Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer

The practice of medicine is a highly specialized field requiring years of higher education and training to produce professionals with the skill to maintain our health in the face of catastrophic injuries or life-threatening illnesses. The average individual has no medical skills beyond basic First Aid and must rely completely on doctors, nurses and hospitals to properly diagnose and treat a medical condition. As licensed professionals, doctors, nurses and other health care providers are held to a certain standard of care, and when they fail to treat a patient with the required level of skill and care, they can and should be held liable for the harm they have caused. This is the essence of medical malpractice law, and the Tampa medical malpractice lawyers at Palmer | Lopez are devoted to getting injured patients the full amount of compensation they deserve after being harmed by a doctor’s negligence.

Proving Medical Malpractice Requires Medical Knowledge and Legal Skill

At its most basic level, proving a case of medical malpractice requires the injured patient to prove two concepts: 1) that the health care provider failed to treat the patient with the same level of care and skill that another reasonably prudent doctor or hospital would have provided in the same circumstances, and 2) that this negligence or failure caused harm to the patient. Proving these two concepts involves both complex medical and legal issues. A medical expert is required to review the records in the case and state an opinion regarding the medical negligence that occurred. Likewise, it is crucial to be represented by a lawyer who recognizes the legal issues in the case and understands how to properly deal with them.

Palmer | Lopez Deals with Many Types of Medical Malpractice in Tampa

The Tampa medical malpractice lawyers at Palmer | Lopez are ready to help hospital patients who were injured by any kind of medical malpractice, including:

Medication Errors – The wrong medicine or the wrong dosage is prescribed, filled or administered.
Anesthesia Errors – Too much or too little anesthetic causes a patient to experience pain or emotional trauma, or failure to monitor the patient’s health results in permanent brain damage or death.
Surgical Errors – Surgery is performed on the wrong side of the body or on the wrong patient, foreign objects are left inside the patient, or an artery, vein or vital organ is nicked during surgery.
Birth Injuries – Excessive force during delivery results in factures or nerve injury, or lack of oxygen to the fetus causes permanent brain damage.
Diagnostic Errors – Cancer or other serious conditions are missed or misdiagnosed, or the correct diagnosis is unreasonably delayed, causing significant additional injury.
Emergency Room Errors – Treatment of an emergency condition is unreasonably delayed, lab tests are misinterpreted, or ER doctors fail to consult with specialists when needed.

Consenting to a Procedure does not Excuse Medical Malpractice

Doctors are required to obtain the informed consent of their patient before operating or undertaking a medical procedure or course of treatment. Informed consent means informing the patient of the risks and benefits of the recommended treatment, the availability of alternative options, and also the consequences of not treating the condition. Doctors and hospitals can be liable for treating a patient without first obtaining informed consent, or for going beyond the bounds of the informed consent that was given.

Many doctors and hospitals require patients to sign a document acknowledging that they have been informed of the risks of the procedure. It is important to understand that signing this document is not a waiver of liability; informed consent does not relieve a doctor or hospital of liability for negligence. In any case where you believe you may have been harmed by medical negligence, you should contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who offers a free initial consultation.

Call Palmer | Lopez for a Free Consultation on your Tampa Medical Malpractice Claim

If you believe that you or a loved one has been harmed by a medical error in a Tampa hospital, call Palmer | Lopez for a free consultation at 813-506-5651. There is no fee unless our Tampa medical malpractice lawyers recover for you.

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