20 March

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Malpractice defendant not allowed to obtain information about expert

Appellate Court in Florida case denies certiorari for the defendant seeking discovery of plaintiff’s presuit expert witness. A medical malpractice defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to comply with Chapter 766 presuit notice requirements. The defendant specifically alleged that the expert doctor whose verified written statement the plaintiff had enclosed with the notice of intent to initiate litigation was unqualified because he lacked “substantial professional experience” under §766.102(9), Florida Statutes. The defendant also alleged that the plaintiff’s expert had failed to complete a review of all the available records before giving his...

28 February

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Malpractice defendant not allowed to depose Plaintiff’s expert

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Florida Appeals Court finds that defendant in ordinary negligence suit not entitled to depose plaintiff’s former medical malpractice expert witness after medical malpractice claim with co-defendant settled. A patient en route to a hospital was allegedly dropped from his gurney, either by hospital staff or by county fire and rescue employees. After the patient died, the personal representative of his estate sued the hospital for medical malpractice and ordinary negligence and sued the county for ordinary negligence only. The plaintiff had conducted pre-suit screening with the hospital in accordance with Chapter 766 and had accompanied her notice of intent to...

20 February

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Object left behind during surgery – special jury instruction denied

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Ruling on foreign object Fourth District Appeals Court in Florida affirms trial court’s denial of the jury instruction on “foreign body presumption” of malpractice. A patient and his wife sued the hospital after a piece of post-surgery drainage tube broke off inside him during surgery and was not discovered for several months. Among other things, the plaintiffs alleged that the nurse who removed the tube was negligent because she pulled the tube out too forcefully and too quickly, and also that she negligently failed to inspect the end of the tube after it was removed. At trial, the plaintiffs requested...

13 February

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University of Miami Hospital denied NICA immunity

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Florida appellate court rules university hospital not required to provide NICA notice in order to assert NICA immunity in medical malpractice action based on its own alleged direct negligence; however, it was not entitled to NICA immunity on vicarious liability counts based on alleged negligence of doctor employees where doctors waived immunity by failing to give proper notice. Parents filed a medical malpractice lawsuit after their child suffered severe neurological injuries at birth. The parents alleged direct negligence by the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County, which owned the hospital where the child was born. The parents also sued the...

22 December

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Malpractice plaintiff entitled to attorney fees from defendant

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Appellate court in Florida affirms trial court order granting attorney fees based on medical malpractice plaintiff’s proposal for settlement. After a patient was paralyzed during a procedure to stent his carotid artery, his mother was appointed as his guardian and filed suit on behalf of the patient and his minor children. Before trial, the plaintiff sent the defendant a proposal for settlement on behalf of patient and the children, specifying a separate amount for each of them. The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded enough to each claimant that the trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees based...

20 December

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Malpractice presuit notice extends statute of limitations for all

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Florida appeals court finds that pre-suit notice of intent, once received by some malpractice defendants, tolls the statute of limitations for all possible medical malpractice defendants. A patient who had been injured during surgery sent a notice of intent to initiate litigation to the surgeon and hospital involved only 30 days before the statute of limitations was to expire. Although she apparently knew the identities of the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist involved in her surgery, the plaintiff did not send them a notice of intent until almost 120 days later. After the suit was filed the trial court entered summary...

14 December

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Use of tainted heparin is negligence not medical malpractice

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Florida court holds suit for hospital’s failure to remove recalled medication from its supply is not governed by medical malpractice rules. A patient was given tainted heparin during cardiac surgery, even though the drug company had issued a recall for the heparin months earlier. After losing two limbs from the resulting infection, the plaintiff sued the hospital where the surgery took place, alleging that the hospital had negligently failed to have the proper policies and procedures in place to ensure that the recall was handled properly and the tainted heparin was removed from the hospital’s supply. There was no alleged...

12 December

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Hospital lawyer allowed to meet in secret with patient’s doctor

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Third District Court of Appeal in Florida declines to review trial court order finding university’s ex parte contact with treating doctor privileged. The plaintiffs filed a medical malpractice suit against the University of Miami and one other party, alleging negligence during a surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The University engaged in ex parte contact with a non-defendant doctor at Mt. Sinai Hospital who had treated the patient after the incident. The plaintiffs sought discovery regarding the ex parte contact, and the trial court denied it, finding that the treating doctor, who worked at Mt. Sinai “pursuant to an affiliation agreement...

19 November

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Surgeon motion to dismiss malpractice suit denied.

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Florida appeals court holds an evidentiary hearing not always required when ruling on the motion to dismiss for failure to comply with malpractice pre suit screening requirements found in Chapter 766, Florida Statutes. The estate of a patient who died four days after an orthopedic surgery sued the surgeon for wrongful death, alleging that his negligent failure to monitor the patient after her release from the postanesthesia care unit led to her death. Along with her pre-suit notice of intent to initiate litigation, the plaintiff sent a verified written medical expert opinion from a doctor specializing in internal medicine and pulmonology....

18 November

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Cruise ship company liable for on-board doctor malpractice

Posted by Malpractice Specialists

in medical malpractice

Federal appeals court declines to adopt “Barbetta rule” and holds that a cruise ship may be vicariously liable for the negligence of ship medical staff under the actual or apparent agency theory. In the News Recently a cruise ship passenger fell and hit his head in Bermuda while his ship was at the port there. The passenger sought medical treatment on board the ship and died several days later, allegedly due to negligence by the ship’s medical staff. The personal representative of the passenger’s estate sued the cruise line for the staff’s alleged malpractice under the respondeat superior doctrine, bringing counts for...

Malpractice defendant not allowed to obtain information about expert

Malpractice defendant not allowed to depose Plaintiff’s expert

Object left behind during surgery – special jury instruction denied

University of Miami Hospital denied NICA immunity

Malpractice plaintiff entitled to attorney fees from defendant

Malpractice presuit notice extends statute of limitations for all

Use of tainted heparin is negligence not medical malpractice

Hospital lawyer allowed to meet in secret with patient’s doctor

Surgeon motion to dismiss malpractice suit denied.

Cruise ship company liable for on-board doctor malpractice

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