Floridians deserve to feel assured that when they go to a hospital for an emergency or a planned procedure they will be safe and receive appropriate medical treatment. We all rely on healthcare facilities to act responsibly in making our health and safety a priority. Unfortunately, that is not always the case in Florida hospitals. When Florida hospitals fail to live up to their responsibilities, Panter, Panter & Sampedro steps in. Our experienced hospital negligence attorneys will fight for your rights every step of the way.

What is Considered Hospital Negligence?

Hospitals, like other medical providers in the State of Florida, are responsible for providing medical care and treatment that meets the standard of care. The standard of care legally means providing the treatment that a reasonable medical provider, in this instance another hospital, would provide under similar circumstances. Essentially, Florida hospitals and their employees are required by law to do what a reasonable hospital or hospital employee would do under like conditions. Of course, they must also avoid doing what reasonable medical providers would likewise not do. Care below the legal standard of care is negligent or sometimes referred to as medical malpractice.

A hospital may be found liable for the negligence of a hospital employee under a legal theory known as “respondeat superior”, a Latin term meaning “let the master answer”. In other words, a hospital may be found liable if a medical professional employed by the hospital acts negligently and injures a patient. As long as the hospital employee was working within their duties of their employment an individual may sue the hospital for the harm their employee caused.

Historically, hospitals employed most of the medical providers that treated the hospital’s patients. However, these days many hospital workers are labeled by the hospital or by their contracts as “independent contractors.” Like any other person who hires an independent contractor over whom they have little control, under some circumstances a hospital may not be held liable for the negligence of their independent contractors. Many people feel that hospitals seek to limit their own responsibility for medical errors occurring within the hospital by labeling workers as “independent contractors.”

The law in Florida though does not blindly accept the labels that hospitals and their workers assign. The language of hospital contracts does not answer the question: who is an independent contractor under the law. Experienced hospital negligence attorneys like those at Panter, Panter & Sampedro will investigate and challenge the labels hospitals use to try to limit their responsibility for medical errors that occur at hospitals.

Some hospital workers are agents of the hospital for which the hospital remains legally responsible. Others may be what the law describes as “apparent agents” of the hospital. Issues of apparent agency and agency arise in nearly all hospital negligence cases. Where a hospital represents to the public or to a specific patient that the doctors and nurses are hospital employees, the hospital may be responsible for the actions of what the law calls their apparent agent. Our lawyers will look to the terms of any written agreements and the actual behavior of the hospital and its workers to show whether an agency or apparent relationship exists.

Panter, Panter & Sampedro Gets Hospital Negligence Victims the Compensation they Deserve

The Panter, Panter, and Sampedro legal team has helped many hospital negligence victims around Miami, and in the entire State of Florida get the compensation they deserve.

Our Hospital Negligence Experience

Hospital negligence litigation requires a trial attorney to prove through expert witness testimony that accepted standards of care were violated and that those violations led to injury or death. For over thirty years, Panter, Panter, and Sampedro’s dedicated hospital negligence attorneys have been working one-on-one with clients to successfully get them the justice, recovery, and compensation they deserve. Our medical malpractice legal team seeks out the most respected medical experts to explain to the jury exactly what went wrong and how the tragic medical mistake could have been avoided with appropriate medical treatment.

Our Results Speak for Themselves

Panter, Panter, and Sampedro has obtained verdicts and settlements in excess of $100 million for our clients. Our legal team has a strong record of verdicts and negotiated settlements for medical malpractice cases involving:

• Birth injuries
• Surgical errors
• Emergency room errors
• OB-GYN errors
• Pharmacy and medication administration errors
• Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis
• Defective products
• Nursing home negligence

*On March 24, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 837 reducing Florida’s statute of limitations for general negligence cases from four years to two years. In other words, a lawsuit alleging negligence which accrued after March 24, 2023 must now be filed within two years of the date of the alleged negligence or the claim will be forever barred.