Were you or a family member harmed after your doctor, nurse, or healthcare provider made a mistake in Clearwater, FL? You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. An experienced Clearwater medical malpractice lawyer at Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers can help you fight to maximize your financial recovery.
Our lawyers have over 119 years of combined experience helping families recover the fair compensation they deserve for their catastrophic injuries, workplace accidents in Clearwater, slip and fall cases, motorcycle accidents, and Clearwater wrongful death cases. We’ll do everything possible to win your case so that you can move on with your life.
Cases involving medical negligence can be complicated. Contact or call our law offices in Clearwater, Florida, to schedule a free consultation and get the legal advice you deserve at (727) 493-4418.
How Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help With a Medical Malpractice Claim in Clearwater
Medical malpractice cases are generally difficult to prove. You may not understand the direct cause of the injury you’ve suffered. It can also be tough to know exactly how much compensation you deserve. With the resources of an experienced Clearwater personal injury attorney, you’ll have a much greater chance of success.
At Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve helped countless clients recover fair compensation for their injuries over the years. We have the resources and staff to handle even the most complex medical negligence case.
When you hire our team, we will:
- Identify all parties who are legally responsible for paying your damages
- Gather strong evidence to prove you were a victim of medical negligence
- Hire leading experts and other professionals to support your claim and offer strong evidence
- Calculate the fair value of your compensation award
- Handle all communications and negotiations with the defendant and insurance companies
The insurance negotiation process can be difficult. Insurance laws tend to favor doctors and other medical providers. Our Clearwater personal injury attorneys have years of experience handling these and other legal issues. To learn more about how our team can help, call our law firm to create an attorney-client relationship today.
What Is My Clearwater Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
There are many different factors that are relevant when assessing your case value. The most important factor will be the nature and severity of your injuries. The more serious the damage, the higher your settlement or verdict will likely be.
Still, it’s impossible to assess your case value without understanding the facts. Our lawyers will evaluate all factors in your case.
Factors that are most likely to influence your case value include:
- Whether you’ll suffer a permanent or long-term impairment
- The nature of the doctor or healthcare provider’s mistake
- The cost of your medical treatment
- The types of medical treatment you’ll require due to the injuries
- How the mistake will change your lifestyle and quality of life
- Damage to your emotional health and wellbeing
- The physical suffering you’ve endured
Doctors and hospitals carry insurance to pay damages when patients are injured because of medical malpractice. Still, the available insurance coverage can also limit your case value. When multiple parties share fault, you may be entitled to claim compensation from multiple insurance carriers.
That can complicate matters, but it can also increase your case’s value. Our medical malpractice lawyers in Clearwater are here to help you navigate any complications that arise in your case. That way, you can rest assured that you’re getting the maximum compensation you deserve.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Victims of Medical Malpractice?
Damages under Florida medical malpractice laws are classified as either economic damages or non-economic damages.
As a victim of medical negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for:
- Both past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Diminished future earning capacity
- Nursing care
- Rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Reduced life expectancy
- Diminished quality of life
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Chronic pain
- Anxiety, depression, and PTSD
- Loss of consortium
Unlike in other states, Florida law does not cap the amount of non-economic damages you can recover for your personal losses.
Regardless of your situation, our medical malpractice lawyers in Clearwater will help you fight for the compensation that fully accounts for all of the damages you sustained due to the medical error.
Our Clearwater Medical Malpractice Attorneys Will Fight To Recover Compensation for All of Your Injuries
The long-term consequences of a medical mistake can be devastating for the patient.
Some of the most common medical malpractice injuries include:
- A worsened medical condition or injury
- Ancillary medical problems caused by the mistake
- A need for more invasive and painful medical treatment
- Reduced life expectancy
- Severe depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders
- Infections
- Bed sores
- Loss of mobility
- Brain damage
- Chronic pain
- Dependency on pain medications
- Blood clots, which can lead to stroke
- Nerve damage
- Aneurysms
- Coma
- Sepsis
- Wrongful death of a loved one
It’s always the patient who suffers when a doctor makes a mistake. Our lawyers can help you fight for justice. Just give us a quick call to learn more about how our attorneys in Clearwater can help today.
