A missed diagnosis, a surgical mistake, or a medication error may leave a patient facing serious questions about what went wrong and who is responsible. Medical negligence cases often involve complex records, conflicting explanations, and strict Florida deadlines that make early review important.
Berger & Hicks, P.A. represents patients and families in West Kendall, South Miami-Dade, and the surrounding Homestead corridor who believe a healthcare provider’s mistake caused preventable harm. Our attorneys review medical malpractice claims directly, explain available options, and help determine whether the facts support a legal claim.
Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks personally evaluate each malpractice inquiry before any case moves forward.
West Kendall sits near several major medical centers, including Baptist Hospital of Miami and Kendall Regional Medical Center, and residents in this corridor rely on those facilities for everything from emergency care to major surgery.
When a diagnosis gets missed or a surgical step goes wrong, the patient often has no way to know it happened until weeks or months later. That delay matters under Florida law, because medical malpractice claims carry a strict filing deadline tied to when the harm was discovered, not just when it occurred.
Figuring out whether a bad outcome was medical negligence, or just a known risk of treatment, is not something a patient has to sort out alone. Call (305) 670-7050 or complete the contact form on this page to have your case reviewed directly by an attorney.
Schedule Your ConsultationWhy Choose Berger & Hicks, P.A. For A West Kendall Medical Malpractice Claim?
Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks personally evaluate each malpractice inquiry before any case moves forward.
Zachary Hicks has more than 21 years of legal experience and has received recognition from Super Lawyers for his work representing injured clients.
Berger & Hicks, P.A. also provides bilingual service in English and Spanish to better serve patients and families throughout South Miami-Dade.
Direct Attorney Access
Clients speak with Martin Berger or Zachary Hicks directly about their case, not a call center or an assistant relaying messages between parties.
Decades Of Trial Experience
Martin Berger has tried personal injury and medical malpractice matters in Miami-Dade courts for more than 20 years, giving him firsthand familiarity with how local judges and juries evaluate these claims.
Selective Case Review
The firm reviews each malpractice inquiry on its individual facts instead of accepting every case that comes through the door, which keeps the firm's focus on claims with real merit.
Local Presence In Miami-Dade
Based at 9700 South Dixie Highway in Miami, the firm serves West Kendall, Homestead, and the surrounding South Miami-Dade communities without the distance of a firm headquartered outside the county.
Call Berger & Hicks, P.A. at (305) 670-7050 or complete the contact form to schedule a free consultation. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for your case, and our firm advances the costs needed to investigate and prepare qualified claims.
Schedule Your ConsultationWhat Counts As Medical Malpractice In Florida?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider's treatment falls below the accepted standard of care and that failure causes injury.
Florida law defines it broadly to cover any medical, dental, or surgical diagnosis, treatment, or care that a reasonably competent provider would not have provided under similar circumstances.
Not every bad outcome qualifies. A surgery carries known risks that occur even with careful treatment, and a difficult diagnosis may simply be difficult to catch given a patient's symptoms. What separates malpractice from an unfortunate outcome is whether the provider deviated from accepted medical practice.
Patients treated at facilities near West Kendall raise a range of concerns after a bad medical outcome, and some situations come up more often than others.
- Delayed Or Missed Diagnosis: A provider fails to identify a condition like cancer, stroke, or sepsis within a time frame that would have allowed for effective treatment.
- Surgical Errors: A surgeon operates on the wrong site, leaves an instrument inside a patient, or damages a nearby organ during a procedure.
- Medication Errors: A patient receives the wrong drug, wrong dose, or a medication that conflicts with a known allergy or another prescription.
- Birth Injuries: A delivery team fails to respond to signs of fetal distress or mismanages a complication during labor.
- Anesthesia Errors: An anesthesiologist administers an incorrect dose or fails to monitor a patient properly during a procedure.
These categories cover common patterns, though the specific facts of each patient's treatment determine whether a claim exists. A short conversation with an attorney familiar with Florida's malpractice standard often clarifies more than hours spent searching for an answer online.
Who Can Be Held Liable For A West Kendall Medical Error?
Liability for a medical error falls on the treating physician, the hospital or clinic that employed the staff involved, or both, depending on the facts. Florida law allows a claim against any health care provider whose deviation from the standard of care contributed to the injury.
A single hospital stay near West Kendall often involves a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, nursing staff, and sometimes an on-call specialist, all working under different lines of supervision. When something goes wrong, more than one of these parties could a share responsibility for the outcome. Each provider's role gets evaluated on its own timeline and its own set of facts.
Hospitals also carry independent liability for staffing decisions, equipment maintenance, or policies that contributed to an error, separate from the conduct of any single physician. Identifying every potentially liable party early in a case matters, since Florida requires presuit notice to be served on each provider individually before a lawsuit proceeds.
How Does Florida's Statute Of Limitations Affect A Medical Malpractice Claim?
Florida gives patients two years from the date they discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, a medical injury to file a malpractice claim, and this deadline is set out in Florida Statute 95.11.
Regardless of when the injury is discovered, the law generally bars any malpractice claim filed more than four years after the incident itself, with narrow exceptions for fraud, concealment, or claims involving young children.
Florida also requires a step most personal injury claims do not involve. Before filing suit, a patient's attorney must complete a reasonable investigation and serve presuit notice on each prospective defendant under Florida Statute 766.106. That notice opens a 90-day investigation period for the provider's insurer to respond, and the filing deadline pauses during that window.
