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Are You or Someone You Know a Victim of Medical Mistakes by a Doctor, Hospital or Other Medical Provider in Clearwater St. Petersburg Florida?

When you go to the doctor or hospital for medical care, you don't expect the doctor, nurse, or medical provider to injure you because of a mistake they make. You trust them to provide the care you need. Victims of medical mistakes struggle, not only with handling their pain and injuries, but also with emotions and finding answers to the many questions they have. Medical mistakes may involve a wrong  diagnosis, a mistake in a diagnosis, giving the wrong treatment, ordering the wrong medication or other medication error, making a mistake during surgery or any other kind of medical mistake. When medical mistakes happen you need help to understand if you have a case and what it will take to pursue it.   

When a doctor or other provider makes a medical mistake lawyers call it medical malpractice or medical negligence. These cases are controlled by Florida's Medical Malpractice Act. This law sets out the requirements for proving medical malpractice and what must be done to recover financial compensation against a doctor, dentist, surgeon, chiropractor, nurse, hospital, clinic, pharmacy or other medical provider. Medical malpractice cases are some of the most difficult cases a lawyer will ever handle.

Medical malpractice or medical mistakes cases may be brought for something a healthcare provider did or something they failed to do. Recovery against healthcare providers such as a doctor, nurse or hospital for negligence is based upon whether they failed to meet the reasonable or minimum standard of care for the diagnosis or treatment involved. It must also be shown some harm or injury resulted from their mistake or negligence. If so, they may be required to pay financial compensation for injuries and other losses they caused.

Common examples of medical malpractice claims include:

• surgical errors (anesthesia errors, operation on the wrong body part,  leaving surgical equipment in the body and other mistakes)
• failure to diagnose (delay in diagnosing or misdiagnosis) of a disease or illness
• failure to properly monitor a patient
• failure to correctly treat a patient’s disease or illness
• failure to obtain an informed consent for treatment or surgery

• falls (for instance, in a hospital due to negligent medical care)
• failure to timely diagnose and treat post surgical infection (sepsis, MRSA)
  
  
  medication errors (wrong medication, wrong dose, giving it the wrong way)

           
Holding Them Responsible:

Florida's Medical Malpractice Act requires the injured person conduct a pre-suit investigation to show reasonable grounds exist to believe the doctor or medical provider acted negligently, causing injuries to the patient.

The purpose of a pre-suit investigation process is to make sure any claim is valid, and to encourage parties to settle valid claims without a lawsuit.

There are strict time limits in which any claim must be brought. Although most claims must be brought within a period of two years, the act contains circumstances under which the time may be extended.

If you believe you have the basis for a Florida medical malpractice case, you should not delay contacting attorney Jim Dodson, a qualified medical malpractice lawyer who can evaluate your claim and advise you of your legal rights.

Medical Malpractice Statistics and Facts:

• Between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die in hospitals annually due to preventable medical errors
• Medical malpractice results in 2,400-5,400 deaths in Florida each year
  
• 1.3 million patients are injured annually in the U.S. due to medication mistakes
  
  
• There are nearly 10 times as many injuries caused by medical negligence as there are malpractice claims. In fact three to seven people die from medical errors for every payment made to compensate any type of malpractice.
• There were fewer medical malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors in 2009, then any other year on record (National Practitioner Data Bank), contradicting claims by some that medical practice litigation is to blame for a rise in healthcare costs.
• Patient safety is the real crisis. Public Citizen, a national nonprofit advocacy group for consumer rights states:”… it is ridiculous… to continue to obsess about this greatly exaggerated problem… focus should be on fixing real problems like the crisis in preventable medical errors.”
                           Clearwater St. Petersburg Medical Malpractice Lawyer James W. Dodson
•                                                                 1259 Myrtle Avenue South
•                                                                  Clearwater, Florida 33756
•                                                                          1-888-340-0840                
•                                                                            (727)446-0840

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  Description: Across the country, a total of 10,772 medical malpractice payments were made in 2009 on behalf of physicians. In real terms – about 4 times as many people were killed by preventable errors made by doctors and medical facilities.That's approximately 44,000 deaths a year. Just a small fraction of those who have suffered serious injuries or death are compensated by the insurers who hold the medical malpractice policies of doctors and hospitals.
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• 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors [PDF]   
  Description: Twenty tips to help prevent medical errors, the nation's leading cause of death and injury, posted by Clearwater Florida Medical Malpractice lawyer and provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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Frequent Questions for Florida Medical Malpractice | Medical Negligence:

• What do you do if you have been involved in a medical malpractice claim in Florida?

Videos about Florida Medical Malpractice | Medical Negligence:

• Is There a Time Limit on Medical Malpractice Claims in Florida?
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