Did you suffer an injury because something went wrong with your medical care? The physical, emotional, and financial aftermath of a medical injury is hard enough, but trying to manage the legal side of things by yourself only makes matters difficult for medical malpractice victims.
Rather than attempting to take action and pursue a claim on your own, don’t hesitate to call GOLDLAW for representation from a Riviera Beach medical malpractice lawyer. Since 2002, our attorneys have helped thousands of people recover more than $1 billion in compensation.
Together, we have more than 200 years of combined legal experience. As your Riviera Beach personal injury lawyer, we can investigate your treatment, review your medical records, work with professionals, talk to insurance companies, and advocate for a fair settlement offer.
What a Medical Malpractice Claim Means in Florida
Also called medical negligence, malpractice refers to harm caused by a health care provider’s failure to meet the applicable professional standard of care. Under Florida law, the person bringing the claim has the burden of proving these details:
- That the health care provider’s actions represented a breach of that standard
- That the breach caused the injury
An unfavorable medical outcome does not necessarily constitute medical malpractice. Patients can experience complications, treatment failures, and unexpected outcomes even when their providers acted appropriately.
A legal claim focuses on whether the care provided fell below what reasonably prudent similar health care providers would have considered acceptable under the circumstances. This distinction is important when you are trying to understand what happened to you.
You might know that something went wrong without knowing whether the problem resulted from negligence. You also might not have access to the medical information needed to answer that question on your own, but Riviera Beach medical malpractice lawyers can help.
For a free legal consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer serving Riviera Beach, call 561-222-2222
Common Situations That Can Support Your Claim
Medical malpractice can arise from many different types of care. The particular legal issues depend on what happened, who provided the treatment, and how the injury occurred. A medical negligence case can involve any of these circumstances:
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis: A provider fails to identify a condition or does not diagnose it within a reasonable timeframe, allowing additional harm to occur.
- Surgical mistakes: An error during a procedure causes an injury that was not a reasonably foreseeable result of appropriate treatment.
- Medication errors: A patient receives an incorrect medication or dosage, or a provider fails to account for relevant medical information when prescribing or administering medication.
- Anesthesia errors: An error involving anesthesia or patient monitoring causes injury.
- Birth injuries: Negligence during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or newborn care causes harm to a parent or child.
- Failure to monitor: A provider does not appropriately observe or respond to changes in a patient’s condition.
- Inadequate treatment: A provider identifies a medical problem but fails to provide appropriate treatment or follow-up.
- Hospital negligence: Conduct by a health care facility or its personnel contributes to a patient’s injury.
The existence of an injury alone does not create a presumption of negligence under Florida law. The evidence has to establish the required elements of the claim. That is why a thorough legal investigation by your Riviera Beach medical malpractice attorneys matters.
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Medical Records Can Help Establish What Happened
Medical malpractice cases often depend heavily on the patient’s records. Those records can provide a timeline that shows the following:
- Which symptoms were reported
- What a provider knew
- Which tests were ordered
- What medications were given
- What treatment followed
Medical malpractice lawyers in Riviera Beach can obtain and review records from the different people and facilities involved in your care. Depending on the situation, here’s what those documents might include in your case:
- Hospital records
- Physician records
- Nursing notes
- Imaging
- Laboratory results
- Pharmacy records
- Operative reports
- Anesthesia records
- Follow-up treatment
Looking at those records together can reveal details that are difficult to identify from a patient’s perspective. Additional treatment, rehabilitation, medications, procedures, hospitalizations, and other medical expenses can all become relevant when calculating damages.
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The Standard of Care Determines Whether Negligence Occurred
Florida’s medical negligence statute establishes the standard that applies when evaluating a health care provider’s conduct. The claimant must prove that the provider breached the prevailing professional standard of care.
Florida defines that standard as the level of care, skill, and treatment recognized as appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers under the same circumstances. A medical malpractice claim is not based on the fact that another doctor would have handled it differently.
Health care providers can have legitimate differences in judgment. The legal question is whether the care provided fell below the applicable standard and caused the injury. Florida law also requires a reasonable investigation before a medical negligence action is filed.
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Call GOLDLAW Today for Legal Help From Our Riviera Beach Medical Malpractice Attorneys
At GOLDLAW, our Riviera Beach medical malpractice attorneys combine the resources needed for personal injury claims with an approach focused on personal communication. Together, our lawyers take a strategic approach to litigation.
We focus on understanding the evidence, anticipating how the other side might respond, and building a case based on the facts in support of your position. When a health care provider’s actions leave you injured, you deserve an attorney who will take the situation seriously.
Home to board-certified civil trial attorneys, our law firm also maintains a large physician network that works with personal injury victims. Get GOLDLAW and get the help you need and the compensation you deserve. We hold accountable those who hurt others™.
