If you live in Miami, Florida, and you have been injured due to medical negligence, you are allowed to sue the medical institutions or the medical professionals involved. However, you need to provide absolute proof that you are eligible for compensation. You should also be aware that you have a limited period of opportunity to file a lawsuit.
Here are a few points you may like to consider about filing a lawsuit against your doctor for malpractice:
- The State of Florida will allow you to begin a medical malpractice lawsuit if it is within two years since you discovered, or should have discovered, your injury. The outer limit for filing the suit is four years. Even if medical malpractice results only appear after four years, the law doesn’t permit you to sue the medical practitioner once the period has lapsed. In the case of medical negligence, therefore, sooner is always better.
- There is an exception in the law for cases where the healthcare provider fraudulently concealed medical negligence. That is, you were deliberately deceived so you would not realize what had happened. If you can prove this, the statute of limitation is extended to seven years from when the malpractice took place.
- If you plan to sue a doctor or hospital in Florida, you must first serve a notice stating your intention. You have to include an “Affidavit of Merit” where a doctor confirms that you have a valid medical malpractice claim. Once this notice is given, you have 90 days to reach a settlement and avoid going to court. If the settlement does not work out, you can then proceed to file a lawsuit.
- For a case to be considered medical malpractice, there should be adequate proof that the doctor, nurse, or other medical professional did not provide the required standard of care. It means that he or she did not take the steps that a regular medical practitioner would have. If the steps taken were indeed what someone else would have, even if it, unfortunately, led to injury, it will not be considered medical malpractice.
- You have to prove with the help of a Miami medical malpractice attorneys without a doubt that the injuries you suffered were a result of your doctor’s negligence. If it could have happened because of other circumstances, your lawsuit may not be considered malpractice.
- Medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed not just by the victim but also by a spouse, child, or parent. You are allowed to seek compensation for the death or injury caused to a loved one since it may affect your life, cause you loss of income, companionship, and care.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex and time-consuming because they involve much documentation. You will also need the expert opinion of medical practitioners. The requirements can make filing lawsuits an expensive proposition. Most doctors and insurance companies are supported by knowledgeable and well-known attorneys who know the system and can be quite aggressive towards you. You should consult a good Miami medical negligence attorney to give you the support you need.