In Florida, medical malpractice occurs when a medical practitioner’s negligence or mistakes cause injuries to the patient. Negligence means that doctor, nurse, or any other healthcare expert violated their standard of care while treating the patient.
The law defines the standard of care as the recommended level of skill, care, and treatment which is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by other medical experts in the same industry. Note that the standard of care varies from one state to another and is influenced by different factors such as the patient’s specific medical condition and age.
Statutory rules
If you think you may have a valid medical malpractice claim, the first thing you need is an experienced medication error attorney in Miami, FL. You also need to understand the statutory rules that define the deadlines for filing your medical claim and the procedural prerequisites associated with this process.
Note that the ‘statute of limitations’ refers to a deadline imposed by the Florida State law before which you (the plaintiff) should file a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit against the health professional responsible for your injuries or damages. Besides, there are specific conditions you must satisfy before you can sue anyone for medical malpractice.
If you don’t take the right steps in time, the chances are that you will need to postpone time you should file the lawsuit and probably miss the deadline set by the state law. It can also be challenging to determine the exact date when the clock started ticking and the exact deadline. This is the reason you need an experienced and reliable attorney to offer you legal counsel and help you take the right steps.
In Florida, the plaintiff should start the medical malpractice lawsuit with two years of discovering the medical-related injury or a maximum of four years from the time the medical negligence or malpractice happened. That means even if you could not have identified the injury within four years, your lawsuit will simply be thrown out if you sue a doctor or a medical practitioner more than four years after the incident that caused your injuries.
However, if the medical practitioner attempted to conceal the medical malpractice fraudulently, things are different. For instance, if the doctor intentionally deceived you so that you don’t discover the injury or realize that there was malpractice, the law allows you to file a lawsuit within two years from the time you discovered the injury or 7 years from the time the malpractice occurred.
Note that the time limits don’t apply to a minor if the lawsuit is started before or on the child’s 8th birthday.
In Florida, the law requires you to serve a notice of your intent to file a lawsuit to the medical practitioner before you can file the lawsuit in a court. This notice includes an affidavit from a medical expert indicating that you have a legitimate medical malpractice claim.
The notice initiates motion of a complex settlement process that might last up to 90 days, and during this period, the statute of limitations is tolled. If the medical practitioner is not willing to settle, you have at 60 days or the remaining period according to the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit.
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