Medical Malpractice Attorney

Serving West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Lake Worth and the Port St. Lucie area

Click here to view our video about medical malpractice

A sick patient is one of the most vulnerable people on the planet, and serious illness or injury that was avoidable is enormously upsetting to the patient’s family as well as the patient.

At the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A., we have extensive experience with many types of medical malpractice. If you have had a loved one in medical care, and then found that a medical mistake or negligence has led to serious complications, new health problems, or death, please call our malpractice attorney, for a free consultation.

Overview of Medical Malpractice
A medical negligent act or lack of action by a healthcare professional is what creates medical malpractice. It could be a careless diagnosis or treatment, or inadequate disease management. If the medical negligence leads to injury or further illness for the patient, that doctor or other healthcare professional is open to legal action.

There’s an accepted standard of practice that we expect from qualified medical personnel. When that standard is disregarded or violated, the resulting harm creates a medical malpractice scenario where a hospital could be sued or any involved staff. Wrong medications, improper patient care, lack of sterility, and operating on the wrong patient are examples of medical mistakes which leave the hospital or doctor liable.

Medical malpractice laws are designed to protect the patient’s rights and to enable you to pursue compensation if you are injured by medical negligence. Medical malpractice lawsuits tend to be time-consuming, complex, and expensive. If your injuries are relatively minor, and heal fairly quickly, it would not be appropriate to file a medical malpractice suit.

Informed consent

Before any medical procedure is done, “ medical informed consent ” is required from the patient, meaning that you must sign a form saying that you understand what will be performed and that you agree to it. Failure to obtain that informed consent is a type of negligence, and that medical professional who failed to obtain it could be held liable.

Before you sign the consent form, the physician or other provider should have explained the procedure to you, why it should be done, its risks, and what the alternatives are.

Who can be held liable?

It is not only physicians who can be sued for medical malpractice. Any professional healthcare provider can be held for medical liability, such as:

  • Nurses
  • Medical Assistants
  • Dentists
  • Hospitals
  • Urgent Care Centers
  • Nursing Homes
  • Chiropractors
  • Pharmacists
  • Anesthesiologists

You do not need to know exactly who is responsible before you consult a malpractice attorney. Your attorney would gather information and determine who could be held liable. So don’t hesitate or delay if you think you have been injured through the negligence of any healthcare professional.

Proving Causation

To succeed in your medical malpractice suit, you must prove four things:

  • That your healthcare professional owed you a duty of care
  • That this professional fell short in the standard of care provided to you, thus breaching this duty
  • That there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the breach of duty and your injury
  • That you were harmed by the breach of duty

One of the things that makes medical malpractice cases so complex and time-consuming is that only specific medical experts can understand the situation. Their testimony will be required in court to explain and verify what did or did not happen in your case.

Please see our  Proving Causation page for more detail.

Medical Malpractice Damages

To win any amount for your damages, you must firmly establish a causal link between what was done or not done by the relevant medical professionals and the injury you sustained. What the doctor or other professional neglected to do, or did carelessly, has to be found by the judge or jury to be the cause of your injury.

There are two types of damages you might be able to win:

  • Compensatory damages
  • Punitive damages.

An attorney with long experience in medical malpractice cases can assess your situation, decide whether you have a valid claim, and begin to build your case.

Please see our Types of Medical Malpractice Damages page for more detail.

Resource Links for Medical Malpractice

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Quality Assurance. From this site you can go to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank and the National Practitioner Data Bank.
  2. The National Patient Safety Foundation. This is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to help improve patient safety.
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This site has an enormous amount of information on healthcare issues, with a section on Quality and Patient Safety.
  4. Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety. This was established in 2005 under the auspices of the world Health Organization. It works to focus worldwide attention on patient safety.
  5. The American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys (ABPLA). This organization is accredited by the American Bar Association and certifies attorneys in the malpractice areas of medicine, law and accounting.

For more links, please see our page on Medical Malpractice Resource Links.

If you wonder whether you have a medical malpractice claim, please call or email us for legal advice. We can give you a free consultation, listen to your narrative, and determine if you have a valid claim that we could help you with. Your initial consultation will be free. We serve all of Southern Florida.

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West Palm Beach, Florida, malpractice attorney Craig Goldenfarb represents clients throughout South Florida, including the cities of Palm Springs, Stuart, and Fort Pierce, and residents of Palm Beach County, Martin County, and St. Lucie County. Our office in West Palm Beach, Florida, is located a quarter mile west of I-95 on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., behind Chick-Fil-A in the Legacy Bank Building.

Practice Areas

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OFFICE LOCATION: 2090 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. Suite 402
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
1-800-GOLD-LAW
Call Toll Free 1-800-GOLD-LAW (465-3529)
Medical Malpractice Lawyer West Palm Beach

The reader’s understanding of the information on this website about personal injury law does not constitute a formal legal relationship with the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A.  Please do not assume this content to be formal legal advice.  If you would like to know if you have a valid personal injury case, please contact the West Palm Beach malpractice attorney at the Law Offices of Craig Goldenfarb, P.A. today for a complimentary consultation regarding personal injury law in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach County, Florida.
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