Considerations To Make Before Filing A Florida Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Medical malpractice lawsuits are extremely complicated beasts, but they can also be very rewarding. You stand to potentially win a huge amount of money if you win a lawsuit, but you can also waste a lot of time and money if the lawsuit doesn't go as planned. Therefore, it's critical that you understand all of the facts and laws before you proceed. Unfortunately, every state has different laws, which can make this a somewhat complicated proposition. To help you get started, here are some of the laws that you will need to consider when preparing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida:
Presuit
The first part of a lawsuit is the presuit, where both you and the defendant(s) will have an opportunity to seek out evidence and testimony that supports your claims. In Florida, both sides need to work around two key questions:
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Firstly, did a named defendant act negligently?
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Secondly, did that negligence result in harm to the plaintiff?
You are naturally going to be looking for a medical expert that can attest in the affirmative to both of those questions, while the defense and/or the defense's insurer will try to prove that the answer to one or both of those questions is a resounding no.
Depending on how strong the evidence is at this point, the case might be dropped completely. If your evidence is overwhelming, then the defendants might look to settle quickly and quietly. If your evidence is extremely weak, then the case may just get thrown out of court.
Damage Caps
Damage caps are one of the most important elements of lawsuits, since they determine exactly how much you can win. Like most states, Florida has some very strict damage caps when it comes to medical malpractice cases.
In general, the cap is $500,000 in noneconomic damages. This cap is applied in several ways, the first of which is that you may sue for no more than $500,000. If there are multiple plaintiffs, then each is capped at $500,000.
Secondly, this cap also restricts how much a single defendant can be sued for. Even if there are several plaintiffs that are all suing the same defendant, you cannot go over that $500,000 mark.
However, this cap doesn't apply to every case. If the individual in question was put into a vegetative state, died, or otherwise suffered a catastrophic injury and you are filing on their behalf, then the cap goes up to $1,000,000. This also overrides the earlier restriction on how much a defendant can be sued for, so you can pursue the full $1,000,000. Contact a business, such as Kiernan Personal Injury Attorneys PA, for more information.
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