Medical Malpractice

When you are injured or become ill, your first thought regarding medical care is that you need a doctor. They work to understand our exact sicknesses and then determine what is needed for healing. When our bodies are broken in some way that requires surgery, we need a doctor to help repair our body back to normal health. As patients, we put a lot of trust and faith in our doctors to not only help heal us, but also that it is being done the correct way. What happens when the doctor we go to for help, ends up causing more harm? This could be the result of a doctor not following proper medical practices or even worse, blatant negligence. At Wolfson & Leon, our Fort Myers medical malpractice attorneys understand the law and the different procedures and medicines involved in these cases.

Fort Myers has many doctors available to assist with all your medical needs and with the more availability, comes the heightened chance of medical malpractice occurrences. It is scary to think this could happen especially in a time of need, but it does and if you feel you may be a victim of medical malpractice, then it is important to call our medical malpractice attorneys today. We will take the time to review with you whether you have a case. When it comes to the term medical malpractice, it may not be fully known what that encompasses.

There are some common areas of law and very specialized areas, which is where Medical Malpractice falls under. Seeing how complex medicine and law are in their own rights, the combination of the two can cause lawyers to possibly shy away from these cases. On top of the complexity of these cases, the cost in itself can be a deterrent from pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit. A firm that pursues a case of this nature, would possibly need to devote large amounts of time and money. At Wolfson & Leon, we will handle these tough cases such as, failure to treat or properly diagnose colon cancer, surgical errors during podiatric procedures or even severe blood loss that occurred from a surgery. Although these cases come at a high cost, we are not deterred in the pursuit of the rightful resolution of your case.

These cases involve direct legal principles that every medical malpractice attorney should be aware of. You may not be a lawyer or practice in this specialized field, but it is always helpful to understand the laws regarding a case you are pursuing. It is important to ask yourself the right questions:

• Did the injury, damage or loss occur in part to the medical provider not following the appropriate standard of care?
• In other words, was the injury, damage or loss directly a result of the negligence of the doctor or medical provider?

Now if you answered no to those questions, then from a legal standpoint, there may not be a case. Also, the case may be rejected by a medical malpractice attorney if they do not feel a side of the case is strong enough. When it comes to the deviation from standard care practices, it can cause temporary or permanent damage. The deviation may be unjust, but if there is no injury, then there isn’t a case. Also, in the circumstance of temporary injuries with specific recovery time periods, then available compensation becomes limited.

Most all medical malpractice suits in Fort Myers need to be litigated due to the medical malpractice insurance companies not voluntarily settling before a lawsuit begins. You must also be aware that there is a Florida law that places a statute of limitations of 2 years for medical malpractice cases. This means that the case must be filed with the court within 2 years and if not, it can no longer be pursued after that time frame. It is also important to understand that in the case of a wrongful death from medical malpractice, the case can only be pursued by the decedents spouse or child that is under the age of twenty-five. However, the case must still be filed within the two-year period. There are also certain limits to compensation that stems from non-monetary damages such as pain and suffering.

When pursuing a medical malpractice suit, it is not as simple as suing a doctor in the same way you would sue a driver after a car accident. You and your Fort Myers medical malpractice attorney will need to complete a presuit investigation before your case can be filed. Part of the presuit investigation is receiving confirmation from an expert in the same field that there was in fact malpractice. This and other requirements will need to be met before filing, and our medical malpractice attorneys will ensure these guidelines are followed.

Once an expert agrees there has been malpractice, an affidavit must be signed by a doctor in the same practice as the doctor you are binging a suit against. For example, if you are attempting to sue a podiatrist, you must have another podiatrist as your expert opinion. We would then provide a notice of intent to pursue litigation and await for the period of presuit to end. Our attorneys understand this process very well and we handle cases pertaining to internists, nurses, doctors, dentists, orthopedists, hospitals and any other specialist that would fall within this statute.

Medical malpractice cases can be very costly, and you wouldn’t owe any fees unless we recover. Understanding the nature of these cases, we are thorough in our review of which cases to take and in turn, we take very few. Complications can occur, some being natural, when it comes to medical care, especially depending on the severity of the ailment. There are circumstances that cannot be prevented and unfortunately do not fall within the scope of medical malpractice. However, doctors are responsible for following proper medical guidelines when diagnosing patients and providing care.

If you feel that you or a loved one was a victim of medical malpractice, we urge you to call us today for your free consultation. At Wolfson & Leon, our experienced medical malpractice attorneys stand ready to review your case with and see if we can further assist you.