Pursuing a Negligence Claim
In order to pursue a negligence claim, one must allege four elements:
- Duty
- Breach
- Causation
- Injuries
Florida law requires that health care providers adhere to a level of care, skill, and treatment that—in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances—is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar providers. Accordingly, if a similar and reasonable provider could have correctly and promptly diagnosed the condition without error, then the provider in question may have breached this duty. After determining whether there was a duty and breach, one must discern if said breach was the proximate cause of the person’s injuries.
In the context of an erroneous diagnosis, determining whether the physician’s breach was the proximate cause of a patient's injuries can be determined by the following factors:
- "But for" the diagnostic error, the plaintiff would have not suffered injury (or injuries to the extent that he or she did)
- The presence of superseding events between the time of the diagnostic error(s) and the injuries suffered (the injuries were not a direct result of the flawed diagnosis)
A case only exists if you or a loved one has suffered some sort of injury. While these are the elements required for filing a negligence case, you should consult an attorney before making a decision about pursuing a claim.