Medical Malpractice Terms and Definitions

Tort Liability The defendant must owe a legal duty to the victim, the defendant breached that duty, the breach was the cause of an injury to the victim, there must be an injury. In most cases, there must be a physical or financial injury to the victim, but sometimes emotional distress, embarrassment, or dignitary harms are adequate for recovery. Fibromyalgia A pain disorder in which a person feels widespread pain and stiffness in the muscles, fatigue, and other symptoms. Surgical Error Surgical errors may occur in any kind of medical procedure involving intrusive and non-intrusive surgery. Even the simplest of cosmetic surgical procedures may result in a surgical error. Comparative negligence The doctrine of comparing degrees of fault among the responsible parties. Terminal sedation Terminal sedation is the use of high doses of sedatives to relieve extremes of physical distress. Its purpose is to render the patient unconscious to relieve suffering until the patient dies from his or her disease processes and their complications. Collateral source rule Under this rule, compensation awarded to an injured party shall not be reduced by the amount of compensation available to him from his insurance company or other independent sources. Miscarriage When circumstances cause the mother's body to react to a problem in the pregnancy. This may cause bleeding, cramping, and will ultimately cause the loss of the pregnancy. Obstetrics Prenatal care requires collecting, tracking and analyzing a complex series of clinical data collected over several prenatal visits. Statute of limitations A statute specifying the period of time after the occurrence of an injury--or, in some cases, after the discovery of the injury or of its cause--during which any suit must be filed. Negligence Failure to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances. When that failure causes another person to suffer an injury or financial loss, that person may be entitled to just compensation through our civil justice system.

Please contact us if anyone you know has suffered from debilitating injuries due to medical malpractice in Tampa.

	Did You Know?
	Cosmetic surgery malpractice is a common occurrence Negligence happens when ill-equipped medical practitioners, like doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare professionals carry out such relatively simple cosmetic procedures like botox injections and forehead lifts. Negligence of this kind is criminal. It can happen to anyone.