medical malpractice lawyers in florida
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Appeals court upholds count against hospital

Lady Justice holding scale

Appeals court upholds count against hospital for failing to ensure non-employee doctor used its surgical robot safely, causing patient’s death. Many hospitals hire doctors as “independent contractors” rather than ordinary employees, in the hope, it will mean that if the doctor commits malpractice, the hospital cannot be held responsible for it.  However, many doctors in Florida have little or no medical malpractice insurance, while hospitals have plenty of insurance. Therefore, it is often in a medical malpractice plaintiff’s best interest if there is a way to show that the hospital should be held responsible for the malpractice of a doctor working...

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Appeals court upholds NICA weight distinction

Appeals court holds NICA distinction between minimum weights for single births and multiple gestations does not violate federal equal protection laws.     The NICA program, which provides compensation for certain severe injuries to babies that occur during labor and delivery, will not provide benefits for an infant whose birth weight is under 2500 grams (about 5.5 pounds).   However, for multiple gestation pregnancies (twins, triplets, etc.), babies can get NICA benefits as long as their birth weight is at least 2000 grams (about 4.4 pounds).   In this case, a baby suffered severe injuries at birth but was denied benefits because it was...

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Appeals court invalidates release form the surgeon made a patient sign BEFORE surgery

Surgeon's Face

 Before performing spinal fusion surgery, the surgeon had the patient sign a release form stating the following: As of January 1, 2013, [the doctor] will not carry any medical malpractice insurance.  Being of sound mind and sound body, I hereby acknowledge this fact and agree not to sue [the doctor] for any reason.  My reason for doing this is that I realize that [the doctor] and his staff will do the very best to take care of me according to community medical standards. During the surgery, the patient’s ureter was allegedly cut, causing significant injury.  The patient sued the surgeon, and the...

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Appeals court holds that a claim brought against a hospital

Appeals court holds that a claim brought against a hospital alleging failure to properly screen its staff members, one of whom then sexually assaulted the patient, is a medical malpractice case and must follow all of the medical malpractice procedural rules.    The patient’s lawsuit had two parts.  The first part claimed that the hospital was negligent and failed to exercise reasonable care for her safety.  A second part of the lawsuit was based on §766.110, Florida Statutes, titled “Liability of Healthcare Facilities.”  §766.110 is a law that says there is a duty on the part of hospitals “to … assure...

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Court order reinstating medical malpractice complaint after dismissal

Appeals court quashes trial court order reinstating medical malpractice complaint after dismissal based on failure to comply with presuit expert “same specialty” requirement.   There is a statute in Florida that says that in a medical malpractice case, the parties can only bring in expert witnesses to testify about the appropriate standard of care who are in the exact same medical specialty as the defendant health care provider who is being sued.   So, for example, even though neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons may both perform an identical type of spine surgery, the law would prohibit a neurosurgeon from testifying an orthopedist did...

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