Get Help From A Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Palm Beach County, FL
Our law firm helps families in Florida demand accountability for medical negligence
In times of illness or injury, we trust medical professionals to use their expertise and experience to provide the care and treatment we need to heal. We rely on them to make sound decisions and prioritize our well-being above all else. Unfortunately, there are situations where that trust is broken, and our health or that of our loved ones is put in jeopardy.
At The Law Offices of Casey D. Shomo, P.A., based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Mr. Shomo is an experienced medical malpractice attorney who understands the gravity of such cases and the need individuals have for legal support during these challenging times. Prior to turning his focus to supporting individuals and families impacted by medical negligence, Mr. Shomo accumulated extensive experience representing medical professionals, hospitals, and healthcare facilities throughout Florida.
This invaluable experience, built over more than three decades of engaging in medical malpractice litigation, plays a critical role in his ability to successfully pursue these claims. His comprehensive understanding of medical malpractice cases, from both the defense’s viewpoint and the perspective of the victims, enriches his approach to advocating for those affected by medical negligence.
Medical malpractice case results
$2,500,000 – Inaccurate diagnosis and pharmaceutical error, resulting in brain bleed with permanent neurological losses.
$2,500,000 – Incorrect surgical technique/death.
$2,250,000 – Wrong site surgery and failure to treat/amputation.
$2,050,000 – Failure to timely refer for surgery spinal cord injury/paralysis and multiple spinal surgeries.
$2,000,000 – Pharmaceutical error – Ophthalmic surgery medication, loss of vision and eye injuries/multiple patients.
$1,851,000 – Failure to diagnose and treat pulmonary embolism/death.
$817,500 – Failure to timely refer for spinal cord injury/paralysis and multiple spinal surgeries.
$800,000 – Inadequate fall protections, hospital patient – bathroom fall, cervical spinal cord injuries, and cervical surgery.
$659,000 – Failure to follow physician orders/medication error/orthopedic injuries and ankle fractures.
$600,000 – Wrongful death/pharmaceutical error/untimely response to critical vital signs.
$500,000 – Sexual misconduct involving patient victim.
$350,000 – Inadequate fall protections/hip fracture.
$202,000 – Failed MRI screening patient injury/medical device damaged.
Mr. Shomo’s commitment to his clients goes beyond just legal representation; he prioritizes your well-being and strives to provide compassionate support every step of the way. Our law firm believes in clear and open communication, ensuring that you are informed and empowered to make decisions that are in your best interests.
“On April 8th, 2020, my father suffered a debilitating stroke through medical malpractice. During this dark and confusing time, our family reached out to Casey Shomo, PA for guidance. Mr. Shomo, Mr. LeClainche, Ms. Joanne (Amazing Paralegal), and Ms. Leslie (Fantastic Admin Asst.) made what was a difficult and confusing situation easy to understand. This fantastic team did everything in their power to ensure that my father was taken care of and received compensation for his injuries. Our entire family is grateful to their hard work and dedication.” – Susana F.
What is medical malpractice?
So, you went to the doctor and your health got worse. That doesn’t necessarily mean your case is one of medical malpractice. For malpractice, some form of negligence must have been present. To prove medical negligence, certain elements must be demonstrated in your case.
The first element of medical malpractice to prove is that a doctor-patient relationship actually existed. This means the doctor had a duty of care.
The second element of malpractice is breach of duty. Essentially, you must prove the medical professional you were seeing provided you with less-than-standard care. The basic way to prove this is for other medical providers to agree they would not have acted in the same manner under the same conditions.
Next, you must prove that the poor treatment you received was the direct cause of your medical injury. You must eliminate all outside factors that could have contributed to an injury or illness.
Finally, you must have suffered real damages or harm that the insurance companies or the court can remedy.
Types of medical malpractice
In Florida, Mr. Shomo has extensive experience handling a wide range of medical malpractice cases and is here to provide you with the personalized attention and expert representation you need to pursue justice. Common examples of medical malpractice include:
- Birth Injury: If the mother or the newborn was injured during birth, it can change the course of the new family’s future. It is your right to seek damages from those who have harmed you or your baby through negligence.
- Surgical Errors: These cases can be some of the worst for victims. From performing the wrong operation to leaving a foreign object within the site, a surgical error can have long-lasting consequences for your health.
- Medication Errors: Both your pharmacist and prescribing physician must ensure any drugs you are prescribed won’t negatively interact with each other. In addition, your doctor has a duty to check your medical history to be sure you aren’t given medication you’re allergic to.
- Misdiagnosis/Delayed Diagnosis: Sometimes, doctors make bad assumptions about what their patients tell them. They may also not pay close attention and miss vital information. This can lead to a treatable condition progressing further than it should have or the wrong treatment being prescribed.
- Wrongful Death: In the most tragic of circumstances, medical negligence can result in the untimely death of a loved one. Mr. Shomo is dedicated to supporting families during these heartbreaking times, fighting for the justice and compensation they deserve for their immense loss.
Florida’s medical malpractice statute of limitations
According to Florida’s statute of limitations, there is a blanket deadline of four years from which the event of malpractice occurred. However, you must have filed a claim within two years of when you discovered the injury, or within two years from when you should have reasonably discovered the negligence that resulted in injury.
If a minor under 8 years old was involved in the alleged medical malpractice incident, Florida law states that the case must be filed before the child’s eighth birthday.
