Medical malpractice suits can be difficult to prove, because not all bad outcomes during medical treatment meet the standard for malpractice. But if you believe the care your medical professional provided you was substandard, and that led you to be injured, you may have a valid claim. What follows is important information regarding malpractice lawsuits in Florida that could impact your claim.
Statute of limitations
In Florida, you have two years from the date you discovered the injury — or the date on which you should have discovered the injury — to file a lawsuit. There is also a four-year limit from when the alleged incident of malpractice occurred regardless of when you actually discovered the harm, or should have.
There is one exception to this rule. If the healthcare provider fraudulently concealed evidence of the malpractice to prevent you from discovering it, your statute of limitations may be extended to two years from the date at which you finally discovered the injury or seven years from the date on which the alleged malpractice occurred.
In addition, there is no statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims involving minors if the case begins before their eighth birthday.
Proving malpractice
It is not enough in a medical malpractice claim that you had a negative outcome with treatment. To prove medical malpractice occurred, you must be able to also prove the following:
- You had a doctor-patient relationship with the care provider in question.
- The doctor was negligent, meaning he or she did not provide the level of care expected from a “reasonably skillful and careful” doctor.
- That negligence directly caused the injury.
- The injury lead to damages and losses, including physical and emotional pain, medical bills, lost wages and lost earning capacity.
Common types of medical malpractice issues include failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, surgical and prescription errors, improper treatment and a failure to warn the patient of risks associated with a specific type of treatment.
For more information on filing a medical malpractice claim in Florida, work with the trusted reliable team of personal injury attorneys at Serrano Law.