Sarasota Medical Malpractice Attorneys
In times of sickness and injury, we turn to healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and therapists for qualified and appropriate medical care. We entrust members of the medical profession with our lives and, in turn, expect them to provide care and treatment which meets the standard of care. Unfortunately, today medical mistakes have become all too common and medical malpractice is now the third leading cause of death in America.
At the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys, we have been representing victims of medical negligence for over two decades. Over that time, our Sarasota medical malpractice attorneys have fought doctors along with their insurance companies and high-paid lawyers and obtained more than $90 million in settlements and verdicts for our clients. Our success in theses complex cases is based in large part upon hard work, knowledge of how the legal, medical and insurance fields operate and our ability to retain highly-qualified medical experts.
If you or a loved one has been injured by medical negligence in Sarasota, please contact our office today for a free comprehensive case review at 1-800-222-8163.
Medical Malpractice a National Problem
According to a 2016 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, only heart disease and cancer outrank medical errors as causes of death in the United States. The Johns Hopkins study concluded that medical malpractice resulted in more than 250,000 American deaths. The exact toll of medical errors, however, may be even higher, “because the coding system used by CDC to record death certificate data does not capture problems like communication breakdowns, diagnostic errors and poor judgment that cost lives,” according to the study.
At the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys, our attorneys handle a wide spectrum of medical malpractice cases throughout Florida which include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Surgical complications
- Birth Injuries
- Hospital and nursing negligence
- Failure to timely diagnose strokes
- Medication type and dosage mistakes
- Misread laboratory results and radiology films
- Misdiagnosis of diseases and conditions
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Brachial plexus birth injuries
- Heart attack injuries
- Bedsores, pressure sore and decubitus ulcer injuries
- Wrongful death
Importantly, Florida – together with California, New York and Texas – ranks among the top four states with the highest number of medical malpractice claims according to a recent report. To learn if you have case, please contact our office today to speak with a lawyer or simply complete a free case review.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Under Florida law, medical negligence is the failure of a licensed health care provider to provide the patient with that “level of care, skill, and treatment which, in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.”
It is important to note that not all medical mishaps are the result of negligence (failing to act with the level of care that a prudent medical provider would have exercised under similar circumstances), and only those injuries that are the result of a negligent or wrongful act can be the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit. The following are examples of medical mistakes which may give rise to a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida:
- A nurse or nurse’s aid’s failure to regularly turn and position a bed bound patient leading to the development of an avoidable bedsore on the patient’s buttocks, hips, heels, etc.
- An anesthesiologist failing to pay appropriate attention during surgery and delivering too much anesthesia resulting in brain damage or the death of the patient.
- A nurse delivering the wrong medication or dose to the patient, resulting in injury.
- A dentist improperly sterilizing instruments causing a serious infection in a patient.
- A radiologist misreading a CT or MRI scan, missing a tumor, allowing the tumor to grow and the disease to spread.
- A doctor may not recognize the signs and symptoms of a stroke and fail to timely administer TPA causing life-long injury to the patient
- Surgery to the wrong side of the body or a foreign object left inside the body.
- A nurse’s aide may not properly lift a patient, fail to use a lift or ask for help and drop the patient on the floor while trying to transfer the person to a wheelchair, causing injuries to the patient.
Sarasota Medical Mistake – Call Today!
If you have questions about medical malpractice or want to learn about your rights to compensation, contact a Sarasota medical malpractice lawyer at our firm today at 1-800-222-8163. Our malpractice team and attorneys are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide answers to your legal questions and evaluate the strengths of your potential case.
Your consultation is free, we don’t get paid unless we Win!