Jacksonville FL Medical Malpractice Claim Attorneys
Medical Malpractice Claims
Your opinion about the filing of medical malpractice claims may depend on which side of the aisle you are sitting on.
First, we know that medical errors are committed. Numerous studies have put the number of deaths from medical malpractice every year from 98,000 to 200,000 when you include hospital infections. In 2009, the Hearst Corporation studied poor outcomes in hospitals and provided a series of investigative reports that echoed those numbers.
HealthGrades, an independent healthcare rating company, estimated in 2006 that over three years (2002-2004) there were 575,000 preventable deaths caused by medical errors and 1.24 million medical errors occurred.
Doctors can make mistakes. From a surgical error to a missed diagnosis, from a failure to treat or stabilize a patient to wrong-site surgery, injuries from medical malpractice can last a lifetime.
How Often Do Doctors Make Mistakes?
The citizen advocacy group, Public Citizen, has found that the same five percent of doctors tend to be making the medical errors. Yet instead of policing its own profession, the insurance companies and doctor will fight a claim with all that they have.
Because of that, medical malpractice litigation is demanding and complex. You need an experienced Jacksonville medical malpractice team that knows how to push back on your side.
Despite all of the talk about the excessive number of “frivolous lawsuits” that are filed, it is important to remember that the majority of people who suffer medical malpractice never file a claim. A Harvard study released in 1990, finds that only about one in eight harmed by medical malpractice ever pursues a medical malpractice claim.
When those claims are filed, a study from Harvard, published in the New England Journal of Medicine from 2006, found that 63% of medical malpractice injuries were judged to be the result of a medical error. Three-quarters of medical malpractice claims that involved error received compensation. Claims that did not involve error, did not receive compensation.
The Harvard researchers concluded that the medical malpractice system works reasonably well in sorting out claims without merit from those with merit.
To file a claim, the plaintiff, or injured person or their loved ones, must establish that:
- A duty was owned to the patient for adequate care
- The duty was breached by the provider (hospital or doctor) who violated the relevant standard of care
- The breach caused an injury
- Damages must be present to file a medical malpractice claim
Jacksonville Medical Malpractice Claim Attorneys Protecting You and Your Family
The Jacksonville FL personal injury attorneys at Farah & Farah believe that the medical profession needs to do a better job policing itself. While the insurance industry keeps hiking premiums on doctors and blaming the lawyers representing injured victims, we find it is actually the insurance industry that is behind much of the hype about a medical malpractice “crisis” and the need to reign in lawsuits.
The bottom line is that medical errors do happen and most people do not file a medical malpractice claim. Doctors are not fleeing their profession and hospitals are not denying care to patients.
If you or a loved one has experienced a medical error, our team of Jacksonville medical malpractice claim lawyers throughout Florida and Georgia, has the staff, researchers, investigators, and medical experts to determine if your case actually can be considered a medical error. To fight the insurance companies and lawyers representing doctors, you need a law firm that will advocate for you without fear and bring you the compensation you or your loved one deserves.
