Lakeland FL Medical Malpractice Attorneys

If you have fallen ill or suffered an injury and are in need of medical care, you entrust your medical providers to help you by providing quality medical care. When you deal with any medical providers, you are putting your life in their hands. Medical providers undergo extensive training and have a variety of experiences. Regardless, medical mistakes continue to occur. You should expect your doctor to adhere to the duty of care. That duty of care can be breached, though. Medical mistakes remain a major issue all across the country. These mistakes in the medical professional can have negative results on patients who had trusted their medical caregivers with their lives and health.

According to a Johns Hopkins University study, medical errors have become the third cause of death in our country ranking behind cardiovascular disease and cancer. When these injuries are caused by medical malpractice, the experienced legal staff at Burnetti, P.A., might be able to help you take action against the medical provider or hospital who acted negligently and left you injured. When a doctor’s treatment for your condition doesn’t meet the regular standard of care for a specific condition. If that breach puts you at risk for serious injury or death, medical malpractice took place.

If your physician doesn’t act like other doctors who have the same training, that provider could be held liable for your injuries. These medical mistakes could occur while are being treated for injuries from a bike crash or motor vehicle accident. Because of this, medical malpractice magnifies your existing conditions while you are trying to recover. A longer hospital stay might even be necessary. You shouldn’t let negligent parties off without paying for damages they have done causing your injuries and losses. Call the experienced Lakeland, FL medical malpractice lawyer at Burnetti, P.A. for proper legal help during this challenging time.

If you or someone you know has needlessly suffered because of a doctor or other healthcare provider acting negligently, you might be eligible to get compensation with the help of a Lakeland medical malpractice lawyer from Burnetti, P.A. To see if our medical malpractice lawyer can help you, fill out the contact form online or call us today to schedule a free initial evaluation for your Lakeland medical malpractice claim.

Retaining A Skilled And Knowledgeable Lawyer Is Important For A Successful Claim

If you are hurt, a personal injury claim might help you recover damages. Those personal injury claims are very different from a medical malpractice claim, which is a complicated and challenging case to prove. Two areas of expertise law and medicine, unite in a Florida medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice cases involve detailed research, which requires an experienced attorney’s services. Hire a medical malpractice lawyer who is experienced and knowledgeable in both medical and legal matters. You want to choose a medical malpractice lawyer who:

• Is familiar with the medical field
• Understands complicated medical documents
• Understands which expert witnesses your case needs
• Understands effective questioning techniques
• Can accurately predict the defendant’s responses

Why You Should Choose Burnetti, P.A. As Your Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Most medical professionals have a medical malpractice lawyer readily available to provide representation in the event that malpractice allegations arise. Some medical professionals might have been named in medical malpractice suits in the past. It is imperative to your Florida medical malpractice case that you retain a medical malpractice lawyer who has a track record of helping clients with Lakeland, FL medical malpractice claims. You want a medical malpractice lawyer who is experienced with handling medical malpractice allegations so he or she can accurately determine which tactics might be undertaken by the doctor in an effort to protect themselves from the allegations. These practitioners will deny the allegations you make in an effort to protect their reputations. Knowing how to address their defense tactics during your medical malpractice claim is necessary.

At Burnetti, P.A., we have a team of skilled attorneys who have handled Lakeland, Florida medical malpractice claims in the past. Our attorneys are experienced, treating clients with care and compassion while aggressively pursuing the case. You can rely on our team being ready to effectively file your medical malpractice lawsuit and proceed with it in the courtroom. Our attorneys have negotiation tactics that have been proven effective. We also make use of many different resources to help us succeed with your claim.

At Burnetti, P.A., we have a team of respected industry experts that specialize in different areas. These experts are beneficial when we are pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Our big legal team at Burnetti, P.A., includes expert witnesses, consulting physicians, paralegals who are also nurses, and nurse consultants, all working to build the link between the medical provider’s negligence and any injuries that you might have suffered.

The experienced, dedicated legal team of Burnetti, P.A., helps our skilled medical malpractice attorneys get you the compensation you need to move on with your life after a medical malpractice injury. Our medical malpractice lawyer prides themselves for having built a strong reputation for their ability to help victims of medical malpractice in Florida recover the damages they deserve. We fight for clients to be awarded fair settlements based on the injuries that they suffered because of the medical providers’ negligent acts.

The Burnetti team is familiar with medical malpractice cases and understands that each case is different. Our team also has the needed knowledge that allows us to successfully proceed with various claims. Our medical malpractice lawyer has helped injured clients recover multi-million dollar settlements because of their injuries that resulted from medical negligence and malpractice in Florida.

