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If You Or A Loved One Have Been The Victim Of Medical Malpractice, Get The FREE Books And Information Available Here BEFORE You Sign Any Forms, Talk To An Insurance Adjuster Or Hire A Lawyer

Each year, thousands of Florida residents put their trust in doctors, nurses and health care professionals to treat them during times of need. It could mean relying on a cardiologist to diagnose and treat your heart attack, rushing an injured family member to the emergency room or simply seeking treatment at a walk-in clinic. Many people never give the quality of care they receive a second thought, but others must suddenly confront the reality that they've been harmed at a hospital, treatment center or clinic. Negligence, neglect and mistakes made by health care providers can have serious consequences, but victims of nursing and medical malpractice have rights under the law.

If you have been injured or a member of your family has been hurt or killed by the actions of a doctor, nurse, CNA or other caregiver or hospital, you might not need a lawyer, but you do need to get all the facts.

Before you make a decision, be sure to read our free book:
    •    Why Most Victims of Medical Malpractice Never Recover a Dime: An Insider's Report on Malpractice Claims 
 
After that, if you want to move forward with your case, Zimmet & Quarles will answer your questions for free, with no obligations. Get the valuable information you need.

Medical Malpractice

When people in Florida visit hospitals and clinics, ride in ambulances or seek help at area emergency rooms their lives are in the hands of others. Each day, our health care providers are entrusted with the responsibility of treating the most vulnerable members of our society. Unfortunately, we don't always get the care we need.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation says nearly 4,000 medical malpractice cases are successfully closed in our state every year. While this relatively low number indicates the vast majority of Floridians are receiving adequate care, it also shows that doctors who violate the law can be held accountable for their actions.

Be careful though, proving medical malpractice can be difficult. If you are harmed at the hands of a physician, nurse, CNA, EMT or at a walk-in clinic, you need to know the whole truth. If you are considering taking legal action on your medical malpractice case, review our free book before you decide whether or not to hire a lawyer. 

The problem with walk-in clinics ...

The days of the old-time family doctor seem like a thing of the past for some people. With the rise of "convenient care," walk-in clinics and "Doc-in-a-box" one-stop, drop-in facilities, personalized treatment is on the decline and problems are common. Many people who turn to these clinics don't have any other choice. It could be as simple as being away from home, being faced with a sudden emergency or finding yourself without health insurance. These kinds of "quick care" businesses too often make misdiagnoses, provide negligent treatment or just don't give people the attention their injuries require.

If you regularly seek help at a walk-in clinic or are considering it, here are some tips about what to know before you go.

If you or a family member has already been a victim of medical malpractice, make sure to consult our new book before proceeding with any legal action.

Contact us to discuss your case. Your questions answered, your options explained.

Zimmet & Quarles is located in Daytona Beach, FL and serves clients from Orlando to Jacksonville.

Cities: Daytona Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville, Deltona, Palm Coast, New Smyrna Beach, Orange City, Flagler Beach, Sanford, Ormond Beach, Port Orange.


Counties: Volusia, Orange, Duval, Seminole, Flagler.
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Blog for Medical Malpractice

Library for Medical Malpractice:

