Healthcare professionals are generally knowledgeable, well-trained, and capable of helping you recover from whatever illness or condition ails you. However, if a doctor makes a mistake with your treatment, you could end up in worse condition with unnecessary physical and financial losses.
Filing civil suit under any circumstances can be tough but doing so against a medical professional may be almost impossible without assistance from a qualified personal injury attorney. A Kenneth City medical malpractice lawyer who knows how to handle these types of cases could be a crucial ally as you seek fair compensation for the harm an irresponsible doctor caused you.
What Constitutes Medical Malpractice in Kenneth City?
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider acts in a way that violates the expected standard of care for their particular area of expertise. Malpractice most commonly takes one of the following forms:
- Operating on the wrong area
- Improper application of an anesthetic
- Failure to accurately identify a patient’s condition in a timely manner
- Diagnosing a patient with the wrong condition
- Surgical errors such as an instrument being left inside the body of a patient
- Preventable infections
It is important to note that a doctor making a mistake does not automatically make them guilty of malpractice. In a medical context, the applicable “standard of care” takes into account the circumstances under which a doctor is providing care. Additionally, the specific medical professional who committed a negligent act may not be the ultimately liable party, as hospitals and other such facilities may sometimes bear vicarious liability for the actions of their employers. A Kenneth City medical malpractice attorney could clarify which party or parties may be liable and how to file suit against them.
Proving and Recovering for Malpractice in Kenneth City
Prior to filing suit for medical malpractice, Florida Statutes §766.104 requires plaintiffs in Kenneth City to make a good-faith effort to obtain an affidavit of merit. A “good-faith” effort means that the plaintiff or their malpractice lawyer sought out an active healthcare provider in the same field as the defendant who affirmed that the plaintiff’s grounds for filing suit were valid and not frivolous.
If the victim is successful with their suit, a malpractice victim may be able to recover for a number of different economic and non-economic losses, including additional required medical costs, missed wages from work, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of time with family. As of 2017, Florida no longer enforces a damage cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, so there is no limit imposed on what these kinds of losses can be valued at.
However, there is still a statutory filing deadline of two years from the date the plaintiff discovered their injury, and/or four years from the date the injury actually occurred. However, this deadline may be extended up to seven years if the defendant acted with fraudulent intent to hide their mistake from the plaintiff and other authorities.
Learn More from a Kenneth City Medical Malpractice Attorney
You may not be sure what to do if you believe your doctor harmed you instead of helped you, but that does not mean you are without legal options. If you and your attorney can prove negligence on the part of a healthcare provider, you may be able to recover compensation for every resulting loss you suffered.
However, medical malpractice cases are uniquely complex compared to most other personal injury lawsuits. Get in touch with a Kenneth City medical malpractice lawyer to discuss the details of your case and what the best strategy would be for achieving a positive outcome.
