Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Florida residents put their lives in the hands of doctors and other medical professionals every day. They trust their health care providers. Unfortunately, a patient’s condition may get worse. The patient may suffer additional injuries or even die while under a hospital’s care. Medical malpractice often is the reason, but an attorney can help.
Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, has decades of experience in helping patients and their families to recover money damages as the result of medical malpractice. We are aggressive advocates, ready and willing to take cases to trial. Our team strive to secure the funds our clients deserve.
We provide compassionate representation to victims of medical negligence across South Florida and the Treasure Coast. Call us now at our toll-free number 1-800-299-8878 or fill out our online contact form. We can provide a free and confidential case evaluation.
Numerous Victims of Medical Malpractice in Florida and the US
According to a 2023 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, one in four hospitalized patients in the US suffer an adverse event. An “adverse event” is an injury to the patient caused by medical error rather than the patient’s condition. Common examples are surgical injuries, misdiagnosis, wrong drugs, wrong medication doses, pressure ulcers (neglected lesions), and hospital equipment failure.
An article by medical publishing firm StatPearls echoes the appalling statistics, reporting that 400,000 hospitalized patients in the US suffer a type of preventable harm annually. About 100,000 of them die due to medical errors.
In Florida, the Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety reports 470 adverse events at licensed health care facilities in 2020. While Florida’s numbers seem relatively low, medical malpractice often goes unreported. In Florida, for instance, a high number of injuries and deaths may be deemed to be “age-related” when they could have been prevented.
Do I Have a Medical Malpractice Claim in Florida?
Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is harmed by a negligent act or failure to act by a doctor or other medical professional. Negligence may include errors in the diagnosis, treatment or management of an illness.
A “medical professional” may include doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, physician’s assistants, chiropractors, dentists, pharmacists and others. A hospital, the hospital staff or another medical care provider may also be a defendant in a case.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has been harmed by a negligent medical professional, it is important to seek legal help right away. Medical malpractice cases are demanding and require thorough investigation by an experienced legal team.
Any medical procedure can fail. An undesired outcome is not necessarily malpractice. On the other hand, if you think that malpractice may have contributed to the outcome, you owe it to yourself to find out the truth. Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, can thoroughly investigate and analyze your case to get the answers you deserve.
Contact a Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
Philip DeBerard and his team have been protecting the rights of patients and their families in South Florida and the Treasure Coast since 1975, and have offices in Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Okeechobee, Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach. If you have been hurt by a medical error, Philip DeBerard and his team are on your side.
Call us today toll-free at 1-800-299-8878 or contact us online to schedule a free and confidential review of your case. We can put our experienced medical malpractice legal team to work on your case today. If you don’t recover compensation, you will pay no fees or costs.
Anesthesia Error
One of the most important aspects of surgery today is the use of anesthesia. This drug enables a doctor to perform major procedures without causing pain to the patient during the operation. But the use of anesthesia also carries serious risks. Mistakes can result in permanent brain damage or death. Sadly, statistics show that one in every 3,000 patients dies because of anesthesia complications. Read More
Cancer Misdiagnosis
Many forms of cancer — including breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer — respond well to treatment if detected early. So, time is of the essence in diagnosing cancer. Unfortunately, many cancer patients are initially misdiagnosed. A delay in diagnosis or misdiagnosis of cancer can have devastating or deadly consequences for patients. Read More
Childbirth injuries
The birth of a child is supposed to be a joyous event. But an injury during labor and delivery can transform the arrival of a newborn into a traumatic ordeal and leave a family searching for answers to troubling questions. You may be asking yourself what could have been done to prevent your baby’s childbirth injury, whether a doctor you trusted is to blame and whether medical malpractice was involved. They are all reasonable questions. Some childbirth injuries occur despite the best medical care, but you need to know whether your baby’s injury could have been avoided. Read More
Emergency Room Errors
Millions of people visit Florida emergency rooms each year with accidental injuries and illnesses. As many emergency rooms in Florida have closed over the last decade, more injured and seriously ill patients have been funneled to fewer emergency departments. This has increased their crowding and hectic pace and has heightened the risk of emergency room errors. Read More
Medication Error
Doctors have a very important and complex job which requires many skills that can have a direct bearing on their patients’ health and safety. Being able to communicate is one of those skills. If a prescription or form of medication is not properly communicated to the patient, there can be severe consequences that may include death. In fact, about 1.3 million people are injured each year in the U.S. because of medication errors. Read More
Objects Left Behind After Surgery
Leaving an object in a patient’s body during surgery is among those acts referred to as “never events.” Unfortunately, even though these are acts that should never happen, they often do. In fact, a recent Johns Hopkins study found that about 39 times a week a surgeon in the U.S. leaves a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient’s body after an operation. Read More
Surgical Negligence
All surgeries carry a certain element of risk, and even skilled surgeons and modern medical centers in South Florida make mistakes that cause patients lasting harm or fatal injuries. Each year, hundreds of patients undergoing surgical procedures at hospitals, ambulatory care centers and doctors’ offices suffer avoidable injuries such as brain damage, spinal damage, surgery on the wrong body part, surgical tools left in their body, and surgery unrelated to their medical diagnosis. These medical mistakes may constitute surgical negligence on the part of the doctor or medical facility. Some patients have to have follow-up procedures to correct the harm done or must live with a permanent disability. Read More
Other Common Medical Malpractice Issues
A New York Times article estimates that 200,000 Americans are killed each year from medical errors. There are many different types of mistakes that doctors and care providers can make that lead to such deaths or serious injuries. Patients coping with medical malpractice can also face a wide variety of challenges. However, seven issues that tend to arise again and again in medical malpractice cases in Florida and across the country Read them all
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