Baptist Hospital of Miami is one of the largest Baptist health facilities there is. Many individuals seek medical aid at this hospital. They can house 728 patients at any given moment and have been given mixed reviews. Medical malpractice lawsuits can stream from even the most prestigious hospitals that commit medical negligence. When you go to a hospital to seek medical attention, you never imagine that you will leave the hospital setting at a worst state than what you were when you first visited the medical facility, right? Most of us do not. We believe that the medical providers are experienced in their field and know what they are doing. For the most part, they do. But for the 4 million Americans each year that are misdiagnosed, that faith that they once had for these healthcare providers goes out the window once medical malpractice causes them an injury or claims their life.
Baptist Hospital of Miami offers these following services and hospital units that could lead to a medical malpractice claim:
- Back/Spine Care
- Brain Injury Program
- Breast Cancer Surgery
- Cardiovascular Diagnostic Services
- Chemotherapy
- Colorectal Robotic Surgery
- Critical Care/eICU LifeGuard
- Fibroid Treatment
- Gynecologic Cancer Robotic Surgery
- Heart Surgery
- Intensive Care
- Kidney Robotic Surgery
- Maternity
Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute - Neuroscience Diagnostic Imaging
- Orthopedic Services
The above services are just some of the many offered at this hospital, but these are all possible treatments where medical negligence could occur.
What is the notion of Medical Malpractice?
This is a question that many do not know the answer to or that they might not know the full extent of the answer. Whenever a medical professional, hospital, or physician causes the death or injury of a patient due to an action or omission in either treatment, diagnosis, health management, or aftercare of that patient, that is considered medical malpractice. Now that we understand what medical malpractice is defined as, the law firm of Percy Martinez Miami knowledgeable Medical Malpractice lawyers want to specify the exact characteristics needed in order for a claim of medical malpractice to be made under the law:
- Standard of care being violated: There are specific medical standards that providers in this field must abide by and that are recognized by the law. They must provide acceptable medical treatment and care in accordance with the actions that other prudent medical professionals in that same field under those same circumstances would have provided. This is considered the “standard of care”. Care that is consistent with these standards are expected to be provided to the patients that are seeking medical aid. Negligence can only be established once it has been determined that this standard was not met.
- Negligence led to an injury/death: It is not enough that a medical provider just violated the standard of care. In order for a medical malpractice lawsuit to be valid, not only does the patient have to show that the standard of care wasn’t met, but they also have to demonstrate how the negligence by the healthcare provider caused their injury and how they would never have been injured had the medical provider not been negligent. If there is no negligence or injury, there is no case. If you sustained no injuries, even if the medical provider was negligent during their actions, you won’t be able to file a lawsuit against them.
- Significant damages came from the injury/death: For a medical malpractice case to be viable, the victim must show that they endured significant damages. The reason behind that is that countless hours of disposition testimony are needed, and numerous medical experts must be hired, meaning that medical malpractice lawsuits are quite expensive. If the damages that you suffered are small, then pursuing a medical malpractice case may not be worth it.
In order to learn more about medical malpractice, an expert attorney at Percy Martinez law firm for medical malpractice in Miami can be the indicated professional to consult with. The terminology and legal jargon wrapped with medical malpractice cannot be handled by just any personal injury lawyer.
Illustrations of Possible Medical Malpractice Cases
The occurrence of medical malpractice can derive by various different medical providers, in different medical settings (emergency room, treatment center, doctor’s office, etc.), and through different actions/omissions. At our professional Miami law firm for medical malpractice, our skilled personal injury lawyers find these origins to be the most common ones that could lead to medical negligence lawsuits:
- Surgery lawsuits: Millions of surgeries are taking place every year across the United States. Some not minimally invasive, while others require extreme detail, education, and experience to successfully complete. Any surgery that a patient undergoes should be managed with delicacy. A patient that goes through surgery must be thoroughly analyzed to see if they are fitted for that specific surgery, their medical history must be attained, the doctor performing the surgery must have knowledge of what they are doing, the surgical team must communicate properly with each other, along with other needed elements. If any of these areas are not met, a patient could suffer from medical negligence during an operation and file a surgery error medical malpractice lawsuit.
- Diagnostic error lawsuits: When we talk about diagnostic errors, we are referring to misdiagnosis, delay of diagnosis, and providing no diagnosis at all. Many individuals may be surprised to find that errors with diagnosis are present in about four million Americans every year. In other words, a physician may tell you that you have a certain condition when you really do not. This leads to them giving you the wrong treatment that may cause more harm and not cure the actual condition you have. Imagine if you are pressed for time with a deadly condition like cancer. If your doctor fails to determine that you have cancer, you could go sometime without treatment which could cause the cancer to augment to a higher stage and possibly spread to other areas of your body.
