Every doctor, healthcare facility, and healthcare professionals are expected to offer a standard of care. While these entities may not be held responsible for all harm patients experience, they are legally liable if the healthcare expert deviated from the standard care that’s normally expected in similar circumstances.
Under Florida State law, medical malpractice happens whenever a healthcare facility or professionals such as doctors and nurses act negligently. According to DDRB Lawyers, victims of medical malpractice can seek compensation for the injuries and other damages associated with this event.
Statute of Limitations
Florida State law limits the time frame for filing a medical negligence claim to two years. Also, there is an additional time limit, commonly referred to as the statute of response. It provides unless there are extraordinary circumstances, panties cannot sue a medical expert or facility more than 4 years after the alleged medical negligence happened.
If you or your loved one is a victim of medical negligence, you must file your claim within four years. Otherwise, you will definitely lose the right to file that claim. Note that there are exceptions to Florida’s statute of response, particularly where the medical expert is alleged to have perpetrated misrepresentation or fraud. If this occurs, you may still have the chance to file a medical malpractice claim despite the time limits that are imposed by the statute of response.
Limits on Damages
The law allows victims of medical negligence to seek financial compensation for both psychological and physical injuries caused by medical negligence. There’s a $1 million limit on the amount of non-economic damages you can seek in a medical malpractice claim. Generally, non-economic damages are those that compensate you for less tangible costs such as pain, suffering, and mental anguish.
Essential Elements for a Medical Negligence Case
You, the plaintiff, must prove that the following four elements existed to ensure your medical malpractice claim doesn’t get denied.
- The healthcare expert or hospital owed a duty of care.
- That duty of care was breached because the healthcare facility or expert didn’t conform to the right standard of care.
- As a result of violating the duty of care, you suffered an injury.
- Considerable damage resulted for the patient. These damages could be emotional, physical, or financial.
Seek Legal Counsel
Medical negligence claims are complicated. They require both legal and medical knowledge. Therefore, you need an experienced lawyer who can get a witness expert and deal with a malpractice insurance carrier. Note that most insurance companies have teams of legal experts. Their main objective is to ensure that the medical expert or healthcare facility doesn’t pay or pays the lowest amount of compensation.
However, you shouldn’t allow the complexity of these cases to deny you the amount of compensation you seek. Make sure you have an attorney who has been handling similar cases before. This will increase your chances of getting fair compensation. Remember, your lawyer can help gather the right pieces of evidence, participate in settlement negotiations on your behalf, and help you take the necessary measures to ensure you get the compensation you rightfully deserve.
