe you have grounds to sue a doctor in Florida:

• Get a second opinion. If you have a medical malpractice injury, you should seek treatment immediately from a doctor or medical facility not connected with your initial treatment.
• Maintain records. Keep any bills, receipts, or medical records related to your negligent care. You should also keep records of any treatment you receive going forward.
• Document your pain and suffering. Start keeping a daily record detailing your physical pain, mental and emotional state, and ways you notice your injury interfering with your life.
• Be careful what you say to the insurance company. If a medical malpractice insurer contacts you, be polite, but do not go into detail about your claim. Most importantly, do not agree to give a recorded statement or accept an initial settlement offer.

You do not have to hire an attorney to handle your medical malpractice case. However, if you have no legal or medical expertise, managing your claim alone can be challenging, especially while coping with an injury. Our team can relieve your burden by doing the following:

• Investigating your accident and collecting evidence
• Interviewing eyewitnesses and other involved parties
• Identifying and calculating your damages
• Preparing and filing insurance claims and legal paperwork
• Communicating with involved parties
• Negotiating for the maximum compensation possible
• Taking your case to trial if necessary

You can sue a doctor in Florida, and Ged Lawyers’ medical malpractice attorneys can represent you every step of the way. We will fight to help you get your life back on track. Contact us for a free consultation. We take cases on a contingency-fee basis, deferring all fees until your case’s conclusion.