Spring Hill Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When you seek medical care, you trust that your healthcare providers will improve your health. However, negligent actions or decisions on the part of a medical professional can put you at risk of catastrophic injuries, worsening conditions, and other harm. If this happened to you, you can demand financial recovery and justice from the healthcare providers to blame. Contact Zervos & Calta, PLLC for a free initial claim evaluation to discuss your legal options with a knowledgeable Spring Hill medical malpractice lawyer from our firm.

With over 60 years of combined legal experience, our team has the skills, resources, and dedication to handle the most complex injury cases. You can trust us to aggressively pursue compensation from healthcare providers and insurance companies – and we’ll do so without any upfront cost to you.

How Is Medical Malpractice Defined?

Medical malpractice is a type of injury claim for negligent treatment from a healthcare provider that causes a patient to suffer some injury or harm. However, negative outcomes from medical treatment do not always stem from healthcare provider negligence. Instead, a medical professional commits malpractice when they provide treatment to a patient that doesn’t meet an acceptable standard of care.

What Are Some Examples of Medical Malpractice in Spring Hill?

Medical malpractice can take many different forms, including:

• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Failure to diagnose
• Failure to treat
• Birth injuries
• Improper use of medical equipment
• Surgical errors, including wrong-site surgery or leaving equipment inside a patient
• Anesthesia errors, such as administering too much or too little anesthesia and failing to monitor the patient’s condition
• Premature discharge
• Medication errors, including miscalculating dosage, improperly filling prescriptions, or administering medication to the wrong patient
• Failure to provide post-discharge instructions
• Failure to follow up
• Failure to obtain informed consent

How Does Medical Malpractice Happen?

Medical professionals make mistakes in patient care for a variety of reasons, some of the most common of which include:

• Failing to order diagnostic testing
• Misinterpreting test results
• Failing to take the patient’s history
• Failing to examine the patient
• Ignoring a patient’s subjective complaints
• Failing to consult with specialists or refer patients for a second opinion
• Not communicating among care team members
• Failing to confirm the patient’s identity

What Is Meant by the Term “Standard of Care”?

The standard of care refers to the level or type of treatment the broader healthcare profession considers adequate care for a patient. The details of the standard of care will differ from patient to patient, depending on factors such as the patient’s symptoms, their overall health, and available treatment options. However, healthcare professionals generally define the standard of care as the treatment decisions and actions that other professionals of similar training and experience would take in identical circumstances. When a treating provider doesn’t make decisions or take actions in a patient’s case that other providers would have, their treatment fails to meet the standard of care.

What Proof Is Needed for a Medical Malpractice Claim?

Successfully recovering compensation for your medical malpractice case will require various kinds of evidence, such as:

• Your medical records from the negligent treatment
• Medical records of treatment you needed for the effects of the negligent care
• The negligent healthcare provider’s treatment notes
• Your medication records or progress charts
• Eyewitness testimony
• Surveillance footage

You will also likely need to present expert testimony from a healthcare professional of similar training and experience as the medical practitioner you’ve sued. Your expert must provide a report and testimony that explains the standard of care in your case, how your treating provider’s actions or decisions failed to meet that standard of care, and how that substandard treatment caused your claimed harm or injuries.

What Damages May Be Recovered in a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A successful medical malpractice claim should compensate you financially for the harm you suffered because of the negligent care, which could include money for:

• Costs of additional medical treatment and rehabilitation needed for the injuries or health complications caused by negligent healthcare
• Costs of long-term care and support, such as home health services, housekeeping, or home renovations to install disability accommodations
• Lost income for additional time taken off work or lost earning capacity caused by injuries or complications from negligent medical treatment
• Loss of future earnings and job benefits if your injuries or complications disable you from returning to work
• Pain and suffering, or the physical and emotional toll your injuries take on you
• Loss of enjoyment or quality of life

Does Florida Have a Time Limit for Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

Under Florida’s statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims, you typically have two years to file a lawsuit after receiving negligent medical treatment. If the consequences of the negligent treatment were not immediately clear, you have two years from the date you discovered or should have discovered your injury. However, you typically cannot file a medical malpractice lawsuit more than four years after the treatment. A Spring Hill medical malpractice attorney can identify any deadlines for your specific case and ensure you meet them.

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