The patient would never have known about the comments, but before going under he pressed record on his phone to capture any instructions from his doctor. When he later listened to the recording he was shocked, embarrassed, and suffered severe anxiety as a result. But what could he do? The procedure, medically, went fine. How would he recover for his emotional suffering and help prevent this from happening again? He decided to sue the doctor for malpractice and defamation, and won his case.

Florida Laws Protect Patients

While sad because of how the patient was treated, this case is interesting because the patient’s procedure had no other problems. So how could he recover for his damages? The patient sued the doctor for both malpractice and defamation of character.

Malpractice Claim

A typical Florida malpractice claim has several elements to it. First, a patient has to suffer damages because of how he is treated under the doctor’s care. If those damages happened because the doctor failed to use reasonable care, then the patient has a case. Reasonable care is considered the kind of care that competent and professional doctor would give in similar circumstances. While all of these elements were met in this case, the monetary damages didn’t amount to what a drastic medical malpractice case normally comes to.

Defamation Claim

It is in this realm that most of the damages truly arose. Defamation claims involve several elements as well. To plead a successful claim a claimant must show that the defendant said something about the plaintiff that was not true, that it was published (communicated) to a third person, and that it caused damages. Just reading through the story shows that all of these elements were met; this is how the patient was able to recover from the doctor and help to ensure that it does not happen in the future.

Could This Happen in Florida?

What is further interesting about this story is that had it happened in Florida, the case may not have gone forward. The reason is that to admit a recording in Florida the person whose voice was recorded must consent to the recording.

If you are ever the victim of medical malpractice, contact us. At Alan Goldfarb, P.A. we focus our Miami practice on recovering for victims of medical malpractice, and will review your case and give you your legal options.

Medication and Dosage Errors

Before even getting to the point where a patient is anesthetized, a patient’s history is carefully scrutinized to avoid any adverse reactions between the anesthesia administration and medication that may be in the patient’s system. Doctors will, ideally, monitor your medication intake in the weeks leading up to surgery and wean you off of them accordingly, when necessary. However, any number of reactions may occur if you accidentally omit information the physician should have known about or if the physician fails to investigate your medical history adequately.

Height, weight, and whether you have experienced surgical anesthesia complications in the past are all additional indicators to a physician about the relative safety of your surgery. There might be other factors at play too—such as a preoperative sedative that might be given to an antsy patient waiting to go under. Other forms of anesthesia, such as a spinal or epidural, may have other possible consequences that must be evaluated in light of their need and use in that particular instance.

Anesthesia Negligence

Not enough anesthesia could lead to a patient waking up and suffering severe physical and emotional trauma; too much could kill a patient or leave them in a permanent vegetative state. We trust our doctors to find the right balance between fixing our problems and keeping us safe while doing so. Though 99% of the time we go to visit our doctor, our dentist, or our surgeon and leave without incident, accidents still do happen. It is not wrong for us to rely on the training, experience, and expertise of the physicians with whom we entrust our lives, but it is important to recognize the fallibility of human hands.

Doctors have an obligation to their patients to thoroughly and accurately record their medical histories, provide correct dosages of medications and anesthesia, and take precautions to avoid unnecessary injury. When this trust relationship between a physician and patient is broken, the doctor must be held responsible for the damage he or she inflicted on the individual under their care.

Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Miami, Florida

If you or anyone you know has been injured at the hands of a physician you should have been able to trust, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and pain and suffering. At Alan Goldfarb, P.A., our knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys handle cases involving all kinds of medical negligence, including anesthesia errors leading to brain damage, organ damage, or death. If you have been wronged by a physician, contact our Miami office for a complimentary consultation to learn more about your legal rights today.