Hillsborough · 13th Judicial Circuit

Tampa medical malpractice abogado.

5.0 on Google · 274 verified reviews

Florida § 766.106 cases against private hospitals, physicians, and health systems across Tampa Bay. Catastrophic-injury cases only: birth injury, surgical error, missed diagnosis, sepsis, and wrongful death.

Multi-million-dollar Florida medical malpractice recoveries. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.

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Última revisión April 30, 2026 · Percy Martínez Revisado por Percy Martínez, Esq. · FL Bar #981990 · 33+ years Florida medical malpractice practice
Respuesta rápida

Do I have a medical malpractice case in Tampa?

La ley de Florida exige cuatro elementos legales y a sworn affidavit from a board-certified physician before any case can be filed. Bad outcomes alone are not malpractice. The same Florida rules that apply in Miami-Dade and Orange County apply here in Hillsborough.

La lista de control de 5 puntos de Florida

Es probable que tenga un caso si...

01
Deber · a doctor-patient relationship existed, even briefly
02
Infracción · care fell below what a reasonable specialist would do
03
Causalidad · the breach was a substantial cause of injury
04
Daños y perjuicios · measurable medical, economic, or non-economic harm
05
Declaración jurada · a § 766.203 sworn expert opinion can be obtained
§ 02 · The four elements

Qué se considera mala praxis según la ley de Florida.

La mala praxis no es lo mismo que un mal resultado. La medicina en Florida conlleva un riesgo inherente; no todos los malos resultados son procesables. La cuestión legal es si la atención fue inferior a la que habría prestado un especialista razonablemente prudente.

01
Deber
Existía una relación médico-paciente.
Once a Florida-licensed provider accepts you as a patient (by examining you, ordering tests, prescribing, or admitting you), they owe you a legal duty of care. The relationship can be implicit. A radiologist who reads your scan but never meets you still owes you that duty.
02
Infracción
No cumplieron las normas de atención sanitaria.
The standard is what a reasonably prudent provider in the same specialty would have done. We prove the breach with a sworn affidavit from a board-certified physician in that specialty. Without that affidavit, Florida § 766.203 prohibits filing.
03
Causalidad
La infracción causó el daño.
Florida requires that the breach be a substantial contributing factor to the injury. Defense counsel will argue the existing illness was the real driver. We anticipate that with timeline reconstructions and differential-diagnosis testimony.
04
Daños y perjuicios
Has sufrido un daño cuantificable.
Economic (medical bills, lost wages, lifetime care) plus non-economic (pain, suffering, loss of consortium). Wrongful-death claims are governed by § 768.21. A clear breach with no real damages is not a case we will accept.
§ 03 · Florida deadlines

¿De cuánto tiempo dispongo? to file in Tampa?

Florida medical malpractice is governed by two clocks running in parallel; both must be satisfied. Miss either and the case is gone, no matter how strong the medicine. The same Florida deadlines apply across Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas, and statewide.

2 años
Prescripción
From the date of incident, or from when you reasonably should have discovered the harm.
4 años
Ley de caducidad
Absolute outer limit. After four years, no claim, except for fraud, concealment, or claims involving children.
8º del niño
Prolongación del parto
Claims involving an injured child run until the child turns eight, regardless of when the injury occurred. Common in St. Joseph’s Women’s and Brandon NICU cases.
+90 días
Peaje previo a la demanda
The statute of limitations clock pauses during the § 766.106 presuit investigation period, but only if presuit notice was served before the clock ran out.
7 años
Fraud or concealment
Cuando el proveedor ocultó intencionadamente el daño, el plazo de prescripción se amplía a siete años desde el incidente.
§ 04 · Case patterns we handle

What kinds of Tampa malpractice cases do you take?

Catastrophic-injury cases against private hospitals and physician groups across Tampa Bay. Below: the chart-level fact patterns we screen most often in Hillsborough and Pasco, with the records that decide each case.

