Índice
When Healing Hardware Hurts: Malpractice or Product Liability?
A device injury can trigger two claims at once: negligence by the surgeon who implanted it and strict liability against the company that made it, a legal crossroads Florida courts navigate daily. Malpractice centers on whether the provider breached the medical standard of care, while product liability asks if the gadget was dangerously defective despite proper use. Percy Martinez’s team opens both lanes immediately, preserving hospital records and the device itself so juries can see where human error ended and a manufacturing flaw began, an approach that has produced eight figure verdicts for Florida clients. Serving patients across Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Tallahassee, we unify the fights instead of forcing families to choose.
The Three Defects That Turn Devices Into Time Bombs
Florida courts recognize design defects that make an entire product line unsafe, manufacturing flaws that slip past quality checks, and failure to warn errors when labels hide known dangers. Metal on metal hips, recalled pacemakers, and pelvic mesh illustrate how any of the three can spark litigation: design problems drove an $8.3 million ASR hip verdict, while manufacturing issues fueled a $500 million Pinnacle award with $360 million in punitive damages. Our engineers strip defective units for metallurgical testing, while our medical experts cross check implant instructions against FDA recall notices to prove manufacturers hid risks the moment they surfaced.
Who Pays? Suing Doctors, Hospitals, and Manufacturers Together
Florida’s comparative fault statute lets juries divide responsibility among surgeons, hospitals, distributors, and multinational manufacturers, ensuring families collect even if one defendant claims innocence. Manufacturers often invoke the learned intermediary doctrine, arguing they warned the doctor, not the patient, but Florida decisions show that defense crumbles when warnings are vague or the doctor has a financial tie to the company. Percy Martinez maps every corporate relationship, subpoenas sales rep emails, and highlights hospital purchasing shortcuts, turning finger pointing into leverage at mediation.
Deadlines and Evidence: Two Clocks and a 12 Year Stop Watch
Victims have two years to sue for medical malpractice and four years for product liability, with the malpractice clock tolled 90 days during presuit review. Florida’s product statute of repose cuts off all claims 12 years after the device first left the factory, no matter when injury appears, unless the maker guaranteed longer life. Our firm preserves the device in a sealed evidence kit, retrieves operative notes within 30 days, and files presuit notices electronically, freezing both clocks while engineers run failure analysis. Delay kills cases; decisive action saves them.
Building the Case: FDA Data, Device Autopsies, and Storytelling Juries Understand
Percy Martinez combines MAUDE adverse event reports, FDA Form 483 inspections, and internal design memos uncovered in prior mass tort trials to prove foreseeability. We animate fracture surfaces and blood metal counts into courtroom graphics jurors grasp in seconds, then layer testimony from bioengineers and human factors experts to show safer alternatives were ready yet ignored. This evidence synergy compelled a global device maker to settle mid trial last year, days after our metallurgist demonstrated microscopic cracks hidden beneath the implant’s polished shell.
Compensation, Liens, and Clean Revenue
Florida allows recovery for revision surgeries, lost income, long term rehab, pain, and when warnings were reckless, punitive damages that dwarf medical bills. Health insurer liens and Medicare set offs can erode awards, so our finance team files every lien notice and negotiates reductions, ensuring “clean revenue” reaches clients, not creditors. Structured settlements spread payouts over decades for patients facing multiple replacement surgeries, while special needs trusts safeguard benefits for elderly and disabled Floridians.
Your Next Step: A Free 30 Minute Defective Device Audit
Email your operative note or call (800) 382-3176. Within one business day our nurses flag device anomalies, our engineers request the explant for testing, and our attorneys draft presuit notices against every liable party at no cost unless we win. Serving families across Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and every Florida county, Percy Martinez turns medical chaos into legal clarity.
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