What is Medical Malpractice in Florida?

Malpractice does not mean having pain or a negative outcome following a procedure which was performed appropriately in accordance with all normal industry standards. While having a bad outcome can be an immensely upsetting and frustrating experience, it cannot legally be considered malpractice if the doctor (or other healthcare professional) did not actually make any errors or mistakes.

In order for an incident to be successfully deemed true malpractice, there are several elements which must be in place:

• There must be a formal patient-doctor relationship established between the plaintiff and the defendant. – This creates a formal “duty of care” from the doctor to the patient. (Note that taking casual advice does not constitute a formal patient-doctor relationship.)
• The doctor must breach his or her duty of care to the patient by acting negligently. – In a legal context, negligence means that the party at fault failed to live up to the normal standard of care that a reasonable person would expect under the same set of circumstances. In other words, if one doctor makes an avoidable error which any other reasonable doctor would have noticed and corrected – such as failing to sterilize tools, or to ask the patient about other medications they were taking – the doctor who made the error may be considered negligent.
• The doctor’s negligence must have caused an injury to the plaintiff.
• The plaintiff’s injury, caused by the negligent doctor, must have led to damages.

Depending on the specific details involved in a claim, a plaintiff may be able to recover compensation for damages such as hospital bills, lost income, and physical pain and suffering.

For more information visit our website at,
https://ddpalaw.com/medical-malpractice/