North Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Mediation is a tool used in Florida to assist parties in settling a claim for damages resulting from slip and falls, auto accidents or medical malpractice issues. A claim for damages has different stages: filing a claim, sending a demand for damages, filing a lawsuit, mediation, post mediation, and trial. If a claim for injuries and resulting damages is not settled in the first stages, then the injured party may file a lawsuit. Once a lawsuit is filed, the court requires that the parties attend mediation.

Mediation is often the best opportunity to settle your case before a jury is selected and more costs are spent on preparing for trial. Mediation is required because it has been a proven tool for cases to settle out of court, in fact, approximately 90% of injury cases are settled at mediation.

So, what is mediation? Mediation is the term to describe a meeting between the parties and a neutral, unbiased individual (a mediator). You and your attorney meet with the other side’s lawyer and insurance adjuster along with the mediator. The mediator’s job is to listen to both sides and help you reach a settlement agreement. All communication and offers are kept confidential and cannot be used in court if the case does not settle. The parties originally meet in one room to hear opening statements and are then separated into different rooms and the mediator goes between both rooms to help negotiate a settlement.

If you are able to reach an agreement, then the mediator drafts a mediated agreement and both sides sign the agreement. While mediation is a good tool for settlement, it is also helpful in showing the strengths and weaknesses of a case so your attorney can best prepare your case to be presented to a jury. In addition, it opens communication for the parties to reach a settlement before, or sometimes during trial.

If a case is not settled at mediation, there are still opportunities for settlement after mediation. Ultimately, if there is not settlement or meeting of the minds, the case will proceed to trial. The case will then depend on the verdict of the jury.

A 55-year-old woman who received a kidney transplant in 2007 at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center is now suing the hospital because the kidney carried the HIV virus.

Karen Cruz’s donor was a family member who was unaware at the time that they had the HIV virus. However, Cruz says that her donor’s blood was tested prior to the transplant for HIV and infection by the hospital, and even though the tests were positive for HIV, the hospital did not inform her and proceeded with the transplant.

The hospital says that despite those allegations, the services they provided to Cruz were “appropriate and met the standards of care.”

Cruz said that she did not even learn from the hospital or her doctors that she had HIV; her medical malpractice attorney informed her after obtaining the donor’s test results from the hospital.

According to an interview with WZVN-TV, Cruz said that she takes 20 pills a day just to stay alive. "I have not been able to enjoy not one minute of life since I got off that operating table. I have been so sick, it's unreal," Cruz said.

To read more about this Florida medical malpractice suit, read Lawsuit: Hospital transplanted HIV infected kidney.

A surgical technician’s surprise testimony has led to a $2.15 million medical malpractice award for a former ballerina who sued her surgeon and a Florida hospital for an alleged botched hip arthroscopy.

Katie Shreffler, who was 17 at the time of her initial operation to repair a labral tear, now walks with a cane.

According to court documents, Shreffler had a second operation on her hip one year later to alleviate continued pain and limited mobility following the first surgery performed by Dr. Marc Philippon at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale. Her second surgeon informed her that he had found gouges in her cartilage caused by a sharp instrument. She then filed suit against Dr. Philippon and Holy Cross Hospital, claiming negligence.

Julia Snogles, a surgical technician who was present during Shreffler’s procedure in 1997, testified that Dr. Philippon told her the surgery was a new procedure and that he was new at performing it. During the procedure, he created a third opening; when Snogles asked him why, he said it was to remove a foreign object. Plaintiff attorneys argued that Dr. Philippon’s inexperience led him to apply too much pressure to the instruments used in the procedure; however, Snogles also testified she never saw a foreign object being removed.

Snogles’ testimony became an issue in the appeal; the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District denied the defense a rehearing on their appeal.

To read more about this medical malpractice award, see Surprise Testimony From Surgical Tech Leads to $2.15M Malpractice Award.

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.

When a doctor, nurse, hospital or other medical staff or facility fails to exercise reasonable care prior to, during and / or post the delivery of a child, these actions can be grounds for a medical malpractice claim.

Wrongful Birth – if a doctor or medical staff failed to warn parents about a birth defect that, had they known, would have made the decision to end the pregnancy, they may have grounds for a wrongful birth suit. Wrongful birth suits are usually brought when there has been negligence in detecting a birth defect or if genetic testing was done improperly.

