Patient Falls While In Hospital or Under Doctors' Care in Florida!

The Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer quite often fields inquiries from individuals who have fallen while receiving alleged care or treatment from a healthcare facility and have been injured, as a result thereof. Part of the analysis of whether the healthcare provider is liable not only involves and analysis of causation, and proximate cause, but also whether the potential lawsuit must be brought under Florida’s strict Medical Malpractice Statues, or is the fall a result of simple negligence.

Recently Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals held that a negligence claim arising from patient’s fall off stretcher at hospital is subject to medical malpractice pre-suit requirements. The case was styled, Indian River Memorial Hospital vs. Browne, cited at 44 So. 3d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 9/29/2010).

The facts revealed that an emergency room patient fell of a stretcher and injured his head, leading to his death. The patient’s estate filed a negligence claim against the hospital, alleging that the hospital violated a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent a fall given its knowledge of the patient’s disoriented state. The hospital moved to dismiss the negligence claim for failure to comply with the medical malpractice pre-suit requirements contained in Chapter 766, Florida Statutes. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, but the Fourth District reversed on appeal.

The Fourth DCA explained that the Chapter 766 presuit requirements apply to medical malpractice claims, which are those claims “arising out of the rendering of, or the failure to render, medical care or services.” The Court stated that definition applied here, since the standard of care for the hospital’s treatment of the patient was based in part on the hospital’s staff’s evaluation of his medical condition, and in part on the prevailing professional standard for supervising emergency room patients.

For further discussion regarding fall accidents under healthcare or hospital care other related personal injuries, you may contact the the Schulman Law Group 1-877-529-0444 or by e-mail toinfo@www.schulaw.com.