Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Medical malpractice happens much more often than we would like to think. It has been estimated that medical malpractice kills roughly 200,000 people every year. Whether the injury or death was the result of a misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or operating room error, if you or a loved one was the victim of medical malpractice, call our Tampa medical malpractice lawyers today so that we can help evaluate your case. We treat our clients as individuals, and we place emphasis on the quality of our work rather than the number of cases we take. Call us today.
Facts About Medical Malpractice
According to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), in 2012 alone, more than $3 billion in medical malpractice payouts were made. Although so many people are hurt by medical malpractice, only 15% of personal injury cases involve medical malpractice. This is because litigating a medical malpractice case is expensive, stressful, and time consuming. That is why you need aggressive, quality representation with your medical malpractice case. The Tampa medical malpractice lawyers at The Pawlowski//Mastrilli Law Group can help.
Causes of Medical Malpractice
There are many forms of medical malpractice but the most common are
- surgical errors;
- emergency room errors;
- OBGYN errors;
- delayed diagnosis;
- misdiagnosis;
- medical administration errors;
- birth injuries; and
- pharmaceutical errors.
Oftentimes, it is hard to know whether your injury was the result of medical malpractice because it requires knowledge of what can go wrong during a medical procedure. Our experienced Tampa medical malpractice lawyers can help you determine if your injuries, or your loved one’s death, was the result of medical malpractice and whether you have a case.
When to File
The time frame in which you must file your claim is called the statute of limitations. Florida law requires that you file suit within two years of the malpractice or within two years of knowing about the mistake. However, the time cannot exceed four years. If the hospital or staff hides the mistake from the patient, that time is then extended another two years, but overall, the suit cannot be filed more than 7 years after the incident. This, unfortunately, encourages some in the medical field to try to hide the mistake with the hopes that the patient will never discover it. Time is of the essence, and you should consult an experienced medical malpractice lawyer as soon as you think that you have been a victim of medical malpractice.
What You Need to Prove
In a medical malpractice claim, you need to prove 4 things:
- Duty: You need to prove that the healthcare provider owed you a duty. When a healthcare provider treats you, they owe you a duty of competent care.
- Breach: You need to prove that the provider’s level of care fell below what is required of them. If their level of care fell below what was required, they have breached their duty.
- Causation: You need to show that their breach of that duty caused your injury or the death of your loved one.
- Damages: You need to prove that there was some kind of physical or economic injury that resulted from the malpractice.
Filing a medical malpractice claim is a complicated and difficult task, and that is why you need the right lawyers to represent you. Call our office before you speak to any medical providers, even if they are offering you a settlement or attempting to negotiate a settlement with you.
Call Us Today for a Free Tampa Medical Malpractice Case Consultation
Call our office today so that we can help you evaluate your case. We understand that being hurt can make it hard to be mobile, so we will gladly meet you at home, in the hospital and on nights or weekends. Although we are headquartered in Tampa, we also serve clients in Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Pasco and Manatee Counties. Here at The Pawlowski//Mastrilli Law Group what is important to us is our ability to provide quality legal work, not the number of cases that we can take. We treat our clients with respect because we know how hard it is for them to be injured or lose a loved one. Call us today at 813-242-4404 for a free consultation.