Injury to Mother and/or Child – if an infant is injured during delivery, the parents can bring suit to recover damages for suffering as well as loss of enjoyment of life. The parents may be able to recover for expenses associated with caring for the child for life if the injury is that severe. If an injury happens to a mother during delivery that was caused by negligence, she may be able to bring a legal action for both general and special damages.

During pregnancy, delivery and post birth care to both mother and child, doctors, nurses and medical institutions have a duty to provide care that is within the standard of care for similar health care providers in the State of Florida. While medical providers are not responsible for every health related problem or defect in a child, Florida medical providers have a duty to provide care that is accepted in the medical community as care within or above the standard of care. When the doctor or medical provider falls below the standard of care and basically fails the patient, a medical malpractice case may be pursued on behalf of the injured child and / or adult who then has to suffer the consequences of such poor medical care.

If you need more information on Florida medical malpractice, a Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney can advise you regarding the Florida Medical Malpractice Act, insurance laws, and other laws that control these kind of civil legal matters.

Most people assume that medical malpractice lawsuits are brought against doctors and hospitals, but there are a number of medical malpractice suits brought every year against nurses in the United States.

Like doctors, nurses have a responsibility to perform their nursing duties in a competent manner. If they fail and that failure harms a patient, there may be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The most common types of nursing malpractice include:

Failure to Act – Since nurses are the primary caregivers for patients, if they fail to take the appropriate action in an emergency or do not properly monitor a patient, and that failure causes harm to the patient, they may be liable for nursing malpractice.

Wrong Medication – If a nurse administers an incorrect dosage or the wrong drug and it causes harm to a patient, this can be cause for a nursing malpractice claim.

Injury – If a nurse injures a patient either with medical equipment, by moving them improperly or in any other way during the performance of his or her nursing duties, this can be considered nursing malpractice.

If you or a member of your family have been injured and suffered any physical or emotional loss due to nursing malpractice in Florida which is a type medical malpractice, contact a Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney to discuss your legal rights and the legal duties of the nurses and office / hospital that employs the nurse.

Each state imposes a statute of limitations on filing personal injury lawsuits and Florida is certainly one of them. What is a statute of limitations? It simply means the period of time in which a person must start legal proceedings.

Here are the Florida statutes of limitation:

Personal Injury – legal proceedings must be initiated within four (4) years from the date of injury.

Medical Malpractice – legal actions against medical professionals must be filed within two (2) years – either of the date of the act that resulted in the injury, or within two years from the date the injury was (or should have been) discovered. However, if a plaintiff is able to prove the presence of concealment, fraud or misrepresentation regarding the injury, the limitation period is extended for another two (2) years.

Professional Malpractice – legal actions against professionals (accountants, attorneys, etc.) must be filed within two (2) years of the date the injurious act was (or should have been) discovered.

Product Liability – actions must be filed within four (4) years from the date of injury.

Wrongful Death – action must be filed within two (2) years of the date of death.

Fraud – must be filed within four (4) years.

Defamation – charges of libel, slander or defamation must be filed within two (2) years from the date of the action.

If you or a member of your family have been injured and suffered any physical or emotional loss, contact our Jacksonville personal injury law firm.

Dental phobia – the fear of going to the dentist – is a fairly well documented phenomenon in the U.S. Many people do not like to go to the dentist because of the fear of pain or helplessness. Some people just don’t like the sounds associated with a dental treatment.

Simply inducing fear, however, is no grounds for a dental malpractice claim. However, when a dentist’s actions (or inaction) cause an injury – either intentionally or unintentionally – it may be considered dental malpractice.

Incidents of dental malpractice can include:

• Failure to diagnose an oral condition or disease
• Failure to treat an oral condition or disease
• Negligent dental work
• Delayed diagnosis or treatment
• Treatment without patient consent
• Intentional misconduct

Some of the injuries that can occur as a result of dental malpractice include:

• Oral injuries during root canals
• Oral infections caused by faulty root canal work
• Oral infections caused by dental tools
• Injuries caused by faulty tools or devices
• Nerve damage to the jaw, lips or face
• Loss of taste
• Numbness
• Injuries, infection or death caused by oral surgery
• Injuries, infection or death caused by improper use of anesthesia
• Injuries, infection or death caused by an unlicensed dentist or hygienist

If you or a member of your family have been the victim of dental malpractice and suffered any physical or emotional loss, contact our Jacksonville personal injury law firm.