Medical malpractice occurs when a physician, healthcare facility, or healthcare provider makes an error or acts negligence. Malpractice may result in injury or death – whether from surgery, medications, diagnoses, or other factors related to health treatments. Multiple individuals or facilities may be sued regarding a single incident – such as if both a medical worker and the facility where they work.
Fast Fact: According to the FDA, over 95,000 medication errors have occurred since 2000, and the CDC estimates nearly 99,000 people die each year from infections they contracted at a hospital.
Other everyday medical malpractice situations include:
- Injuries to a newborn baby during delivery
- Incorrect dosage of anesthesia during an operation
- Injuries caused during surgery such as nerve damage or spinal cord damage
- Performing the wrong surgery on a patient
- Mistakes made with prescription medications
- Incorrect diagnosis or treatment for the disease
- Permanent injury or death of a patient due to incorrect protocol
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Informative 2022 Medical Malpractice Statistics
- More than one-third, or 34%, of American physicians have been sued over allegations of medical malpractice (Source AMA)
- Nearly half of those physicians (16.8%) have faced two or more lawsuits.
- About 4,000 surgical errors occur annually.
- (Source NCBI)
- 33% of malpractice suits related to medication involve patient death, while 18% of all other cases do.
- 50% of malpractice cases are due to prescriptions or medications (Source NCBI)
- 33% of medical malpractice cases are due to misdiagnosis. (Source Jama Network)
It is important to understand your chances in these types of cases. Medical issues are emotional, and many people may want to blame their sickness or injury on an outside party. However, a few years ago, 68% of claims were withdrawn, dismissed, or dropped. Only 7% of the claims ever made it to court, and defendants prevailed nearly 9 out of when they did.
Medical malpractice successes and payouts were largest in those cases where plaintiffs had become quadriplegic or brain-damaged or required lifelong care, averaging $961,185 per incident.
When is a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Appropriate?
If you’ve been the victim of any of these scenarios – or feel that your healthcare professional didn’t follow proper protocol while you were their patient, you should consider filing a lawsuit. Lawsuits can reimburse victims for financial losses or provide reparations for injuries.
You will need to determine the difference between malpractice and ordinary negligence cases. It is not as simple as you may think, but there are slight differences between them. Malpractice cases require that the at-fault party possess specific scientific or medical skills that an ordinary person does not. Medical professionals will be involved in legally determining the level of care and negligence. However, ordinary negligence cases do not require any extensive medical knowledge but can be tried by a judge and jury without medical backgrounds.
Like criminal cases, both malpractice and ordinary negligence lawsuits must be brought within a specific period to be considered in court. For instance, in Florida, the statute of limitations for malpractice is two years. The statute states: An action within the (Florida medical malpractice statute of limitations) “shall be commenced within two years from the time the incident giving rise to the action occurred or within two years from the time the incident is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence.” (Fla. Stat. Ann. §95.11 (4)(b))
Medical malpractice is a complex subject with many emotions involved. If you think you may have a case, your first call should be to an experienced attorney. We can help you determine the merits of your case, collect evidence, and navigate this difficult process.
Probinsky & Cole provides expert medical malpractice advice in Sarasota, Brandon, and Orlando.