If medical professionals or an organization attempts to conceal the harm caused by medical malpractice, or falsify facts in the case, the period for filing the case may be extended to the victim by two years from the time the incident was discovered by the plaintiff. There’s a deadline on this rule of seven years from the time of the incident.
Who can be liable for medical malpractice?
Navigating a medical malpractice case can be complex, especially when determining who may be held liable for the injuries or harm caused. Not only can specific individuals be at fault for medical malpractice, but entire facilities potentially can as well.
Medical professionals
Medical professionals encompass a wide range of individuals who provide healthcare services. In medical malpractice cases, these individuals may include:
- Doctors
- Surgeons
- Nurses
- Nurse practitioners
- Physicians’ assistants
- Chiropractors
- Anesthesiologists
- Radiologists
- Pharmacists
Medical facilities
Healthcare facilities can be held liable as well. This is because they are responsible for their employees, including any mistakes or negligent actions they make. Medical facilities that can be held liable for medical malpractice include:
- Hospitals
- Clinics
- Pharmacies
- Other healthcare facilities
Types of medical malpractice damages
There are two different types of damages you can seek compensation for after being harmed by malpractice. They are financial expenses and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages for Malpractice
You can seek compensation for all of the financial losses you’ve experienced because of the physician’s error. This includes current and future medical bills, lost income, therapy, and medication costs, mobility equipment, and anything else with a direct dollar value.
Non-economic damages for medical malpractice
Non-economic losses are related to how this injury has changed your life. You can be compensated for how this experience has impacted you. Some examples of non-economic damages may include:
- Anxiety: Beyond mere worry, this can manifest as a deep, persistent dread or fear, often related to medical procedures, health, or future well-being. Victims might experience heightened stress levels, panic attacks, or an overarching sense of unease that affects daily functioning.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: This damage reflects the reduction in a person’s ability to enjoy daily activities, hobbies, and life pleasures they once found fulfilling. It accounts for the limitations an individual faces in engaging with life fully and joyfully post-injury.
- Difficulties with Sleeping: This encompasses a range of sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares, sleep apnea, or the inability to sleep through the night, directly resulting from the injury or its psychological impacts. These disturbances can lead to fatigue, decreased cognitive function, and a lower overall quality of life.
- Chronic Pain: Unlike acute pain, chronic pain is persistent, lasting for months or even years, and may not always have a clear physical cause. It can severely limit a person’s mobility, dexterity, or overall ability to perform daily tasks, contributing to feelings of frustration and helplessness.
- Depression: A condition that goes beyond temporary sadness or feeling “down.” It is a serious mood disorder characterized by prolonged periods of sadness, hopelessness, loss of interest in activities, changes in appetite or weight, and thoughts of death. Depression can be a direct consequence of the trauma and ongoing struggles related to the medical malpractice injury.
Though previous Florida law dictated a cap on non-economic damages, this has since been overturned.
What the medical malpractice process may look like
Before filing a medical malpractice case in Florida, make sure you have a trusted malpractice attorney on your side to guide you along the way. Our team will work with you to begin an investigation into your medical malpractice case. We will be able to aid you in finding the details you may have previously overlooked.
When we first start our journey together, we will want to speak with the victim and their family. This will help us understand what you or your loved one went through. Then, we will be able to gather details to help you. After speaking with everyone, your lawyer will gather the victim’s medical records. This will help us prove the dates and times of incidents and when they happened, as well as when pain may have occurred.
Without medical records, it’s impossible to prove you were hurt by a medical professional or how your injuries occurred. The more evidence you can provide us with, the better chance we have of helping you. Though seemingly simple, obtaining the victim’s medical records may be difficult. With our team on your side, we can overcome the legal hurdles to obtaining the proper records and evidence together.
Once we have obtained your records, we may need to reach out to a medical professional. This professional will have no ties to your case, but will be able to provide an expert’s point of view on the incident and what likely occurred. This will be a key testimony for your case. In some circumstances, we may want to speak with more than one medical professional. If the medical professional can prove or provide enough evidence to further your case, your lawyer will be ready to help you file your claim.
In Florida, once a medical malpractice claim is filed, your cases will enter into what is called a pre-suit. This is a 90-day period in which the medical professional or organization who is the defendant in this case can conduct its own investigation. This investigation is supposed to be in good faith, which means they should properly conduct an investigation into the standard of care during the incident.
However, once the investigation has taken place, the defendant can choose to deny the claim of the victim, do nothing, and let the case continue to court, or try to settle the case outside of court with a monetary offer. During this process, you will want to make sure you have a medical malpractice attorney with the Law Offices of Casey D. Shomo on your side. We will be able to provide you with guidance during this step, as well as answer any questions you may have.
Turn to a trusted medical malpractice attorney in Palm Beach County, FL
It’s often unclear if malpractice has occurred. The responsible party isn’t going to help you figure it out. But we can. Need to find out if you can seek compensation for the harm you suffered because of a healthcare provider’s negligence? Discuss your case with a medical malpractice lawyer from The Law Offices of Casey D. Shomo, P.A., located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, during a free consultation.
To arrange a time for your consultation with our law firm, complete the contact form on this page or give us a call at 561-659-6366. You are never obligated to proceed, so there’s zero risk involved in discovering how we can help you seek the settlement you need. Trust our team to fight for you every step of the way. Contact us today for a free consultation.