When we are sick, we go to the hospital for treatment because we trust the medical provider to give us the best medical care possible. However, what happens when the medical provider deviates from the expected standard of care and causes an injury? 

File a medical malpractice lawsuit.

What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice lawsuit is a negligence claim brought forward by a plaintiff against a professional healthcare provider. The health care provider can be the hospital, a dentist, a nurse, a physician, a technician, or a hospital worker. 

Several actions can be considered medical malpractice:

Misdiagnosis

An example of misdiagnosis is when you go to the hospital with heart attack symptoms, but you are treated for cancer. As a result of this error, you might suffer from life-threatening symptoms that worsen your condition. Had the correct diagnosis been given from the outset, you would not have suffered from catastrophic injuries.   

Birth Injuries

Some birth injuries can be a result of negligence. Examples of birth injuries are nerve damage, spinal cord damage, and shoulder dystocia. All of these injuries can be avoided with proper care and early diagnosis. Birth injuries can occur in either the mother, the child, or both.

Surgical Errors

An example of a surgical error is when a surgical team leaves foreign objects inside your body or when the surgical team operates on the wrong body part.

Prescription Errors

The most common prescription error is when a doctor prescribes the wrong medication. Some other common prescription errors would be improper mixes of medication or prescribing a grossly incorrect dosage. In either case, you should sue if the drug causes you harm or is a risk to your health. Sometimes the physician may be responsible, other times the pharmacist may be responsible.

Failure to Treat

Another common instance of medical malpractice is when a doctor diagnoses a condition but fails to treat it. This can either result from negligence or failure to follow the acceptable standard of care. 

Justice for Medical Malpractice

When you win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you can receive two major types of compensation: economic damages and non-economic damages. 

Economic Damages

Economic damages are damages that can easily be calculated. Factors considered when calculating monetary damages include lost income, cost of medical treatment, and loss of future earnings. When calculating how much you deserve to be paid for the loss of future earnings, we must first factor in the value of your current income.

In the state of Florida, there are no caps on economic damages. The number you will receive will depend on the severity and how well you can articulate your case.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages refer to compensation for non-monetary losses, such as the following:

• Emotional distress
• Pain and Suffering
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of consortium
• Physical impairment 
• Disability
• Disfigurement and Scarring

According to Florida statutes of 2021, non-economic damages have limitations depending on whether a practitioner or a non-practitioner committed the negligence. If the medical negligence resulted from a non-practitioner, the injuries should not exceed $750,000 per claimant.

If the negligence caused a permanent vegetative state, the non-economic damages have a cap of 1.5 million dollars.

If a medical practitioner causes a medical malpractice lawsuit, non-economic damages should not exceed $500,000. If the malpractice resulted in death, the non-economic damage has a one million dollar cap.

Get in Touch with a Qualified Medical Malpractice Attorney

Medical malpractice cases should only be handled by lawyers who understand how to collect and preserve evidence. The Law Offices of Casey D.Shomo has years of experience defending the rights of aggrieved patients; you can contact us by calling 561-659-6366. You can also get in touch with us via the contact form on the website.