Approximately 44,000 people die in the
United States and over 98,000 die worldwide
each year due, in part, to medical
malpractice. In other words, more people die
every year from doctors who fail to provide
the appropriate level of care than from
guns, AIDS, breast cancer or
automobile
accidents. Doctors are human and can make
mistakes. However, when that mistake is the
result of a health care provider’s deviation
from the accepted standard of care and that
deviation causes injury or death, medical
malpractice may have occurred.
With more than
50 years of combined legal experience, Rosen
& Rosen has grown to become one of the
preeminent law firms in the area of medical
malpractice in the state of Florida. We have
successfully represented patients injured
due to medical negligence and will
aggressively fight for you.
In 1988, the
Florida Legislature enacted the Medical
Malpractice Act, which substantially affects
the rights of patients injured due to
medical negligence. There are strict
pre-suit requirements and time limitations
for pursuing medical malpractice claims.
Therefore, it is important to
consult with an
attorney immediately at Rosen & Rosen to
protect your rights.
Medical
malpractice laws are designed to protect
patients' rights to pursue compensation if
they are injured as the result of
negligence. However, malpractice suits are
often complex and costly to win. While
theoretically, you can seek compensation for
any injury caused by negligence, regardless
of its seriousness, time and money make it
unrealistic to sue for an injury that is
minor or resolves quickly. Therefore, if you
believe you have a medical malpractice
claim, it is important to consult with an
attorney who can help you determine whether
your claim is worth pursuing.
In its 2002
comprehensive report, “Florida’s Real
Medical Malpractice Problem: Bad Doctors and
Insurance Companies, Not the Legal System,”
the Washington, D.C.-based consumer watchdog
group Public Citizen found the following:
- The
number of medical errors reported by
Florida hospitals exceeds the number of
medical malpractice claims filed each
year by 6 to 1. From 1996 through
1999, Florida hospitals reported 19,885
incidents but only 3,177 medical
malpractice claims. This means that for
every 6 adverse incidents in the
hospital only 1 malpractice claim is
ever filed.
- Six
percent of the doctors in Florida are
responsible for half the malpractice.
Public Citizen’s analysis of the federal
government’s National Practitioner Data
Bank information found that 2,674 of the
state’s 44,747 doctors have paid two or
more malpractice awards to patients.
These doctors are responsible for 51
percent of all payments.
- Many
of Florida’s most dangerous doctors
continue to practice and the state
watchdog is asleep on the job. There
are 1,555 physicians who have been
disciplined by Florida’s state medical
and osteopathic boards for incompetence,
misprescribing drugs, sexual misconduct,
criminal convictions, ethical lapses and
other offenses.
- Rate
increases are up for many other types of
insurance in Florida. Doctors like
to blame lawyers and the legal system
for rising malpractice insurance rates.
But these rate increases are largely the
result of the economics of the insurance
industry.
Healthcare
professionals are only required to give a
standard of care that is ordinary or normal.
When a physician is determined to be
negligent, it means that he or she has
failed to use the same degree of skill and
learning, under the same or similar
circumstances, that are used by other
members of the medical profession. Some of
the most common ways that medical
malpractice occurs is through failure or
errors in timely diagnosis and ordering
appropriate treatment, ordering necessary
tests and proper medication, consulting with
specialists, and surgical procedures.
Although there are numerous types of
malpractice claims, here are the most
common:
It is the
attorney's obligation to determine as
quickly and efficiently as possible whether
there is a good, actionable case. This is so
because medical malpractice cases are by
their very nature complex, expensive to
pursue, have a high risk of no recovery, and
often involve a client's "personal"
attachment.
If you or a
loved one has been injured as a result of a
health care provider’s medical negligence,
please contact
Rosen & Rosen, P.A. We have successfully
represented patients injured due to medical
negligence and will aggressively fight for
you.
For more information, please see our
Medical Malpractice FAQs.
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