Boca Raton Medical Malpractice Attorney

What this Page Covers Prevalence: Medical errors are more common than expected and can cause serious injuries or death, necessitating medical malpractice claims for those affected. Requirements: Florida’s Medical Malpractice Act imposes unique pre-suit requirements, including expert opinions and compliance with specific legal standards. Types: Common malpractice cases involve misdiagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, and failure to diagnose, often resulting in severe harm or death. Support: Hersh Kirtman Injury Law assists clients in Boca Raton by navigating the complexities of medical malpractice claims with experienced legal guidance.

Patients trust their medical professionals to provide adequate care to keep them healthy. Normally, medical professionals provide adequate and, in some instances, stellar care to their patients. There are instances, however, when medical professionals do not uphold their duty to provide appropriate and adequate medical care to their patients. When this occurs, the outcomes are often tragic, leading to catastrophic injuries or death. If substandard or negligent medical care results in injury or death, the victim may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim seeking to recover compensation for the loss.

At Hersh Kirtman Injury Law, our medical malpractice lawyers can perform the necessary medical-legal work to pursue your claim. We are proud that we have held hospitals, doctors, and other medical providers accountable when their substandard care has injured our clients or their loved ones. To learn more about how our team of skilled Boca Raton medical malpractice attorneys can help you pursue a claim, contact us today.

Is Medical Malpractice Common in Florida?

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals go through years of training and schooling before they are eligible to perform medical care of any kind. However, despite the extensive preparation taken to ensure these healthcare workers are equipped for the huge job of caring for others, mistakes can still happen. Medical malpractice and errors are more common than most would think. In fact, medical errors are often cited as a leading cause of injury and death around the country.  

If you suspect that you or a loved one has suffered an injury or loss due to medical malpractice in Florida, you should speak with a Boca Raton, FL medical malpractice lawyer for legal help. Many attorneys who help injury victims do not handle medical negligence claims because of their complexity and the unique laws that apply to medical malpractice in Florida. While medical malpractice claims in Florida require the elements of negligence, like other negligence claims such as motor vehicle crash or slip-and-fall cases, they are subject to Florida’s Medical Malpractice Act, which imposes several unique requirements upon the plaintiff bringing the medical malpractice suit. Those requirements include, among other things, obtaining a pre-suit expert opinion, complying with an involved pre-suit discovery process, and meeting certain specified expert evidentiary thresholds.   

The Elements of a Medical Malpractice Claim

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient suffers harm resulting from negligent medical care. A doctor, nurse, hospital, or other health care provider can be held responsible for medical malpractice. Substandard or negligent medical care occurs when a medical provider or healthcare professional fails to provide that level of care deemed reasonable and adequate by the medical community. If a patient is harmed or killed as a result of the medical negligence or malpractice, then a claim for medical malpractice may be pursued.

To pursue and prove a medical malpractice claim, you must establish: (1) the healthcare provider owed you a duty of care; (2) the healthcare provider breached that duty by providing medical care that fell below the prevailing standard of care; and (3) the substandard care caused injury or death.

While not all fall within the scope of Florida’s medical malpractice statute, the following medical professionals owe a duty of care to patients:

• Doctors
• Surgeons
• Dentists
• Nurses
• Medical specialists, such as oncologists and cardiologists
• Anesthesiologists
• Pharmacists
• Lab technicians
• Radiologists
• EMTs
• Hospitals
• Medical clinics
• Nursing homes
• Long-term care facilities

To understand who may have owed you a duty of care in your unique case, and to begin an investigation into whether medical malpractice occurred and whether a claim may be pursued, contact our legal team.

Types of Malpractice Errors in Boca Raton, Florida

Florida law requires that medical professionals follow the prevailing standards of care based on the circumstances. As an example, an emergency room doctor must provide the care that an experienced and skillful emergency room doctor would in the same or another emergency room. This standard does not require that doctors be 100% accurate all the time. The practice of medicine is imperfect, and complications can occur without any negligence. However, health care providers can be held liable for malpractice if they don’t act carefully and cause injury or death to one of their patients.

Common forms of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis
• Birth injuries
• Anesthesia errors
• Nursing errors
• Surgical errors
• Hospital errors
• Medication errors
• Failure to diagnose
• Failure to perform a necessary procedure
• Failure to properly medicate

These mistakes cause serious harm to patients, sometimes resulting in death. Indeed, one famous study from Johns Hopkins estimated that 250,000 people die from preventable medical negligence each year. Hundreds of thousands are seriously injured and might require corrective surgery or extended rehabilitation.

Learn More About Hospital Error Malpractice Claims

Boca Raton and surrounding areas are home to multiple hospitals which service thousands of patients weekly. 

