Medical Malpractice Laws in Florida

Knowing what medical malpractice laws in Florida are becomes imperative if you have a valid medical malpractice claim to make in the state. Medical malpractice is essentially a patient being injured by the wrongdoings of a healthcare provider. However, not all medical errors amount to medical malpractice. Moreover, every state has its unique medical malpractice laws in place. Let’s discuss Florida medical malpractice laws in a bit more detail and understand what laws impact medical malpractice cases.

Intro to Medical Malpractice

As aforementioned ( pharmacy error ), medical malpractice happens courtesy a healthcare professional’s negligence. This negligence could be due to anything, such as the healthcare professional violating standards of medical care. In Florida, this standard is viewed as the amount of skill, care, and treatment recognized as appropriate and acceptable by prudent healthcare providers. Needless to say, this standard varies across states and is based on multiple factors, which includes the age and medical condition of the patient.

Statute of Limitations

Statute of limitations is essentially a state-imposed deadline before which the plaintiff (the individual suing) should file a lawsuit against a healthcare service provider. To complicate matters further, there are usually unique requirements a plaintiff should fulfill before suing for medical malpractice. Not conforming to these requirements could mean delay in filing the lawsuit and also the plaintiff missing the deadline.

Lawsuit Filing Time Limits

In Florida, you should begin the lawsuit process within a couple of years of having found the injury, or four years from the date when the malpractice happened. The case would be nullified if the injury or malpractice isn’t found or reported within the maximum time limit of four years. However, if the healthcare provider resorted to fraudulent measures for concealing the malpractice, these time limits may then not apply. In such a scenario, the time limit could get extended to up to seven years from the date the malpractice happened.

Malpractice Case Duration

As noted by WPB , there are several factors that affect the longevity of your medical practice case in Florida. Generally, these lawsuits take quite some time to resolve, and incur significant costs too. This is because both medical and legal knowledge is needed to assess such cases. Also, expert witnesses must be on-board to extract sense from the medical evidences presented during the trial. Moreover, the case would not just include the healthcare provider, but also the insurance carrier who would offer its reasons for not wanting to offer the claimed amount.