This presuit process means a medical malpractice claim generally takes longer to prepare than a typical car accident case, since an attorney must gather medical records and secure a qualified expert's opinion before notice can even be served. Waiting to start that process shortens the time available to build the claim properly.
What Compensation Is Available After Medical Negligence?
Compensation in a Florida medical malpractice case falls into two categories: economic losses tied to specific dollar amounts, and non-economic losses tied to the impact of the injury on daily life.
The exact figures in any case depend on the medical records, the severity of the harm, and the strength of the evidence connecting the injury to the provider's conduct.
A patient harmed by a medical error near West Kendall may face costs and losses that extend well beyond the original hospital bill.
- Past And Future Medical Costs: Expenses tied to correcting the error, including additional surgeries, rehabilitation, or long-term care.
- Lost Income: Wages missed during recovery, and reduced earning capacity if the injury affects future work.
- Pain And Suffering: Physical pain and emotional distress connected to the injury and its treatment.
- Loss Of Enjoyment Of Life: Reduced ability to participate in activities the patient valued before the injury occurred.
- Wrongful Death Damages: Funeral costs and loss of support for a family when medical negligence results in a patient's death.
Every one of these categories requires documentation, and the value of a claim generally reflects how well that documentation is gathered and presented rather than the severity of the injury alone.
How Do Insurance Companies and Hospital Risk Managers Respond To Malpractice Claims?
Hospital risk management teams and malpractice insurers begin evaluating a claim the moment presuit notice arrives, and their review process is not designed to benefit the patient. Insurers assign adjusters and defense counsel specifically trained to limit what the provider ultimately pays.
Patients near West Kendall who file a claim without legal representation often encounter tactics designed to weaken the case before it develops.
- Early Low Offers: An adjuster proposes a quick settlement before the full extent of the patient's injury or future care needs is known.
- Disputing The Standard Of Care: The provider's defense argues that the treatment given matched accepted medical practice, even when the outcome suggests otherwise.
- Shifting Blame To The Patient: The defense claims the patient's own actions, such as delayed follow-up care, contributed to the harm.
- Broad Records Requests: The provider requests access to unrelated medical history in an attempt to find alternate explanations for the injury.
- Delay Tactics: The insurer slows the presuit review process, hoping the patient loses momentum or misses a filing deadline.
None of these tactics reflect a final answer on what a claim is worth. They reflect an opening position from a party whose financial interest runs opposite the patient's.
FAQ for West Kendall Medical Malpractice Lawyers
How do I know if what happened to me at the hospital counts as malpractice?
A bad outcome alone does not confirm malpractice. It becomes a claim when a provider's care falls below what a similarly trained provider would have done under the same circumstances, which is why medical records need review by someone familiar with the standard of care.
Do I need to get a second doctor to confirm the mistake before I call a lawyer?
No, a second medical opinion is not required before speaking with an attorney. Florida requires expert review as part of the presuit process, and that review typically happens after an attorney begins evaluating the case, not before.
What if the hospital already told me nothing went wrong?
A hospital's internal explanation is not the final word on whether malpractice occurred. Hospitals and their insurers have a financial interest in that conclusion, and an independent review of the medical records can reach a different result.
Can I still file a claim if the error happened more than a year ago?
Maybe, depending on when the injury was discovered and how much time has passed since. Florida's malpractice deadlines run from the discovery of the injury, with an outer limit of four years from the incident itself, so the exact timing needs individual review.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in Florida?
Generally, Florida gives patients two years from discovering a medical injury to file a claim, with an outer deadline of four years from the incident in most circumstances. Exceptions apply for fraud, concealment, and claims involving young children, so exact deadlines depend on the specific facts.
Do I need a lawyer for a medical malpractice claim, or can I handle it myself?
Yes, medical malpractice claims in Florida require a presuit investigation and expert review before a lawsuit can be filed, a process most patients cannot complete without legal representation. An attorney familiar with these requirements also identifies every provider who shares liability.
What is presuit notice, and why does it matter for my case?
Presuit notice is a formal notification Florida law requires before a malpractice lawsuit is filed, allowing the provider's insurer 90 days to investigate the claim. Serving this notice correctly and on time protects the patient's filing deadline from expiring.
Can I still file a claim if I was partly responsible for my own injury?
Yes, Florida allows a patient to recover damages even if they share some responsibility for their injury, though the amount recovered is reduced based on the degree of fault assigned. This determination depends on the specific facts of the treatment and any actions the patient took.
What happens if the doctor who treated me has since left the hospital or the state?
A provider's departure from a practice or the state does not eliminate a patient's right to pursue a claim against them. Presuit notice requirements still apply, though locating a former provider may add time to the early stages of a case.
Talk To A West Kendall Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
A missed diagnosis or a surgical complication raises questions that medical records alone rarely answer, and Florida's short filing window makes early legal review worth prioritizing.
Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks review malpractice inquiries directly, without passing the case through layers of staff before a decision gets made.
Call Berger & Hicks, P.A. at (305) 670-7050, complete the contact form on this page, or visit the firm at 9700 South Dixie Highway, Suite 850, Miami, FL 33156 to discuss what happened during your medical care.
Consultations are free, there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation, and our firm advances case-related costs when we take on a claim. We speak Spanish.
Schedule Your Consultation