Hospitals and medical centers are places where individuals seek medical aid when they encounter a sudden injury, a disease, a sickness, or even to bring new life to this world. Patients put their faith into the medical providers that are there to assist them, and for the most part, many patients have successful outcomes, but in some cases, there are a vast majority that do not. Some patients end up worse than they were when they sought the help and some even lose their life as a result. When this occurs, it is known as “medical negligence”. Medical negligence, most commonly known as “medical malpractice”, is when the medical professional’s inaction or actions are the direct cause of the patient’s resulting injuries or death. But, like in every other personal injury case, in order to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice in Florida, you must prove the following:
- The medical provider had a duty of care with you
- The medical provider breached that duty of care
- The violated duty of care resulted in your injuries/death/pain and suffering
In order to prove that the doctor breached their duty of care towards you, you would have to consult a medical professional in the same area of study as the health care provider in question and determine whether they would have proceeded differently under the same circumstances. Aventura Hospital and Medical Center medical malpractice lawsuits can derive from all of the services that they offer including:
- Bariatric weight loss surgery lawsuit
- Cancer care lawsuit
- Diabetes program lawsuit
- Emergency care lawsuit
- Heart and Vascular care lawsuit
- Orthopedic and Spine lawsuit
- Sleep disorder care lawsuit
- Trauma services lawsuit
- Wound management lawsuit
The above is a short list of the various services offered here. When healthcare providers in these different areas perform negligent actions, it could cause great harm to a patient. Medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in Americans; a surprising fact for many. For all the damages that victims sustain through medical negligence, they can file a medical malpractice lawsuit to recover for those damages at Percy Martinez Law Firm in Miami, FL with a competent personal injury attorney for medical malpractice that can fight to attain you the maximum compensation. Discover more information about medical malpractice with us.
Frequent Medical Malpractice Occurrences
Many people are unaware, but medical malpractice happens more often than not. In fact, there is a high chance that at least once in your life, you will become the victim of a medical malpractice occurrence. At our medical malpractice firm in Miami, FL, our personal injury attorneys are often faced with medical malpractice cases deriving from the following medical negligences:
- Emergency Room Lawsuit: Medical malpractice is often seen in emergency room settings. Why? One apparent reason could be the high-stress levels that ER health care professionals must deal with. Not only do they have to handle extremely difficult cases, but they must also do so in a limited time frame because that could mean the difference between life and death for the patient. Medical charts get lost, medical providers fail to communicate properly with each other, the wrong medication is administered to the patient, or the patient goes in for the wrong surgery. Those are just some medical negligence occurrences that are often experienced in ER’s.
- Delayed Diagnosis Lawsuit: Delayed diagnosis happens frequently. You may go in for an exam, but your doctor fails to provide you with the adequate tests needed to determine what you have. This delay in determining what you may have further delays your treatment. This is especially dangerous for patients who have time-sensitive health issues like cancer. Cancer can spread to other areas of the body if left untreated at an extreme rate of speed.
- Lack of informed consent lawsuit: Informed consent refers to the physician speaking with the patient and letting them know what risks are involved with the surgery or procedure that they are about to do. Also, the doctor must tell the patient of alternative roads that they can take. Once all that information has been provided, the patient must either agree or disagree. If the physician fails to provide the patient with that information and they proceed with the procedure regardless, if the patient sustains damages from the procedure, they can file a lawsuit for lack of informed consent because they were not told of the known risks. Lack of informed consent is often seen in emergency rooms because they sometimes cannot acquire the consent of the patient due to them being unconscious.
- Surgical error lawsuit: Medical negligence during a surgery can be deadly. When you decide to proceed with an operation or have no other choice, you believe that you will be taken well care of. Sadly, these medical providers commit various different medical negligences during operations that can lead to injury and death of the patient. Some of those medical negligences include cutting into the wrong organ, leaving a sponge inside the patient, administering too much anesthesia, and even failing to notice fluctuations of their vital signs. You could file a lawsuit for surgical errors if you suffered injuries.
The different types of medical malpractice cases that can occur are of an abundance. Just think about the number of different medical providers that offer different services- it could be endless. All of those forms of services could end up with medical negligence.
Statute of Limitations with Medical Malpractice
If you are a victim of medical malpractice and want to file a lawsuit for the damages that you sustained, you must understand that there is a statute of limitations tied with medical malpractice cases. There is a certain time frame that you will have to file a malpractice lawsuit depending on where you live. If you do not abide by the statute of limitations in your state, you will lose the right to civil remedy. It could be months, and even years before you even notice that you were a victim of medical malpractice.
For example, let’s say you went into surgery to remove your appendicitis. The operation was a success, but a year after the surgery, you start to experience pain in the site that the operation took place. You go in to have an x-ray done and discover that a sponge had been left inside from the surgery to remove your appendicitis. An infection is already starting to spread through your body, and you must be hospitalized. Because you were not aware of the medical malpractice case, the statute of limitations would not start to count until the discovery of the medical malpractice occurrence because most states recognize that some medical malpractice claims will not manifests themselves until some time has passed.
