Miami and Tampa medical malpractice lawyer
You cannot just file. Florida makes you qualify first.
Medical malpractice is the one area of Florida injury law where the barrier is procedural before it is ever evidentiary. Chapter 766 requires an investigation, a qualified expert and a formal notice before a complaint can be filed at all — and the time that takes runs against the same deadline everything else does.
- Before filing
- PresuitInvestigation and notice required. Fla. Stat. ch. 766
- Expert required
- AffidavitCorroborating opinion from a qualified medical expert
- Carrier’s window
- 90 daysTo investigate and respond after the notice of intent
- Deadline
- 2 yearsFrom discovery, with an outer repose period. § 95.11(4)(b)
01 The gate before the courthouse
02 The deadline runs differently
03 Where these cases come from
Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade claims arise across the Jackson system, Baptist, Mount Sinai and the surgical centers across the county. Ryder Trauma records often sit at the center of the file even where the alleged negligence came later.
Hillsborough
Hillsborough claims arise across Tampa General, AdventHealth and the surgical and outpatient centers around the county. Suit is filed at the Circuit Court on East Twiggs Street.
04 What damages a claim
- Waiting until the deadline is close, when presuit alone takes months.
- Requesting records informally instead of through a complete, documented request.
- Assuming a bad outcome is the same as negligence. It is not, and the expert review is what separates them.
- Discussing the case with the provider’s risk management department without advice.
Frequently asked questions about Florida medical malpractice
How do I get my medical records?
You have a right to them. A complete, written request to the records department of each provider involved is the starting point, and it is worth requesting the entire chart rather than a summary.
Imaging, nursing notes and medication administration records are frequently where the answer sits, and they are the parts most often left out of a casual request.
A bad result is not automatically malpractice. So what is?
Negligence is a departure from the accepted standard of care that caused harm. Medicine carries risk, and a poor outcome from a correctly performed procedure is not a claim.
That is precisely what the corroborating expert decides before a case is filed — whether what happened fell below the standard, and whether that departure caused the injury.
Tell Jose what happened
A free review of your medical malpractice case, with no obligation, and no fee and no costs unless there is a recovery. English or Spanish, whichever you would rather use. You speak with Jose A. Dapena directly at every stage, not with an intake department — and if there is no claim worth bringing, he will tell you that.