01
Stroke
Stroke misdiagnosis
Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes sent home from Tampa Bay ERs as migraine, vertigo, or anxiety. The window for tPA or thrombectomy closes in hours.
Records we review ED triage notes · CT/MRI timing · NIHSS documentation · tPA candidacy worksheet
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02
Sepsis
Sepsis & failure to escalate
Septic patients with worsening vitals on med-surg floors who are not escalated to ICU, or whose nursing escalation chain breaks down. Hours of delay turn into multi-organ failure.
Records we review Vital sign trends · serial lactate · rapid-response logs · nursing escalation notes · antibiotic timing
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03
Surgical
Post-op bowel & anastomotic leak
Post-surgical leaks at HCA and AdventHealth campuses dismissed as normal recovery while sepsis develops. Delayed return-to-OR is the most common breach we see.
Records we review Vital sign trends · serial lactate · WBC progression · CT timing · OR records
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04
Birth
OB & neonatal injury
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injury, and maternal harm during labor and delivery. Common at high-volume OB hospitals like St. Joseph’s Women’s and HCA Brandon’s Level III NICU.
Records we review Fetal monitoring strips (CTG) · decision-to-incision intervals · nursing notes · Apgar scores · cord gases
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05
Trauma
Trauma & resident handoff failures
Tampa General is the only Level I trauma center and academic teaching hospital in West-Central Florida. Cases turn on resident-and-attending oversight, complex handoffs, and ICU monitoring failures, not just one bad decision.
Records we review Trauma team activation log · resident notes · attending oversight · ICU flow sheets · handoff documentation
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06
Wrongful
Muerte por negligencia
Wrongful-death malpractice claims under § 768.21 brought on behalf of statutory survivors. Damages framework: lost support, loss of companionship, and survivors’ pain.
Records we review Death certificate · autopsy report · full chart · family economic impact · statutory beneficiaries
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§ 05 · Tampa Bay hospitals

Which Tampa hospitals do you handle claims against?

All major Tampa Bay health systems are private (nonprofit or for-profit), which keeps the legal analysis focused on the medicine, not sovereign-immunity caps. Each system runs a different defense playbook. Some employ physicians directly, some bring them in through outside groups, and that changes who can be held responsible.

Tampa General Hospital
Academic / Level I Trauma
Level I trauma · Burn Center · Transplant · Muma Children’s (Level I Peds Trauma) · 4 FSEDs
Florida’s only Level I trauma center in West-Central Florida and an academic teaching hospital. Cases turn on resident-and-attending oversight, complex handoffs, ICU monitoring failures, and trauma team activation timing. Affiliated with H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.
BayCare / St. Joseph’s
Private nonprofit
St. Joseph’s Hospital (Level II Trauma) · St. Joseph’s Women’s · St. Joseph’s Children’s · St. Joseph’s-North · BayCare Wesley Chapel
Tampa Bay’s largest faith-based system. St. Joseph’s Women’s is the regional OB flagship; birth-injury cases center on fetal monitoring strips, decision-to-incision intervals, and NICU resuscitation. St. Joseph’s Children’s adds pediatric emergency and surgical cases.
AdventHealth Tampa
Private nonprofit
AdventHealth Tampa · Carrollwood · Pepin Heart Institute · 3 FSEDs
Catholic-affiliated network with two acute campuses, a separately AHCA-licensed cardiac specialty hospital (Pepin), and 3 FSEDs. Cases often involve handoffs between the FSEDs and the main hospitals; transfer documentation is decisive.
HCA Florida
Private for-profit
South Tampa · West Tampa · Brandon (Level II Trauma + Level III NICU) · Trinity (Pasco) · 8 FSEDs
For-profit chain with three sub-hospitals (South Tampa, Brandon, Trinity) operating across Hillsborough and Pasco. Aggressive defense playbooks. Records-preservation letters go out same-day on case sign-up. Pattern litigation across staffing-ratio claims and FSED triage protocols.
Specialty & LTACH
Private specialty
Moffitt Cancer Center · Shriners Children’s · Kindred LTACH (2) · Encompass Rehab · Rogers Behavioral
Specialty hospitals follow their own liability profiles. LTACH cases turn on ventilator weaning protocols, pressure ulcer prevention, and central-line management. Pediatric specialty cases (Shriners) involve different experts and the child’s eighth birthday as the operative deadline.
Tampa Bay hospitals & ERs we handle malpractice claims against
Serving Tampa, Brandon, Riverview, Plant City, Temple Terrace, Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Trinity, plus St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, and the rest of Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties.
36 facilities · 23 ZIPs
HCA Florida South Tampa Hospital
ACUTE CARE33609
HCA Florida Central Tampa Emergency
FSED33604
HCA Florida North Dale Mabry Emergency
FSED33618
HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital
ACUTE CARE33615
HCA Florida Brandon Hospital
ACUTE CARE33511
HCA Florida New Tampa Emergency
FSED33647
HCA Florida University Emergency
FSED33617
HCA Florida Riverview Emergency
FSED33578
HCA Florida Plant City Emergency
FSED33566
HCA Florida Trinity Hospital
ACUTE CARE34655
HCA Florida Citrus Park Emergency
FSED33626
HCA Florida Lutz Emergency
FSED33548
HCA Florida Sunlake Emergency
FSED33548
Tampa General Hospital
ACUTE CARE33606
TGH Kennedy Emergency Center
FSED33606
TGH Emergency Center at Brandon Healthplex
FSED33619
TGH Brandon Emergency Center
FSED33510
TGH Rehabilitation Hospital
REHAB33606
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
SPECIALTY33612
AdventHealth Tampa
ACUTE CARE33613
AdventHealth Carrollwood
ACUTE CARE33614
AdventHealth Northdale ER
FSED33618
AdventHealth Westchase ER
FSED33626
AdventHealth Brandon ER
FSED33511
St. Joseph's Hospital
ACUTE CARE33607
St. Joseph's Women's Hospital
PEDIATRIC33607
St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
PEDIATRIC33607
St. Joseph's Hospital-North
ACUTE CARE33558
BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel
ACUTE CARE33544
Kindred Hospital Central Tampa
LTACH33603
Kindred Hospital Bay Area Tampa
LTACH33611
AdventHealth Pepin Heart Institute
SPECIALTY33613
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of North Tampa
REHAB33548
Muma Children's Hospital at TGH
PEDIATRIC33606
Shriners Hospitals for Children Tampa
PEDIATRIC33612
Rogers Behavioral Health Tampa
BEHAVIORAL33510
Mostrar 36 of 36 facilities · All Tampa Bay hospitals are private; no sovereign-immunity caps apply.
§ 06 · Costs & contingency

