Clients have come to us and shared that their spouse had chest pain, shortness of breath and went to the hospital only to be told “everything’s fine.” Tragically, these clients lost their spouse as a result of the failure to diagnose a heart attack. Negligence or carelessness by a doctor or hospital is a special type of personal injury claim called “medical malpractice.”

These claims are complex and require a high level of legal and medical expertise. The insurance companies and lawyers who defend doctors have become experts at creating “excuses” and “patient blaming” to avoid taking responsibility for even the most blatant cases of malpractice. These cases include a “battle of experts.” That is, each side must hire qualified doctors to testify as medical experts about the important issues involved. This is no place for an inexperienced lawyer.

Most consumers have little knowledge of the rights that have been stripped away from malpractice victims. For example: a Florida doctor fails to pay attention to a simple wound infection on a child’s foot. The doctor continues to ignore signs of a worsening condition over the following weeks. The condition later requires the amputation of a large part of the child’s foot. That child can no longer receive the full value of her loss. As a result of lobbying efforts on behalf of insurance companies, hospitals, and the Florida Medical Association, that child can only receive a limited amount for the permanent changes to her life, for her pain and suffering, and for her disability.

If that same child lost her leg in a car accident, there would be no arbitrary limitation. Doctors and hospitals are treated better than the rest of us. They are no longer accountable for all the harm they cause. Insurance and healthcare are big business, and politicians have received millions of dollars in campaign contributions from both of these special interest groups. In medical malpractice cases, the field is not level. Without a recognized specialist to handle your medical malpractice case, you may have little chance for a successful outcome.