Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

Medical professionals have an obligation to deliver competent care to each and every patient. When this does not happen, the consequences can be devastating for a patient’s health and future well-being. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a medical professional’s error, misconduct or negligence, you may be entitled to damages for your injuries through a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice lawsuits in any state are complex and Florida is no exception; but, you can take solace in the fact that our reputable Miami medical malpractice attorneys will investigate the facts of your case and determine the viability of your claim.

Medical Malpractice in Florida

In Florida, you can sue a doctor or other medical professional for medical malpractice if you believe you suffered an injury due to that medical professional’s error or misconduct. Medical malpractice takes place when a medical professional, through an act or omission, causes injury to a patient by failing to adhere to the generally accepted standard of care. This standard of care refers to the level of care that a medical professional practicing in the same specialty of medicine would have used under the same circumstances. You should be aware that there is no need to show intent in medical malpractice claims. Rather, you must simply show that the medical professional’s failure to adhere to the standard of care (for whatever reason) was a direct cause of your injury.

Medical malpractice is a serious problem in Florida and across the United States. If you or someone close to you has been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At our Law Offices, our Miami medical malpractice attorneys can help you decide if a medical malpractice claim is in your best interests.Earlier this month, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court’s ruling dismissing a complaint that alleged hospital staff were negligent for failing to supervise a psychiatric patient who beat the victim with a pipe.

What happened in the case was that another patient entered the plaintiff’s hospital room with a metal handrail and started to beat him. The plaintiff suffered injuries as a result and subsequently sued the hospital.

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Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) have a stressful job. They have to make quick assessments and decisions accordingly. When EMTs make mistakes, they can cause serious injuries to a patient. If you or someone close to you has been injured due to an emergency responder’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At our Law Offices, our Miami medical malpractice attorneys can assess your case and help you understand all of your options.

Two parents took the advice of Lauderhill emergency responders, who told them that their baby would “poop out” the remote control battery he swallowed and thus did not immediately take their son to the hospital. In fact, the emergency responders told the mother that if they took their child to the hospital, they would be told the same thing.

The mother inspected the child’s next two bowel movements, but there was no sign of the battery. The next morning, the child vomited, and she called poison control, who told her to take the child to the hospital immediately. At the hospital, X-rays confirmed that he had a button battery in his throat. When his saliva interacted with the battery lodged in his esophagus, it corroded and damaged his throat. As a result, he suffered serious medical complications, which required multiple surgeries and hospitalization for three months.

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Every patient in Florida and across the United States deserves competent medical care. When we go to a hospital, we expect to get better rather than worse. Sadly, hospital negligence can lead to serious injuries and, in the most serious cases, death. If you or someone close to you has been injured due to hospital negligence, it is important to reach out to a skilled Miami medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we understand how to navigate these types of claims and pursue the compensation that our clients deserve for their harm.

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals at a hospital play a vital role in a patient’s treatment and recovery. When these health care providers make an error, it can have serious consequences for a patient’s health. Some examples of hospital errors include but are not limited to:

• Administering the wrong medication;
• Administering the wrong dosage of medication;
• Performing the wrong medical procedure on a patient;
• Performing a procedure on the wrong body part;
• Failing to follow a doctor’s orders;
• Anesthesia errors;
• Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, or delayed diagnosis of a particular condition; or
• Allowing bedsores to develop.

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Medication errors injure a number of people in Florida and across the United States each year. In the most serious cases, medication errors can lead to death. If you or someone close to you has been harmed by a medication error, it is important to reach out to a skilled Miami medical malpractice attorney who can assess the merits of your case.

Last year, a Johns Hopkins study revealed that medical malpractice was the third-leading cause of death in the United States. The second-most common type of medical malpractice involved medication errors, including dispensing medication incorrectly, mismanaging medication, and improperly prescribing medication. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, at least 1.5 million people across the United States suffer harm from medication mistakes each year.

When a patient goes to a medical professional for care, that patient trusts that he or she will be treated with a certain level of care. When a medical professional makes a medication error, it can be grounds for medical malpractice. A medical malpractice claim is a civil claim that is designed to hold negligent medical professionals accountable for the harm that they cause. This type of claim is appropriate when a medical professional fails to adhere to the acceptable standard of care. In Florida, the acceptable standard of care is defined as “the level of care, skill and treatment which is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent, similar health care providers under similar circumstances.” Put another way, the medical professional’s conduct must be consistent with what a competent medical professional in the same specialty would have done under the same or similar circumstances.

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When you go to see a doctor, you expect to receive a diagnosis and a treatment plan that you can trust. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. In fact, medical malpractice is common in Florida and throughout the United States. Medical malpractice takes place when a patient is injured due to a medical professional’s failure to exercise reasonable care. Put another way, medical malpractice may have occurred if your injury took place because a health care professional failed to act as a reasonably prudent medical professional in the same specialty would have acted under those circumstances. This is clearly outlined in the law. But not all potential medical malpractice cases can be neatly analyzed under this rule. What happens when misconduct takes place after a person has died?

This was the question addressed by the Texas Supreme Court in Christus Health v. Carswell. In that case, the plaintiff’s husband was admitted to the defendant hospital with issues regarding pain. A physician at the hospital initially prescribed narcotics, which were stopped when the patient had an adverse reaction to the medication. A subsequent health care provider once again gave the patient the same medication, due to the fact that the patient was complaining about severe pain. Shortly afterward, the patient died.

Based on these facts, the plaintiff filed a medical malpractice claim and asked for an autopsy to be conducted. She was told that her request was denied. However, some time later, an autopsy was done, but it failed to include a toxicology screening. The plaintiff claimed that this failure left her with no answers as to whether or not her husband died from a drug overdose or whether the adverse reaction he had to the narcotics was a contributing factor in his death. She amended her complaint to reflect these facts.

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