Being a victim of medical malpractice and be devastating and shocking, especially when a medical professional tries to shift the blame to you. It is unfortunately common for physicians to deflect responsibility for their wrongdoings in order to preserve their licenses or to avoid lawsuits. If you need help preparing for litigation, call a skilled attorney who has experience with defending accusations of patient negligence in Florida medical malpractice cases. Let a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer fight for you.
Consent Forms and Negligence
Understandably, the average person does not understand legal or medical terms. Too often, a physician fails to have a detailed conversation of informed consent with their patients and instead simply hands them a form to sign that tells them about the known risks and complications.
Medical malpractice attorneys view these consent forms skeptically and want to know the circumstances surrounding the patient signing the consent form. For example, an environment where there is pressure to sign the form without reading it may be considered negligent. It is critical to remember when someone signs a consent form about known risks and complications, that medical malpractice cases can still be filed. For instance, there are well-known risks and complications that a doctor may fail to identify, and doctors are required to know these complications as well as remedy them if they occur.
Comparative Fault in Medical Malpractice Cases
Unfortunately, accusations of patient negligence in Florida medical malpractice cases happen too often. Medical professionals may blame the patient for their own failures in order to avoid a lawsuit.
Florida employs comparative fault, which means a jury would have the opportunity to assign percentages of fault to a plaintiff as well as a defendant if the patient is allegedly responsible. However, doctors are typically held to a higher standard than patients who do not have full knowledge of what medical procedures such as surgery may entail. Patients rely on physicians to provide answers and make the right medical decisions for them. Many of these cases require a fact-specific analysis of comparative fault regarding what portion of responsibility the patient has and what the doctor did or failed to do.
It is a matter of balancing those to determine whether the patient could have done something more, or did something that prevented them from getting the treatment they needed. Patients who do not adhere to doctor’s orders may prevent the doctor from helping them. In most cases, though, the patient is not negligent, they trust their doctor to make the right decisions or give them the right advice, and they diligently follow whatever the doctor says.
How an Experienced Florida Attorney Could Help
One of the common misconceptions about patient negligence is that medical providers who violate their standard of care may not be held liable if the patient has no permanent injury or long-lasting issues. Therefore, if you or a loved one has suffered due to the negligence of a medical professional, contact a dedicated lawyer. An attorney can help you fight against allegations of patient negligence in Florida medical malpractice cases. Call today to set up a consultation with a compassionate legal professional.
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