What Is the Difference Between Medical Malpractice and Negligence?
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or another healthcare provider acts negligently, meaning their careless or reckless actions cause a patient to suffer preventable harm. Victims of medical malpractice can hold the at-fault parties accountable and recover compensation just like victims of other negligence injuries can.
Florida law has specific legal definitions and processes for handling medical malpractice claims versus those based on other types of negligence. Knowing the difference is important to protect your right to hold the liable healthcare provider accountable.
Your best resource in these cases is an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. They will understand the process and represent your best interests.
Negligence Versus Medical Malpractice
To understand the difference between medical malpractice and negligence, we must first understand what these two concepts mean under Florida law.
What Is Negligence?
Negligence is a legal concept that applies to many types of personal injury cases. It occurs when a party owes another a duty of care but fails to uphold that duty. This directly causes the victim to suffer injuries and harm. For example:
- One driver owes others sharing the road a duty of care to stop at a red light
- The driver fails to stop, running the red light
- Running the red light is the proximate cause of an intersection collision
- The victim suffers physical injuries, financial losses, and emotional distress
Based on these criteria, a party is negligent when they do not behave the way a reasonable person would based on the case facts, including traffic laws or other applicable statutes.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a specific type of negligence. When a healthcare professional acts negligently, it is known as medical malpractice. This generally occurs because the doctor, nurse, or other trained care provider failed to act in a way that another reasonably careful healthcare provider would have acted under similar circumstances, causing the patient to suffer serious injuries.
The criteria for medical malpractice are very similar to negligence cases, but lawyers must establish a standard of care for the profession, rather than just a duty of care. The four elements required include:
- Standard of Care: The standard of care is set by what other similarly trained and experienced professionals would do given the circumstances and is typically verified by a medical expert witness.
- Breach of Standard of Care: When a healthcare provider acts negligently, they fail to provide an acceptable standard of care to the patient.
- Causation: The breach of standard of care causes the patient to suffer complications, injuries, or a worsening of their health.
- Harm: The patient suffers harm because of the care provider’s actions or inaction. This could include pain and suffering, additional medical bills, and/or lost income.
It is important to remember that medical practice has standard protocols and procedures that help to create a specific standard of care in many situations. Failure to act in accordance with this standard is medical malpractice.
Key Differences Between Negligence and Medical Malpractice Legal Cases in FL
There are several key differences in how negligence cases and medical malpractice claims work in Florida. This includes:
Establishing the Duty of Care
In a negligence case, the duty of care often comes from traffic laws, premises liability laws, or other rulings or legislation. These rules often dictate behaviors most reasonable people would do even without the laws, such as cleaning up spills on their property or stopping their car at a red light.
In medical malpractice, healthcare providers are held to the standards of other similarly trained practitioners. This means they must act in accordance with their training, including the procedures and protocols typically used by healthcare professionals.
Because each patient has a unique case, another professional with the same experience will need to review the case facts and testify to what they would have done under the circumstances.
The Role of Expert Testimony
In most negligence cases, expert testimony is not required in order to file your lawsuit. However, Florida Statute § 766.102 requires an affidavit of merit from an expert to move forward with a medical malpractice case. Expert medical testimony in these cases establishes that the acceptable standard of care was not met and caused injury to a patient.
How Can a Victim Prove Medical Malpractice in Florida?
Florida’s medical malpractice laws make pursuing compensation in these cases more complex than a typical negligence accident case. The requirements for a medical malpractice case include:
Pre-Suit Investigation
Florida law requires notifying the healthcare provider, doctor, or physician of your intent to sue. This kicks off a 90-day period during which both parties conduct pre-suit investigations. Settlement offers are possible during this time.
Expert Testimony
Florida requires every plaintiff to have an affidavit from a licensed healthcare provider who practices in the same field as the defendant. This affidavit must show that the expert reviewed case documents and believes the defendant failed to provide an accepted level of care and caused injury to a patient.
Documenting Damages
In a medical malpractice case, you must show that the defendant’s medical negligence caused you to suffer damages. This could include additional medical expenses, lost income or earning capacity, pain and suffering, reduced quality of life, or other costs and losses.
Why Is Choosing the Right Lawyer Essential for a Medical Malpractice Case?
Medical malpractice is a complicated and difficult area of law. It can be hard to understand what constitutes medical malpractice and determine when a person has a case. It’s even harder to navigate the claims process and hold the negligent care provider accountable without the appropriate legal experience.
You will want to choose an experienced lawyer who is familiar with Florida’s medical malpractice laws and works within them regularly. They will be best equipped to build a case that shows the accused party failed to provide an acceptable standard of care and back the claim with expert testimony.
Discuss Your Florida Medical Malpractice Case With Our Team for Free
Our medical malpractice lawyers represent individuals and families hurt by the negligence of doctors, hospital administrators, and other healthcare providers in Florida. You can speak to a Freidin Brown, P.A. team member today. We provide free, confidential case evaluations. Contact us now to learn more.
