To qualify for a hospital negligence lawsuit, an individual must be able to prove that a medical professional employed by a hospital failed to provide the medical standard of care and that their negligence led to serious injury or death. There are many different situations that may lead to litigation, including, but not limited to:

• Surgical errors
• Wrong diagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Failure to sanitize equipment
• Being given the wrong medication
• Being given the wrong dosage
• Infections arising from improper cleaning of wounds
• Misread x-ray, slides, or ultrasounds
• Medical device errors

Florida hospitals have lobbied the State Legislature and fought hard to raise roadblocks to stop or slow victims of hospital negligence who seek legal redress. Unlike most negligence actions, to pursue a lawsuit against a Florida hospital, an injured patient or their family must first engage in a costly and time-consuming presuit investigation process. Florida law was amended at the request of hospital industry advocates to require negligence victims to secure the medical opinion of a medical professional licensed with the same specialty as the potential defendant in a medical malpractice case. That medical opinion along with all available medical records must be shared with the potential defendants during a formal 90-day pre-suit investigation process.

If after the pre-suit investigation is completed, the parties are unable to reach agreement and settle the claims, a lawsuit would be filed on behalf of the injured patient. Then, both the plaintiff and defendant must share information through a process called discovery, which may include requests for depositions, documentation, and interrogations. If the two parties agree to a settlement, the case does not proceed to a trial.

However, if no settlement is reached the trial will commence as scheduled. During the trial, the plaintiff will present compelling evidence showing what the standard of care required and how the medical professional did not provide the appropriate care or otherwise acted in a negligent or careless manner, and that their actions led to serious injury or death. The defendant will also have an opportunity to prove that they provided adequate care to the patient.

According to the law, an injured patient may collect economic damages, non-economic damages, and in rare cases punitive damages.

Also called “special damages”, economic damages are damages that can be calculated as a close or exact financial amount. Economic damages include any lost income and lost earning capacity, the cost of necessary medical treatment needed to repair the initial injury and other financial losses that may be attributed to the negligent actions of a medical professional. The damages consider past and future economic damages. Expert witnesses are also sometimes called to help explain how to calculate economic damages to a jury.

Non-economic or “general” damages are described as subjective by nature and therefore cannot be directly calculated as an exact financial amount. Examples of non-economic damages include pain and suffering, as well as “loss of consortium”. Pain and suffering may be described as the loss of enjoyment of life, loss of future earning capacity, and physical and mental pain. Loss of consortium typically refers to the intangible benefits the injured person provided to their legally married spouse. To arrive at a dollar value, the patient and others need to provide evidence about the pain and suffering the patient experienced.

In cases when the actions of a healthcare professional were not merely negligent but were intentional or wantonly reckless, a court may allow a jury to consider and award punitive damages against a Florida hospital. Punitive damages are not intended to compensate victims but are instead meant to discourage similar actions in the future by the negligent medical professional and others in their industry. The exact amount is decided by the court but may be capped by Florida law under some circumstances.

Unlike most claims of negligence under Florida law, a victim of hospital negligence or other medical malpractice has up to two years from the date of injury to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. For medical injuries not readily apparent, a victim has up to two years from when they knew of the injury or should have realized the existence of the injury – but not more than four years from the date of the treatment that caused the injury. In certain cases of injury to children under 8 years old there may be more time allowed to file suit. However, it is imperative that victims of hospital negligence contact a qualified medical malpractice lawyer immediately upon realizing that they may have suffered harm as a result of a medical procedure.

Most hospital negligence attorneys will represent their clients under a contingency arrangement. Under this arrangement, an attorney is paid a percentage of the award or settlement. The attorney does not collect a fee if their client does not receive an award or settlement. That fee is regulated by the Florida Bar.