What Causes Most Medical Errors in Clearwater, Florida?
Medicine is a complicated field. That’s why doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals often receive years of training before they’re allowed to treat patients. Still, medical mistakes are common. They happen for many different reasons.
Some of the most common causes of medical malpractice in Clearwater include:
- Misdiagnosis
- Failure to diagnose a disease
- Failure to order the correct diagnostic tests
- Misinterpreting lab results
- Failure to recognize the patient’s symptoms
- Failure to take a full patient history
- Failure to properly monitor the patient
- General physician burnout and overworking
- Overtreatment and undertreatment
- Outdated medical practices
- Understaffed medical facilities
- Defective medical equipment
- Inexperienced medical providers
- Charting and communication errors
- Unsanitary conditions
- Mistaken patient identities
- Failure to refer a patient to a specialist when necessary
- Failure to provide proper post-treatment instructions
- Physician bias
You may know that your medical treatment led to a bad outcome. However, it can be difficult to understand precisely what caused your injuries. After all, you’re not the one with years of medical training.
At Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers, our Clearwater medical malpractice attorneys will investigate to help you prove your case. We’re here to help in any way we can, so call our law firm for a free case review today.
We Handle All Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
At Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle all types of medical malpractice claims, including those involving:
- Surgical errors
- Prescription drug errors
- Emergency room errors
- Anesthesia errors
- Birth injuries
- Hospital-acquired infections
- Failure to diagnose cancer
- Misdiagnosis
- Nursing negligence
- Hospital negligence
- Pharmaceutical errors
- Radiology errors
All medical providers are subject to a duty of care. That means any healthcare provider can be liable for medical negligence. In fact, multiple parties may even share responsibility for the same mistake. Our experienced medical malpractice lawyers can help you fight to hold all responsible parties accountable.
How Do I Prove Medical Malpractice If I Was Harmed Because of a Medical Error in Florida?
Doctors and other medical professionals do make mistakes. They’re only held legally responsible for damages if they commit medical malpractice. Healthcare providers commit malpractice when they provide care that falls below the medical standard of care.
In other words, they’re only responsible for damages when they’re negligent.
To prove medical negligence, you must establish:
- The standard of care in your case
- A breach of the standard of care occurred
- The breach caused you to suffer some type of harm, or damages
The standard of care will vary from case to case. It depends on the circumstances of the case, including:
- The medical condition or injury involved
- The patient’s identity, including age, general health, and life expectancy
- The medical provider’s training and experience
- Geographic location
Under Florida medical malpractice laws, you’re required to obtain an expert’s opinion before you can proceed with your case. In a successful medical malpractice case, the expert must provide an affidavit stating that your case has merit.
These medical experts can also help establish the medical standard of care that applies to your case. In other words, they can testify about the level of care that you should have received under the circumstances.
How Long Do I Have To File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Florida?
In Florida, you have only two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
In most personal injury cases, the statute of limitations starts running on the date you were injured. However, when it comes to the deadline for filing a lawsuit, medical malpractice cases are slightly different from your typical car accident claim.
The two-year clock in medical malpractice cases does not start running until the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury.
Contact a Clearwater Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation
Are you or a loved one struggling with the consequences of a medical mistake? You may be entitled to significant compensation. An experienced Clearwater medical malpractice lawyer at Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers can help you fight to recover the money you deserve. Just give us a call to learn more about your legal options today.
Visit Our Law Office In Clearwater, FL
Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyer – Clearwater
600 Bypass Dr Suite 224-D
Clearwater, FL 33764, USA
Phone: (727) 493-4418
Hours: Open 24 Hours Daily
