Practice Areas

• Car and Motorcycle Accidents
• DUI and Criminal Defense
• Big Truck Accidents
• Medical Malpractice
• Serious Injuries:
  Slip and Fall | Dog Bites

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q: What can I be compensated for in a Florida medical malpractice claim?

A: Generally, there are two types of damages that a person injured due to the fault or negligence of a health care professional, or institution can be compensated for in Florida:

1. Compensatory damages
2. Punitive damages
   

Compensatory damages are intended to compensate the harmed person for the actual harm, damage or injury that they sustained from wrong medical care.  They include:

1. Economic loss such as:
   • Out-of-pocket expenses for medical bills, prescription drugs, etc (present and future)
   • Lost wages (present and future)
2. Non-economic losses such as:
   • Pain and Suffering
   • Inconvenience
   • Mental anguish
   • Loss of consortium or companionship
   • Loss of ability to work
   • Physical impairment, disability and disfigurement

Punitive damages serve to punish the health care provider for their wrong doing, in an effort to prevent future misconduct.   Proving negligence alone is not enough to obtain punitive damages. The evidence must show that the health care provider acted willfully, wantonly, maliciously, fraudulently, with bad faith or with a conscious indifference to the potential consequences of their behavior.

Jeffrey Meldon Tip:   Due to the power of insurance companies and their desire to make higher profits by paying out less in settlements and verdicts and at the same time increasing insurance premiums, many states have enacted laws that place a limit or cap on the amount of damages that can be recovered by the injured party in a medical malpractice case.  This is called Tort Reform and the victim of this “reform” is the person severely injured or killed by medical malpractice. Get an experienced lawyer knowledgable in the area of medical malpractice and accidents.  

Free Evaluation