Deerfield Beach Emergency Room Error Lawyer
Emergency Room Error Attorney Helping Clients in Deerfield Beach
Emergency rooms can be extremely hectic and chaotic spaces, and healthcare providers often have to make decisions quickly about patient diagnoses and treatments. However, just because emergency departments are fast-paced does not mean that we should not expect emergency room doctors and other healthcare providers in emergency departments to provide quality care to each and every patient.
Medical mistakes happen much more often than most of us would like to think in emergency rooms, and these errors can result in serious and life-threatening injuries. If you were injured as a result of a mistake in an emergency room, you should discuss your options with a Deerfield Beach emergency room error lawyer as soon as possible.
Emergency Room Errors and Florida Medical Malpractice
Emergency room mistakes are one form of potential medical malpractice—also known as medical negligence—in Florida. As such, emergency room error claims fall under Florida’s medical malpractice law (Fla. Stat. § 766.102).
Common Types of Emergency Room Mistakes in Deerfield Beach
There are many different types of mistakes that can occur in emergency rooms, including but not limited to:
- Missed diagnosis;
- Wrong diagnosis;
- Failure to diagnose;
- Surgical error;
- Anesthesia error;
- Medication mistake; and
- Infection.
Liability for Deerfield Beach Emergency Room Errors
Many different types of healthcare providers can be liable when an emergency room error occurs, including but not limited to:
- Attending physician;
- Surgeon;
- Nurse;
- Lab tech; and
- Hospital itself.
Damages in an Emergency Room Error Case in Deerfield Beach
Patients who suffer serious injuries in emergency rooms in Deerfield Beach typically can be eligible to receive two types of compensatory damages:
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Economic damages, which are intended to compensate a plaintiff for direct and objective financial losses such as lost wages and hospital bills; and
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Non-economic damages, which are intended to compensate a plaintiff for indirect and more subjective losses such as pain and suffering or the loss of enjoyment of life.
Florida law used to institute caps on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, but in 2017 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that damages caps were unconstitutional. As such, there are no longer caps (or limits) on the amount of damages that a plaintiff can receive in a medical malpractice lawsuit, including in emergency room error claims.
Emergency Room Mistake Cases and the Statute of Limitations
Under Florida law (Fla. Stat. § 95.11), most emergency room error claims have a two-year statute of limitations. This means that your lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date of the injury. If the plaintiff did not learn about the error until months later after symptoms began, then the statute of limitations allows a plaintiff to have two years from the date of discovery of the error to file a claim. However, in the latter situation, the claim still must be filed within four years from the date of the original mistake.
Contact a Deerfield Beach Emergency Room Error Lawyer
Emergency room mistakes can be devastating to patients, whether they involve surgical errors or missed diagnoses. An aggressive Deerfield Beach emergency room error attorney can examine the facts of your case today and can discuss your options for seeking compensation. Contact Leifer & Ramirez to learn more.