  • Negligent Hernia Surgery Causes Loss of Testicle From Testicular Torsion   
    Description: A 48-year-old patient had surgery for his left inguinal hernia in 2007 but lost a testicle because of his surgeon's negligent operation. After a general surgeon performed the open repair, the patient reported pain and a swelling feeling in his scrotum in the recovery room on the day of surgery.
  • Case Study: Failure to Diagnose Post-Operative Infection   
    Description: The one month delay caused the woman to suffer mutliple procedures that removed dead and infected skin, muscle and other tissue as well as an additional abscess in her thigh and impairment of the rectus muscle which facilitates breathing and also supports the spine. All of these problems could have been avoided by simply ordering the appropriate test.
  • If This Happened to You, It Could Be Negligent Heart Catheterization   
    Description: In 1 to 3 percent of heart catheterization procedures, negligence occurs at the point where the doctor accessed the femoral artery. Other arteries can be the site of negligence as well. Symptoms include major and minor bleeding, bruising, discomfort, pseudo-aneurysm, numbness, embolism, and arterial-venous fistula.
  • Pain Treatment Medical Malpractice   
    Description: To prevent narcotic overdose, doctors and nurses should not give narcotic shots more frequently than every three hours. In addition, these medication combinations have a cumulative effect which must be accounted for when determining the correct doses. Both doctors and nurses shoulder the responsibility for protecting their patients from narcotic overdose.
  • Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Surgical Negligence   
    Description: If you have suffered the neck, shoulder, arm or hand symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome, you know how serious it can be. Nerve impingement can cause numb, tingling fingers, weakened grip or aches and pains in your neck, shoulder, hand, and arm. Vein and artery impingement can cause your hand to turn blue, lose color completely or develop black spots in addition to arm pain and swelling and a throbbing collarbone. Such serious symptoms require relief. The critical question is what is the best treatment to provide that relief and whether your doctor provided that treatment.
  • Mishandled Intravenous Lines Can Be Deadly   
    Description: Intravenous (IV) lines can save or kill a patient depending on how they are used. Usually, IV therapy is one of the safest and most effective treatment protocols that doctors have at their disposal. However, in the hands of a careless, tired or overworked doctor or nurse, IV lines can kill. Proper identification and treatment of possible air embolisms are critical to prevent unnecessary medical injury or death.
  • Doctors Claim Gallbladder Surgery Mistake Result of "Optical Illusion"   
    Description: The top surgeons in this country have never made the mistake of mistakenly cutting the bile duct in a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery because they use proper technique. If the mistake was caused by an optical illusion, don't you think some of our top surgeons would have experienced this optical illusion?
  • Misdiagnosed Heart Attack: What Doctors Should Have Done   
    Description: A 29-year-old male experienced strong chest pain and severe shortness of breath accompanied by shooting pain down his left arm. Classic signs of a heart attack - but in a man so young? Now his life expectancy is significantly lowered and he cannot even walk up a flight of stairs without suffering shortness of breath. Had the doctors simply observed him for 24 hours as the conservative standard of care calls for, this tragic injury may have been prevented.
  • Doctor Office Employee's Medical Advice Leads To Severe Stroke   
    Description: This example illustrates how a doctor's oversight combined with poor follow-up to cause tragedy. A 72-year-old man underwent surgery to replace his pacemaker. He had been taking the prescription blood thinner Coumadin for many years before the surgery. However, a doctor's mistake caused the patient's discharge orders to omit a prescription for Coumadin or any other blood thinning medicine.
  • Case Study: Delayed Diagnosis of Cerebral Aneurysm/Subarachnoid Hemorrhage   
    Description: Experts opined that she entered the hospital with a sentinel bleed, which is an early warning sign of the possibility a greater bleed may follow. She required an immediate CT scan. If she would have been transferred earlier had the diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage had been made earlier, then the second, greater bleed could possibly have been prevented.
  • Case Analysis: Failure to Inform Patient of X-Ray Results Delays Lung Cancer Diagnosis   
    Description: A 58 year old woman was admitted to the emergency room complaining of severe chest pain that wrapped all the way around to her back. Her chest x-ray results showed what doctors called a “vague nodular density in the left upper lobe.” In other words, she had an abnormal mass on her lungs.
  • 7 Ways Your Laparoscopic Surgeon Can Avoid Negligently Cutting Your Bile Duct   
    Description: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy gallbladder surgeries can sometimes end with terrible injury if the patient's bile duct is misidentified or otherwise mistakenly cut, transected or severed. Noted surgeons have published guidelines to be followed to prevent such error. If you underwent Laparoscopic cholecystectomy gallbladder surgery, your surgeon likely should have taken these seven preventive measures:
  • Failure to Timely Diagnose Bile Leak Injury   
    Description: If you have undergone surgery to remove your gallbladder and have suffered from a bile leak, you likely experienced a great deal of pain. However, that alone without more is not likely legally actionable in Florida under our current medical malpractice laws. What is more likely to be legally actionable is a failure to timely diagnose a bile leak. Let's look at a case study involving an actual bile duct injury.
  • Proving a Medical Malpractice Case   
    Description: People often think that just because a doctor made an error there will be a good medical negligence case. That’s not necessarily correct. There are three elements to a medical malpractice case, negligence, causation and injury.
  • Medical Malpractice Limits   
    Description: People find this hard to believe, but it’s true. Doctors have special protections about who can sue them in the case of a death. If a doctor’s carelessness causes a death, then there are circumstances where there is no one eligible to sue them because no one meets the definition of a “survivor” of that dead person under the Medical Malpractice Act.

    • View All

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