What Your Burnetti, P.A., Attorney Will Do For You During Your Suit

If a medical practitioner’s negligence left you or relative suffering with injuries, our experienced medical malpractice lawyer might be able to assist you as you pursue a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit. This lawsuit is you can be compensated for the damages and injuries you have suffered. We can efficiently prepare your Lakeland, FL legal claim by:

• Reviewing all your medical records
• Gathering documentation and evidence
• Determining who is liable for your injuries
• Informing you of your rights and the legal process
• Handling all the case technicalities and procedures

While there might be evidence and documentation that supports your case, the strength and success of your case could hinge on your attorney’s ability to show there was a causal link. At Burnetti, P.A., our medical malpractice lawyer knows how evidence should be presented, explained, and then packaged. Our experienced team might question expert witnesses while also focusing on an effective and thoughtful way to fend off the defendant’s claims. Our medical malpractice lawyer can take neutral facts and turn them into evidence supporting your claim. Our attorneys can dispute facts presented that don’t support your case.

What Is Considered Medical Malpractice In Lakeland?

If a patient is hurt because of a medical professional’s negligence, a lawsuit might be the only way the injured party can recover damages. In Lakeland, Florida, the party who suffered injuries must prove four elements to have a successful medical malpractice claim. These four elements include:

Patient-Doctor Relationship

To file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida, you have to establish there was a relationship between the patient and the doctor who caused the injuries. There must be evidence that you hired the physician to care for you and that physician must have agreed to take care of your medical services. The act of medical malpractice must have happened during the time the physician was working for you in that capacity.

Duty Of Care

Doctors must handle their duties to accurately coincide with the standards set by the medical community they serve. Any healthcare providers, including physicians, are legally obligated to act the same as any other medical caregiver facing the same situation.

Breach Of Duty

If a medical provider acted negligently, you must show a violation of the patient’s duty of care. In order to do this, you must present evidence that the doctor didn’t take care of the condition like another doctor with the same training facing would have done.

Causation

For a valid claim, you have to show there was causation besides negligence. You have to prove the provider breached duty. You also have to prove that the breach led to the injuries that resulted. Medical records, test results, affidavits from other medical providers, and additional documentation might be able to prove these claims. Patients who suffered from medical malpractice must prove the relationship between their injuries and the negligence of the physician.

Damages

You must have suffered injuries due to the medical provider’s negligence. Doctors can’t be held liable for damages unless the injured patient had damages that have real value, such as additional medical expenses, lost wages caused by the inability to work, loss of future earnings caused by disability, pain and suffering, depression or other kinds of mental trauma.

Here is a hypothetical scenario: If you are suffering from abdominal pains, you go to the nearest hospital emergency room in Lakeland, Florida. The ER physician asks you about any symptoms you have. The doctor decides how to treat the problem. At this point, a doctor-patient relationship has been formed. This is now your doctor, so he or she owes you a duty of care. If the doctor says the problem is your gallbladder and it must be removed immediately, the surgeon on call has the duty to perform your surgery as any other surgeon would do.

Acts of negligence, such as taking out the wrong bodily organ – like the appendix instead of the gallbladder – or leaving a sponge inside your body, breach that duty of care. If you suffer injuries during the surgery or following it, you must have sufficient evidence to show that breach of duty caused your injuries. You must prove those injuries warrant the damages you seek.

Damages Suffered Because Of Medical Malpractice In Lakeland

Damages requested in a medical malpractice claim is supposed to help compensate for the injuries caused by the medical provider’s negligence. Compensatory damages for medical malpractice were created to make the injured patient “whole” again. It is supposed to give the injured patient the compensation needed to cover losses that were suffered. Economic losses might be called actual damages. These damages could include:

Medical Expenses

Medical expenses include doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription medications, physical therapy, rehabilitation centers, home health, medical equipment, or any other expenses related to your medical care. If you have suffered a serious injury that will haunt you for the rest of your life, you might get compensation to cover future medical expenses such as rehabilitation services or a caregiver.

Lost Wages

If you are left unable to work because of injuries suffered from medical malpractice, you might be awarded compensation due to your lost wages. Keep track of the days and hours of work missed.

Loss Of Future Earning Capacity

If you are unable to return to work in your profession and you are can’t earn the same amount of pay you earned before your injury, you might be eligible to receive compensation based on your loss of future earnings.

Pain And Suffering

If you were injured, you had physical pain and suffering. You could be awarded damages for this aspect of your injury. You might also be compensated for mental distress such as depression, fear, or anxiety.

Loss Of Consortium

Your husband or wife might be awarded compensation for the loss of marital benefits they suffered if you had a serious injury that will impact you for a long time. Loss of marital benefits includes loss of companionship, lack of sexual relations, loss of affection, and loss of comfort.

Other Damages

You could be awarded compensation for other damages you suffered. These damages might involve permanent disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent scarring, loss of companionship, loss of parental support, and other damages resulting from the act of medical malpractice that occurred.

