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Presuit
In almost all types of negligence an injured individual can hire a lawyer and explain how they have been hurt by someone else’s negligence. That lawyer can then create a legal document called a Complaint, and file that Complaint in the courthouse to begin a lawsuit. In Florida medical malpractice cases are very different.
In 1985 the legislature crated a plan requiring a presuit process that must be complied with before a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed. The process is lengthy and expensive, and it requires that the lawyer do the following:
1. The lawyer must first conduct an investigation to verify that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a medical professional was negligent and that the negligence resulted in injury to the claimant;
2. The attorney must gather the medical records from the various health care providers and review these documents;
3. The records must be sent to a medical expert who is a “similar health care provider” for them to review the situation;
4. The expert must execute a “verified written medical expert opinion,” essentially an affidavit in which a doctor swears he has reviewed the records and believes there are reasonable grounds to proceed;
5. The attorney must then attach this affidavit to a “Notice of Intent to Initiate Litigation for Medical Negligence,” which is a document that contains the names of the prospective plaintiffs and defendants, and a summary of the claim and injury. This notice must be sent to each prospective defendant, and in some cases to state agencies.
6. The filing of the notice starts a 90-day “presuit investigative period” during which the parties exchange written questions, requests for documents and items, and take unsworn statements.
7. After 90 days the potential defendant generally rejects the claim (he or she can admit liability or make a settlement offer or offer to arbitrate at this point, but that happens very, very rarely).
After all of the above requirements have been complied with only then can a person injured by a Florida doctor or hospital file a lawsuit. As you can see it is a very complicated, time-consuming, and expensive process – and another reason why it is important to seek out a lawyer that specializes in medical malpractice litigation.