It is imperative that you seek the legal counsel of a professional medical malpractice lawyer in Miami, FL at Percy Martinez’s Law Firm due to the limited time of the statute of limitations. Medical malpractice claims can be extremely complex, which is why you require the expert help of the best medical malpractice attorney in Miami. Through our professionalism, we will ensure that the provisions of the statute of limitations are met and we will anticipate all stumbles along the road.
Go here. To learn more about the statute of Limitations for medical malpractice in Florida.
Shocking Facts, Graphs, and Figures
Here are some figures and facts pertaining to medical malpractice:
- 49% of physicians that have been named in a lawsuit have been named in more than two lawsuits
- 200,000 patients are killed every year in the US due to medical errors
- Primary care physicians, surgeons, and OBGYNS are most often named in lawsuits
- Between the year 2006 and 2016, there were 433, 151 medical malpractice claims from the state of Florida, California, Texas and New York
- Four million Americans are misdiagnosed every year
- The average settlement for malpractice cases is $425,000
- The chances of you becoming a victim of medical malpractice at least once in your lifetime are incredibly high
- 15% of personal injury cases filed each year are composed of medical malpractice
2017– Chart below shows the percentage of physicians named in lawsuits
| 1 lawsuit | 2-5 lawsuits | 6-9 lawsuits | 10 or more lawsuits |
| 0 | 49% | 5% | 2% |
Provided by Medscape
- 18% of lawsuits were towards physicians
- 11% were towards surgeons
- 11 % were towards OBGYNS.
Chart shows the reason percentage behind the lawsuits for Primary care vs. Specialties in 2017
| Reason | Primary Care | Specialties |
| Complications from treatment/surgery | 15% | 31% |
| Failure to diagnose/delayed diagnosis | 43% | 28% |
| Poor outcome/ disease progression | 25% | 24% |
| Failure to treat/delayed treatment | 20% | 16% |
| Wrongful death | 20% | 15% |
| Patient suffered an abnormal injury | 8% | 10% |
| Poor documentation of patient instruction and education | 2% | 3% |
| Improperly obtaining/ lack of informed consent | 1% | 3% |
| Failure to follow safety procedure | 1% | 2% |
| Errors in medication administration | 6% | 2% |
*Information provided by Medscape
Case Study at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center
$ 7.91 million verdict against Aventura Hospital
In 2006, Alba Chavez underwent an outpatient laparoscopic procedure at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center. Doctors prescribed Alba Chavez morphine and hydromorphone for the pain that she was experiencing after the gallbladder operation. She was left alone after being given the pain medication as she was being transferred between the units of the hospital. During the transfer, Alba suffered from hypoxic brain injury as she stopped breathing. As a result, Alba Chavez was in comatose for 45 days. She eventually woke up but is now a quadriplegic and is confined to a wheelchair and suffers from speech problems. The family of Alba Chavez argued that the nurses should not have left her alone and that they should not have stripped her of monitors and oxygen supply as she was heavily sedated. The claims made were that the standard of care was not met. . Reports and findings from experts found that she was left alone between seven to ten minutes when she stopped breathing. Nearly three years after the case was filed for negligence, the family was awarded a total damage of 7.91 million dollars.
Miami, FL Medical Malpractice Percy Martinez Best Lawyer
Come file a malpractice lawsuit with one of our experienced medical negligence attorneys at Percy Martinez Law Firm in Miami, FL if you believe that medical malpractice from Aventura Hospital and Medical center in Miami-Dade County has happened to you. We work hard and have the will to succeed for our patients. We will determine how the healthcare provider breached their duty of care and will claim all of the damages that you have sustained. Put your faith in us, and you will not be disappointed. One of our competent personal injury attorneys is waiting for your call. Those who perform medical negligence must pay the consequences.
References:
- https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/medical-malpractice
- https://aventurahospital.com/services/
- https://www.google.com/search?q=aventura+hospital+and+medical+center&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYivOrz-zcAhXwuFkKHfGnBMgQ_AUICygC&biw=1906&bih=926#imgrc=hhSxO2KvJs9yTM: – image
- https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2017-malpractice-report-6009206#8
- https://www.kairelaw.com/medical-malpractice/jury-returns-7-91-million-medical-malpractice-verdict-aventura-hospital/
- https://www.floridabar.org/news/tfb-journal/?durl=%2Fdivcom%2Fjn%2Fjnjournal01.nsf%2FAuthor%2FF7BC2200718A2A2685256D550074A2C3
- https://www.google.com/search?q=statute+of+limitations+medical+malpractice+florida&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJvNHq2ezcAhVGpFkKHR3dAK4Q_AUICygC&biw=1906&bih=926#imgrc=BSIV5YbRwABXFM: – image