When medical providers act with gross negligence, they acted willfully or maliciously. Patients who were injured by these acts might be awarded punitive damages. Punitive damages weren’t created to provide compensation to victims who had losses, but as a way to help punish the offender for their inappropriate actions and behavior. It also keeps others from acting in a similar manner.

Florida Medical Malpractice Statute Of Limitations

Florida has a statute of limitations for any claims, including medical malpractice claims. You must file your medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical professional who was negligent within a specified time frame. If you don’t file your medical malpractice claim within that time, you might lose your rights to pursue damages. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, such as when foul play, fraud, or misrepresentation by the medical provider come into play. Because of the statute of limitations, you should consult with a Lakeland medical malpractice lawyer at Burnetti, P.A., right away if you are the victim of a medical injury in Florida.

Kinds Of Med Mal Cases That Our Attorneys Handles

Errors With Anesthesia

Anesthesia can be dangerous when not properly used. It can cause serious injuries or even lead to death. The physician who acted negligently can be held liable for the damages that resulted. There are several kinds of negligence that can result from a medical professional dealing with anesthesia, such as an anesthesiologist. Here are some acts of negligence that might occur:

• Administered the wrong medicine
• Mixing drugs that interact
• Administering medication that the patient has an allergy to
• Failure to monitor the vital signs
• Not promptly responding to vital sign changes
• Late administration of anesthesia
• Failing to intubate the patient
• Improper use of medical equipment
• Using faulty or damaged equipment that doesn’t work properly
• Turning off the pulse oximeter alarm
• Failing to give the patient instructions for follow-up care

There are three different kinds of anesthesia used for different procedures – regional, general, and local. Each kind of anesthesia does its job when used in the right situation, but each kind can cause complications. One serious complication patients can suffer from is anesthesia awareness where they are awake throughout the surgery. The patient can see or feel the procedure as it takes place. Those who are victims of anesthesia errors might be compensated for both their emotional trauma as well as their physical injuries.

Emergency Room Mistakes

In the event of a medical emergency, you will seek immediate care at a local Lakeland emergency room. The ER might be busy and hectic, but the medical professionals are must maintain good standards of care to ensure their patients get proper treatment as they deserve. Any healthcare provider negligence could cause life-altering injuries. If you have been injured as a result of emergency room mistakes, you might be able to file legal action to be compensated for your medical malpractice injuries. Some emergency room mistakes include:

• Surgical errors
• Failure to diagnose cardiac problems that lead to a heart attack
• Mistakes prescribing or administering drugs
• Not diagnosing post-operative infections and treating them
• Failure to monitor a patient after treatment
• Misdiagnosis or the delayed diagnosis of blood clots, appendicitis, pulmonary embolisms, aneurysms, blood clots, etc.
• Not reading charts or test results properly

Hospital Malpractice In Lakeland, FL

There have been cases in which the hospital that provided patient treatment was named as a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit resulting from negligence. Hospitals are responsible for properly evaluating employee qualifications. This means any experience, required certifications, training, and educational background must be thoroughly checked. If a hospital hires a medical caregiver who doesn’t have the right qualifications or is incompetent in their duties, the hospital might be liable for any damages suffered because of that worker’s acts of incompetence. If a hospital doesn’t properly conduct a background check to see if the employee has the right certifications along with the proper educational training to do the job in question, and that specific worker hurts a patient, the hospital might be liable for damages incurred.

Lakeland, Florida hospital staff might engage in inappropriate conduct that is in comparison to medical malpractice, causing the hospital to be liable. This bad conduct might include:

• Failure to accurately diagnose a condition
• Failure properly treat the patient
• Patient neglect
• Failing to send the patient on to a specialist when care is not adequate
• Not working to stabilize a patient
• Not ordering diagnostic testing to determine which treatment would work
• Choosing the wrong drug or administering improper amounts of the drug
• Improper use of anesthesia
• Improper usage of medical equipment
• Performing surgery that is not consented to or that is not going to be beneficial
• Failure to adhere to hospital procedures that prevent injuries, such as infections

Vicarious Liability For Hospitals

Hospitals might be vicariously responsible for damages resulting from their workers’ negligence, including staff such as nurses or technicians. Employers are responsible for the duty of care when the supervision and direction of their employees are involved. This liability addresses employee negligence and systemic problems within the hospital itself, including the use of instruments not properly sanitized that lead to infection. Another area of liability could be emergency waits that are unreasonably lengthy and cause more harm to the patients.

Independent contractors are not hospital employees, so they are different. Most often, hospitals aren’t responsible for the acts and behaviors of doctors who are independent contractors. Most physicians aren’t employed by hospitals but are independent contractors. These doctors have their own medical practices outside the hospital. Hospitals are only liable for the actions of independent contractors if these doctors fail to have the proper training, certifications, or experience.

