Florida Law - What Constitutes Medical Malpractice? What Are the Patient's Florida Legal Rights?
In order to prove a medical malpractice claim, there are four requirements that must be met:
Existence of a doctor-patient relationship. You must prove that you are the patient of the doctor being sued.
Your doctor was negligent. You must prove that your doctor was negligent in your treatment or diagnosis. This means that your doctor caused you some harm that a competent doctor would not have caused. The doctor’s care must be “reasonably skillful and careful” – meaning that they meet the standards of care for your particular diagnosis or problem.
Your doctor’s negligence caused you harm. You must prove that the doctor’s negligence caused you injury or harm, not the disease or injury itself.
The harm led to specific damages. This may include physical pain, mental anguish, loss of wages or earning capacity, or additional medical expense.
There are a number of categories for medical malpractice claims, including:
• Improper treatment – when a doctor treats a patient in a manner that no competent doctor would.
• Failure to diagnose – when a doctor fails to discover an illness or makes an incorrect diagnosis because of incompetence.
• Failure of the duty of informed consent – when a doctor fails to warn a patient of the known risks to a procedure or treatment.
If you or a member of your family have been the victim of medical malpractice in Florida and suffered any physical or emotional loss, contact a Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney to help guide you and represent you through the laws in place for the enforcement of the rights of the patient / medical malpractice victim.
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Representing Adults and Children injured in Florida and their families for over 50 years. Handling an injury case requires knowledge of Florida laws, medical care, education, and family matters as they pertain to the injured person.
Personal Injury Attorney with Emphasis on Child Injury Matters, Author, Founder of Child Injury Lawyer Network