Por qué estos casos are hard.

Florida malpractice cases require sworn expert corroboration before filing. Expert costs run $75K to $250K before trial. We say no to most cases that come through the door, and we front every cost on the ones we accept. That is how we protect Tampa Bay families from years of litigation with little upside.

$0
Upfront cost to you
We work on contingency. No retainer, no hourly bill. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
% of
recovery
Our fee
A percentage of what we recover for you, capped by Florida Bar Rule 4-1.5(f)(4)(B). The Florida Supreme Court sets the maximum percentage by stage of the case (presuit, suit, appeal). Your exact rate is fixed in writing before we start work.
$75K a $250K
Case costs we advance
Expert witnesses, depositions, records, court reporters, trial graphics, life-care planners. Reimbursed only out of recovery.
$0
If we don’t recover
No fee, no costs owed. The financial risk of pursuing the case is ours.
§ 07 · Frequently asked questions

Questions Tampa families ask antes de que llamen.

If your question isn’t here, the first call is free, confidential, and unhurried.

Ask your question →
01How long do I have to file a Florida medical malpractice claim in Tampa?

Two years from the date of incident, or from when you reasonably should have discovered the harm. The absolute statute of repose is four years. Birth-injury claims involving a child extend to the child’s eighth birthday under Florida § 95.11(4)(b). The same Florida deadlines apply in Tampa, Hillsborough County, and across the Tampa Bay region (Pasco and Pinellas).

02Can I sue Tampa General Hospital or only the doctor?

Both can be defendants depending on the facts. Tampa General is a private nonprofit teaching hospital, not a public hospital, so no sovereign-immunity caps apply. Most attending physicians at Tampa General, AdventHealth, HCA, and BayCare hospitals are independent contractors. Hospital liability often turns on apparent-agency analysis (whether a reasonable patient believed the doctor was a hospital employee). Resident-and-attending oversight, nursing escalation, triage, monitoring, and protocol failures are typically direct hospital liability.

03Will you take my case if it happened outside Tampa?

Yes, we handle catastrophic-injury cases across West-Central Florida (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and surrounding counties) and litigate many of them in Tampa courts. The 13th Judicial Circuit serves Hillsborough; cases from Pinellas may proceed in the 6th Circuit, Pasco in the 6th, and Polk in the 10th. We will tell you on the first call whether venue is in Tampa or another circuit.

04What records matter first if my care was at multiple Tampa hospitals?

Common in Tampa Bay. A patient may be treated at an AdventHealth FSED, transferred to St. Joseph’s, then admitted to Tampa General. Each handoff is a potential liability point. You do not need to gather records before calling. We obtain everything under HIPAA from every facility and every provider in the chain to identify which deviation actually caused the harm and which entity is responsible.

05¿Qué es la negligencia médica según la legislación de Florida?

Florida § 766.102 defines medical malpractice as a breach of the prevailing professional standard of care by a healthcare provider that causes injury. The standard is what a reasonably prudent provider in the same specialty would have done. A bad outcome alone is not malpractice. There must be a breach.

06¿Cuánto cuesta contratarle?

Nothing upfront. We work on contingency: no fee unless we recover for you. Our fee is a percentage of any recovery, capped by Florida Bar Rule 4-1.5(f)(4)(B), which sets the maximum percentage by stage of the case. Your exact rate is fixed in writing before we start. Case costs (expert witnesses, depositions, life-care planners, trial graphics, typically $75,000 to $250,000 on a complex case) are advanced by the firm and reimbursed only out of recovery. If we don’t recover, you owe us zero.

07Will my Tampa case go to trial?

Probably not. Most cases settle during discovery or mediation, and that is the goal: maximize value, then resolve. What drives settlement value up is the firm’s willingness to take cases to verdict, paired with the § 766.203 pre-acceptance physician screening. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.

08Hablan español?

Sí. Our intake team is fully bilingual; trial work can be conducted in either language with a court interpreter when needed.

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