When a Hospital or Emergency Room Fails a Patient
People go to the emergency room and the hospital because they need help quickly. When an ER sends a patient home with the signs of a stroke, heart attack, or sepsis, or when hospital staff fail to monitor a patient after surgery, the consequences can be permanent or fatal.
The Injury Advocates represents patients and families across Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties in serious emergency room and hospital negligence cases. These are among the medical malpractice cases we handle, and we review every case with qualified medical experts.
Florida’s Emergency Care Standard
Florida law sets a higher bar for some emergency room claims. Under section 768.13(2)(b), Florida Statutes, providers who give emergency care required by federal law are liable only if they acted with reckless disregard, meaning conduct that created a risk substantially greater than ordinary negligence. This standard applies to emergency care before the patient is stabilized. Care after the patient is stabilized, and ordinary hospital care, are judged by the usual standard of care.
Identifying the right defendants also matters. Hospitals are generally responsible for the nurses and staff they employ, but many emergency room doctors work for outside groups. Several of South Florida’s largest hospital systems, including Broward Health, Memorial Healthcare System, and Jackson Health System, are public entities. Claims against them follow Florida’s sovereign immunity law, section 768.28, which requires written notice to the agency and the Florida Department of Financial Services and limits what can be collected from the government to $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature approves more through a claim bill.
Common ER and Hospital Negligence Cases
Deadlines and Next Steps
Florida’s deadline for medical malpractice claims is generally two years from when the injury was discovered or should have been discovered, and in most cases no more than four years from the date of the mistake. Before any lawsuit can be filed, Florida requires an expert review and a 90-day presuit investigation period, so it is important to start early.
Learn more about how these cases work on our medical malpractice page, or call us for a free review of your situation.
Related Medical Malpractice Pages
Hospitals and their insurers defend malpractice claims aggressively. We work with qualified medical experts to find out what went wrong, document the full impact on your life, and build a case designed to hold the right parties accountable. If you cannot come to us, we can meet by phone, by video, or at your home or hospital.
Why Patients and Families Choose The Injury Advocates
Yes, but emergency care cases can be harder to bring. For emergency care given before a patient is stabilized, Florida requires showing reckless disregard rather than ordinary negligence. Care after the patient is stabilized is judged by the normal standard. We review the records with qualified experts to determine which standard applies.
Claims against public hospital systems such as Broward Health, Memorial Healthcare System, and Jackson Health System follow Florida’s sovereign immunity rules. They require special written notice and limit what can be collected from the government to $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature approves more. Other defendants, such as an outside physician group, may not be subject to those limits.
Nothing up front. Your consultation is free, and we handle injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means our fee is a percentage of the money we recover for you. If we do not win your case, you owe no attorney’s fees and no case costs.