Our medical malpractice clients are often the victims of the following forms of malpractice: 

• Diagnostic errors, including misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and failure to diagnose. These errors lead to a delay in receiving critically important care, receiving the wrong care, or receiving no care at all.
• Surgical mistakes. Surgery is inherently risky, but negligent surgical teams or negligent surgical techniques can cause serious, sometimes fatal injuries. Common mistakes include leaving surgical tools inside of the patient, damaging healthy tissue, performing the wrong surgery, or anesthesia errors.
• Healthcare-associated infections. Infections can and do occur during and following surgery and other forms of treatment. Providers must identify the developing infection and address it. At times, they fail to do so. 
• Emergency room errors. The emergency room is often a hectic place, and staff can overlook patients, provide the wrong treatment, or discharge someone too soon.
• Failure to comply with policies and procedures. Hospital staff generally have various policies and procedures to follow aimed at protecting the safety and welfare of patients. Unfortunately, instances occur where policies and procedures, of physician orders, are not followed, and injury or death results.
• Miscommunication or lack of communication. Hospitals are composed of numerous departments with various personnel involved in any one patient’s care at any given time. These include the emergency room, surgical units, anesthesia, post-anesthesia, recovery, intensive care, and the hospital floors, among others. It is crucial that as a patient moves between departments within a hospital that the hospital staff communicate with one another and properly document the patient’s status and condition. Failure to do so results in missed signs and symptoms of distress and substandard care that may lead to harm, injury or death.

If you or your loved one are suffering serious injuries, contact our well-experienced Boca Raton medical malpractice lawyers for legal help. We are dedicated to fighting for your justice.

What Causes Hospital Errors in Boca Raton?

It is an unfortunate truth that hospital errors happen, and they occur for several reasons. Some of the common causes of hospital errors include:

• First, some hospitals are careless in how they hire staff. They might fail to check work history or references, or they overlook criminal convictions and other disciplinary problems. Hospitals are often pressed for skilled workers and might cut corners.

• Second, some hospitals are critically understaffed because they are trying to increase profits. With fewer nurses on hand, errors are bound to increase.
• Third, many hospitals are poorly managed. They do not have processes in place for correct data entry, patient records, or staff communication. These deficiencies increase the risk of improper care.

If you need a Boca Raton medical malpractice attorney, call our Florida medical malpractice law firm today for a free case review.

Establishing Hospital Liability in Your Medical Malpractice Claim

Hospitals are often found to be fully or partially responsible for errors that leave hospital patients with injuries. Hospital medical staff typically include:

• Hospital-based internal medicine physicians (hospitalists)
• Nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Respiratory therapists
• Pharmacists
• Technicians

When these medical professionals act carelessly and injure patients, the hospital may be held responsible for their negligence. With many doctors, a question arises as to whether they are employees of the hospital. Most are independent contractors, so the respondeat superior principle may not apply. Still, a hospital may be liable for the negligence of an independent contractor in certain situations based on agency principles.. 

In some instances, establishing a hospital’s liability is critical to achieving justice. Unbeknownst to many, Florida law does not require physicians to carry medical malpractice liability insurance. Many doctors choose to avoid spending money on insurance premiums and protect their personal assets, leaving you and your loved ones vulnerable if the doctor’s malpractice causes serious injury or death. The Boca Raton medical malpractice lawyers at Hersh Kirtman Injury Law know how to navigate these challenges to help you and your loved ones during a time of tremendous need.

How Our Medical Malpractice Attorneys Can Help You Receive Compensation For Your Claim

Medical errors can be devastating. In some instances, patients are left with enormous injuries, resulting in extraordinary future medical costs and ongoing and debilitating pain, suffering, and anguish. In other instances, medical errors cause patients to die, leaving behind grieving families who may have been reliant on the deceased for financial and emotional support.

Medical malpractice claims are, therefore, often necessary to provide for crucial future care and treatment and necessary financial security and support. Medical malpractice claims in Florida, however, are complicated. Florida has a Medical Malpractice Act that demands various requirements be met before a victim of medical malpractice can even begin making a claim.

Our Boca Raton medical malpractice lawyers seek monetary damages on behalf of its medical malpractice clients for the following, among other things:

• All medical expenses to treat your condition
• Lost income or wages
• Diminished earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement
• Wrongful death damages

If a loved one passes due to medical error, we seek compensation for surviving family members in a wrongful death claim.

Why Medical Malpractice Claims Are Difficult to Bring

Hospitals and medical providers have many friends in Tallahassee who have passed laws protecting doctors and hospitals. Consequently, medical malpractice cases are complex, involving requirements and thresholds that do not apply in other types of cases. For that reason, it is imperative that a victim of medical malpractice hire an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Boca Raton. At Hersh Kirtman Injury Law, our Boca Raton medical malpractice attorneys know how to gather the necessary evidence, including expert medical opinions, to bring and establish your case, and we are intimately familiar with Florida’s highly technical medical malpractice laws.

Medical malpractice has complex deadlines for bringing claims. In most cases, patients have only two years from the date of the medical error or the date they discovered the error to bring a claim. In fact, to protect yourself, please reach out to a medical malpractice lawyer in Boca Raton immediately to discuss your possible claim.

How Our Boca Raton Medical Malpractice Attorneys Can Help You

At Hersh Kirtman Injury Law, we know that pursuing a medical malpractice claim is a complex and overwhelming process. However, our team has the experience and dedication to handle the unique challenges that these cases present. We are committed to uncovering the truth behind the medical negligence that caused your injury or loss and working to hold healthcare providers and hospitals accountable. Our medical malpractice lawyer can assist you with the intricacies of medical malpractice claims in Florida, from the complex pre-suit requirements to gathering expert testimony and navigating the legal hurdles in your case.

By choosing Hersh Kirtman Injury Law, you are working with a firm that prioritizes not just results but also client care and communication. We work hard to ensure that you feel supported throughout the process. Call us today at (561) 208-3700 or fill out our contact form to learn how we may help you pursue your claim and receive the compensation you deserve.