If your medical malpractice lawyer can prove the contractor was misrepresented and you were led to believe the doctor was an employee of the hospital, and that you relied on that misrepresentation then suffered injuries because of that belief, you might be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit including the hospital as a defendant.

Hospitals work to prevent medical malpractice suits by making their contracted medical workers notify patients that they are do not work directly for the hospital but are independent contractors. Some hospitals post signs to indicate that certain medical providers are independently contracted and not hospital employees. If patients are not given proper notification of the contractor status of doctors or other medical professionals, the hospital might be liable for any injuries the patients suffer.

Errors Caused By Medical Devices

Medical providers rely on several different kinds of medical devices. These devices perform several tasks. Some devices can prevent disease, treat them, or diagnose them. The misuse of these devices can cause a patient to suffer serious injury or even die. Sometimes these devices fail and impact the patients horribly. Medical devices have three major kinds of defects that can cause injury.

These defects put the manufacturer at risk of being liable for damages. These three defects include flaws in the design, defects from the manufacturing process, and lack of warnings. If any of these three problems exist, the manufacturer of the device might be sued for medical malpractice if death or injury results.

Medical professionals might not use medical devices wrong. If they have not been properly trained or if knowledge is inadequate or insufficient or exhibit reckless behavior or negligence while using a medical device that leads to injury, the medical provider who failed to use the device right can become liable for the damages that were suffered.

Delayed Diagnosis Or Misdiagnosis

A patient and his or her loved ones might suffer if providers don’t properly diagnose illnesses. Delaying a diagnosis or misdiagnosing a patient can lead to worse medical issues or serious injuries, causing the patient to suffer for years. The patient might suffer debilitating physical injuries that might even result in death. Some of the most common conditions that doctors fail to diagnose fast enough include pulmonary embolisms, different kinds of cancer, vascular problems, heart problems, appendicitis, ectopic pregnancies, infections, and even brain tumors.

To be eligible for compensation after a lawsuit following a misdiagnosis, you must prove the negligence of the medical provider and that you suffered injuries as a result. Some negligent behaviors that might lead to misdiagnosis include:

Failure To Listen To The Patient

When you tell your doctor you aren’t feeling well, they are to listen to you and investigate your symptoms. If a doctor doesn’t look further at the symptoms and your condition gets worse, the doctor can be held liable for misdiagnosing you.

Failure To Notice The Symptoms

Medical providers are trained to diagnose a patient from their symptoms. If you exhibit the symptoms for a specific illness, that medical provider might be held accountable for medical malpractice if he or she doesn’t accurately diagnose the condition.

Failure To Check The Medical History

Medical providers must consider the medical history of the patient. They must look at the family medical history as well. A doctor might be considered negligent if the medical history is not properly examined and the patient condition worsens. If it is proven that the patient’s medical condition should have been identified if the medical history was examined, the doctor might become liable.

Improper Testing Order

If the provider orders any tests improperly even after being aware of the exhibited symptoms of the patient, he or she could be negligent if that patient suffers further injuries. Medical caregivers might be held liable if they fail to conduct standard tests after observing symptoms in their patients that are specific for given conditions.

Failing To Properly Interpret Tests

When a doctor orders medical tests, he or she is responsible for accurately interpreting the test results. If a doctor misinterprets the patient’s test or goes over them in a reckless or careless manner, that doctor might be held liable for negligence and for any injury or illness that results.

Postoperative Negligence

After a patient has had surgery or some kind of treatment, he or she should receive postoperative care. The medical staff is responsible for taking care of patients to make certain complications are prevented and get proper attention. Medical providers must regularly monitor vital signs, give the patient detailed instructions as to what can and cannot be done after treatment, and prescribe the proper medications to help speed the healing and recovery process and avoid infections. If a physician doesn’t properly monitor the patient, or if the doctor doesn’t recognize symptoms of medical complications, the patient could experience serious injuries or die. This could give the patient the right to pursue a Lakeland, FL medical malpractice claim.

Some conditions, illnesses, or infections occurring because of negligence following a surgical procedure or other medical treatment might include:

• Unnoticed organ tears
• Urinary tract infections
• Bleeding internally
• Sepsis or other infections
• Viral infections
• Staph infections
• Pneumonia or other respiratory infections
• Pulmonary embolisms
• Aneurysms
• Blood clots

Other kinds of medical malpractice might include:

• OBGYN malpractice
• Orthopedic malpractice
• Dental malpractice
• Medication errors
• Psychiatric malpractice
• Surgical errors
• Cosmetic surgery malpractice
• Chiropractic malpractice

If you believe you have suffered because of medical malpractice in Lakeland, Florida, contact the medical malpractice lawyer at Burnetti, P.A., for a free case consultation.