- Medication mistake lawsuits: Millions of Americans take medications, and many of those take more than one medication at a time. Mistakes with medication can happen from the moment it is prescribed to the moment it is consumed. A doctor may prescribe the incorrect drug and the wrong dosage amount to their patient. They may not have looked into their medical file and discovered that the patient is allergic to specific medications, or the doctor may prescribe two medications that conflict with one another and cause the patient additional harm. Medication errors happen to an estimated 1.5 million Americans annually.
Some other medical malpractice lawsuits can surge from:
- Ignoring or misreading results from the lab lawsuit
- Performing unnecessary surgery on a patient lawsuit
- Providing poor follow-up care lawsuit
- Releasing the patient too soon from the hospital lawsuit
- Not ordering the proper tests lawsuit
- Failing to recognize symptoms lawsuit
Remember, medical malpractice effects can take a while before they present themselves in a patient. It might be too late before you even realize that you were even a victim of medical malpractice. If you were a patient at Baptist Hospital of Miami and have a feeling that medical negligence may have occurred to you, it would be wise to consult a personal injury lawyer that is experienced with medical malpractice cases from Percy Martinez’s Law Firm in Miami.
Medical Malpractice Information
These are some statistics that may come as a surprise to many, along with graphs detailing percentages:
- As a result of medical malpractice lawsuits, 6% of physicians sued left their practice
- The career of physicians sued was negatively affected in 33% of cases
- 30% of medical malpractice lawsuits are settled before they even reach trial
- The three most common forms of medical malpractice claims are birth injury, diagnostic mistakes, and treatment failure
- Every year, medical negligence claims the lives of about 250,000 individuals
- As a result of medical malpractice lawsuits, 26% of physicians sued no longer trust their patients
- Three billion dollars were spent on medical malpractice payouts in the year 2012
- Misdiagnosis is prevalent in about four million individuals each year
- In 2014, Florida was the 7th state with the most payouts for medical malpractice claims
- 7% of medical malpractice lawsuits are dismissed by the court
- Medication errors happen to about 1.5 million Americans annually
- 2061 claims for medical malpractice were filed in Florida in the year 2014
Graph below shows the percentage of how medical malpractice lawsuits typically end
It was settled before trial | 30% |
I was/ we were dismissed from the suit within the first few months | 14% |
The judge/jury returned a verdict in my favor | 12% |
The case is ongoing/in process | 9% |
I was/ we were dismissed from the suit prior to settling | 9% |
It was dismissed by the court | 7% |
It was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff before trial | 6% |
Other | 5% |
The judge/jury returned the favor in the plaintiff’s favor | 2% |
It was settled at trial | 2% |
*Information given by Medscape.
Graph provides the percentage about whether physicians think medical organizations are doing enough to reduce malpractice occurrence’s
Yes, they are doing enough | 7% |
No, they should be doing more | 66% |
Don’t Know | 19% |
There is nothing they can do | 7% |
*Information given by Medscape.
This above graph shows that 66% of physicians believe that more should be done to mitigate medical malpractice.
Baptist Hospital of Miami Lawsuit
Failure to provide medication
A patient was admitted to Baptist Hospital of Miami in 2008 for treatment. She was an insulin dependent diabetic. While she was recovering in the intensive care unit, the patient was not provided with her insulin medication. As a result, she went into a cardiac arrest. The doctors were forty minutes trying to save the patient until they realized that she needed insulin. She was eventually revived but the time spent without sufficient oxygen supply prompted a severe brain injury. The lawsuit against Baptist Hospital of Miami ended with an 8.8-million-dollar compensation for the victim of the medical malpractice.
Has Baptist Hospital of Miami Performed a Medical Malpractice?
Irreparable damage can come to a patient that is provided sub-standard care. This low standard of care in medical facilities where life and death are on the line should not be accepted. As a victim of medical malpractice, you have a legal right to pursue action against medical professionals and hospitals that are negligent and cause you or your loved one harm. Medical professionals need to focus on the well-being of their patient, not place that as an afterthought. If you become a victim of Baptist Hospital of Miami medical malpractice, our competent medical malpractice attorneys at Percy Martinez’s Miami Law Firm can help you.
References:
- https://baptisthealth.net/en/facilities/baptist-hospital-miami/pages/default.aspx
- https://www.abpla.org/what-is-malpractice
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088386/
- https://www.google.com/search?q=baptist+hospital+of+miami&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirwLuhke_cAhUDOa0KHY9VCeAQ_AUICygC&biw=1906&bih=927#imgrc=nPf37k8yPf8Y1M: – image
- http://www.nccmerp.org/about-medication-errors
- https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2017-malpractice-report-6009206#17
- https://www.millerandzois.com/medical-malpractice-statistics.html
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/05/16/10-things-you-want-to-know-about-medical-malpractice/#21e5839e416b
- https://www.kairelaw.com/medical-malpractice/statistics/
- https://www.yourfloridatrialteam.com/hospital-negligence/baptist-hospital/
- https://www.google.com/search?q=examples+of+medical+malpractice&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjrqrHne_cAhWO0VMKHcxNB_4Q_AUICygC&biw=1906&bih=928#imgrc=U04q9fBIhS8N3M: – image