Anyone who is suffering from injuries that are the result of medical negligence knows that the expenses, suffering, and other losses resulting from that injury can be much worse than others. As a result, they have a right to seek compensation from that doctor, and sometimes even from the hospital in which the physician practices, in a legal suit. However, since the rules vary from state to state concerning the vicarious liability of hospitals, it is important to study the law in each state.
Florida Medical Malpractice
Physicians are generally held to a higher standard than many other service providers, and rightly so. While they are not perfect, they do have more education than most, more on-the-job training, more responsibility, and more income. All of that often makes patients trust them more and export more of them. When one of them acts negligently, or below the standard of skill and care that should be reasonably expected from someone in their field and with their training, they have special protections under the law. However, it is important to note that any negligence must include some elements:
- The physician must have a relationship with the patient and not merely have offered advice in an informal conversation at their country club
- The patient must have been injured by their treatment
- The patient must have faced damages as a result of that injury
In those cases, the patient or their family may have grounds to file a medical malpractice suit against that physician.
In many states, if that injury occurred in a hospital, the victim may also have grounds to include the hospital by means of vicarious liability. In Florida, the law states that a hospital can be held liable according to the theory of corporate negligence. This means that hospitals are vicariously liable even for the acts of non-employees because the hospital should be responsible for quality control for any physicians they allow to practice there. Therefore, hospitals can become joint-defendants in medical malpractice cases for any acts of negligence that occurred there at the hand of any physician legally treating a patient on the premises.
Filing a Florida Malpractice Claim
In addition, there are other elements of a Florida medical malpractice claim that victims and their families must understand.
- Statute of limitations – for medical malpractice claims, that period is two years from the date it was, or should have been, discovered; however, no more than four years after the actual incident
- Expert testimony – required for victims who charge a physician with medical malpractice. Experts must be certified in the same area as the defendant. In addition, the defendant must have the testimony of an expert showing their treatment was not negligent.
Getting Legal Help with Suing a Hospital in Florida
While the laws concerning vicarious liability for a hospital in Florida are a bit less complicated than in some other states, that does not mean that these cases are simple. Unless there is a preponderance of evidence that a physician acted negligently, and that the hospital approved their service there, the victim may not have an eligible claim. Often, only an experienced Florida medical malpractice lawyer can provide that insight and prepare a cast to prove it effectively.
