It involves an act of negligence by a healthcare provider in handling his or her patients to the extent of causing damage or injury to the patient by not meeting the required medical standard of care in the profession. 

Unfortunately, medical negligence is familiar to Tampa residents, and individuals are left to grapple with the physical, emotional, and financial repercussions. 

For anyone who has been a victim of medical malpractice, the various forms of it will help him get to know his rights and do something about it.

In this article, we will cover the different kinds of medical malpractice in Tampa, the circumstances that contribute to it, and the legal responsibilities open to the victims. 

With such knowledge, you will be in a better position to identify malpractice processes and receive compensation.

A wrong diagnosis may occur, and sometimes the diagnosis needs to be made on time. Among the most common medical negligence claims submitted in Tampa are those concerning misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

If a healthcare provider needs to catch up on a condition or disease, the person may be given the wrong treatment, not treated at the right time, or not treated at all. 

Examples of misdiagnoses include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, infections, and other diseases.

Understanding the Causes of Misdiagnosis: Common Reasons and Legal Options

The outpatient should have requested the correct examinations. The failure to correctly interpret results from lab tests.

I need more adequate support after the visit or product administration.

Example: A patient with chest pain may be told it is a gastric problem such as heartburn and, therefore, receives no treatment for the actual heart disease that they have.

Surgical Errors

Surgical mistakes are another dangerous kind of medical negligence. Such errors may be made before, during, or after surgery has been conducted on the patient.

All the Tampa hospitals and surgical centers are required to follow some suitable measures. Still, when these standard procedures are violated or poorly managed, patients experience serious adverse effects or may die.

Types of surgical errors include:

  • Surgery on the wrong site. Surgery is where surgical instruments are left within the patient’s body.
  • Negligence in follow-up care after surgery that results in infections.

Example: A doctor prescribing the wrong medication, amputating the wrong limb, or performing surgery only to leave a tool inside the patient’s body.

Medication Errors

Medication Errors

They include wrong drug order or administration, wrong dose or omission of dose, or failure to consult drug interaction possibility.

Medication errors may be due to communication breakdown between one healthcare professional and another, a pharmacy, or a patient, or they may stem from insufficient patient counseling.

Common causes of medication errors include:

  • Defective labeling or packaging of drugs. I and Illegible writing as a nursing problem.
  • They neglect to recheck a patient’s history for any possible drug interactions or allergies that the patient might have.

Example: A patient who is given the wrong insulin dose may find that their blood sugar levels drop down to a dangerous level or rise to a dangerous level, which may lead to an incidence of accidents.

Birth Injuries

Some of the injuries that can happen to a mother or child are attributed to medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, or the performance of delivery.

In many cases, these injuries cause an effect that lasts a lifetime or until the child grows up because they create complications like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, or development problems.

Examples of medical malpractice in birth injury cases include:

  • Heavily insufficient in failure to monitor fetal distress.
  • Putting forceps on the baby’s head or misusing vacuum extractors.
  • Failure to follow the time frame of performing a C-section.

Example: There are always complications in labor that require the doctor to carry out the surgery at the right time; failure to do so means that the baby can be deprived of oxygen, which will cause brain damage.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia Errors

Surgical mistakes also pertain to the negligence of a surgeon and are fatal, mainly resulting in brain damage, permanent disability, or even death.

Tampa anesthesiologists then regulate the dosage and ensure the patient is comfortable until the surgery is complete.

There are disastrous outcomes, for example, when there is an error in the dosage or when either too much or too little anesthetics have been used.

Common anesthesia errors include:

  • A doctor does not check for any conditions the patient may have that can be exacerbated during medications.
  • Administration or administering the wrong dosage.
  • Failure to assess the patient’s physiological functions during surgery.

Example: A patient comes halfway through a surgical operation, and the repercussions are improper anesthesia management.

Inability to get informed consent

If a patient is required to undergo a medical procedure, they are required to consent and do so with their eyes open to the consequences of the procedure, the advantages of it, and any other possible option that the patient may choose to take.

If a doctor operates on a patient without consent or without explaining that there may be adverse effects to the operation, then he has been negligent.

Common informed consent issues include:

  • The physician failed to explain the risk of another treatment.
  • Executing other activities that have not been stipulated in the standard package contract.
  • The specific violation of client rights may include not permitting the client to make an informed decision.

Example: A patient who consents to a particular operation but is not told of the risk of severe complications or may be told of them but not of other procedures that could be used to treat the condition.

Emergency Room Errors

Emergency Room Errors

Due to the high working pressure, doctors and nurses in emergency rooms are likely to give out what qualifies as medical negligence.

The emergency rooms in Tampa cannot operate below the standard set by law, but they can make mistakes due to various factors such as overcrowding, shortage of staff, or lack of adequate training.

Examples of emergency room errors include:

  • They are failing to diagnose a severe pathology, including myocardial infarction or ischemic brain injury, for example.
  • Unattended critical injuries or conditions may lead to worsened outcomes if treatment is not as soon as possible.
  • Prescribing or instead giving the wrong medicine or treatment.

Example: A patient with severe head trauma can be discharged without a thorough physical assessment. This would mean that the patient could be discharged with a swollen brain and permanent damage.

Remedies for the Victims of the Medial Malpractice in Tampa

These are the common categories of medical malpractice. If any of them have occurred to you or your loved one, the help of a Tampa medical malpractice attorney is needed.

These lawyers can assist in the first step of investigating your claim, assess your case to determine whether negligence occurred, and finally ensure you are compensated for your medical expenses, wage loss, and pain and suffering.

Again, the latter must be done promptly because Florida has a legal statute of limitations for medical negligence lawsuits.

Thus, in Tampa, you can present a claim within the period not exceeding two years from when the occurrence happened, but there could be some exceptions.

Conclusion

Medical malpractice may lead to terrible results, and knowing the various subcategories of medical malpractice in Tampa is one way of making the negligent doctors pay.

Regardless of whether a person endured a diagnostic mistake, a surgical error, or a medication mistake, that person has the rights and choices they have.

If you think you have fallen victim to medical malpractice, seek help from a competent attorney to negotiate the right course to justice and compensation.

FAQs

What does Tampa consider as medical malpractice? 

It is the act or an instance of the imposition of a patient by one in the medical profession of a treatment or operation that is unauthorized, wrong, or inadequate in diagnosing a disease.

How many years must I file a medical malpractice complaint in Tampa? 

In Tampa, Florida, the general rule is that a lawsuit must be filed within two years of the malpractice's occurrence or discovery.

Is it legal to sue for misdiagnosis of your condition in Tampa?

 Yes, suppose the misdiagnosis results in harm or failure to receive an on-time treatment, which would worsen your condition. In that case, you can probably sue the doctor who committed medical malpractice.

What does informed consent entail in medical malpractice situations? 

Informed consent means that before a doctor embarks on treating you, he has to explain the dangers involved, the plus side of the treatment or procedure, and other options available. The inability to perform such a task can be a basis for a malpractice suit, especially when the patient is discharged from the hospital.

People who are victims of this kind of damage, can we be awarded? 

People who fell victims to medical negligence in Tampa can sue for loss of wages, medical bills, suffering, and any other loss incurred from the negligence.