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Neurologist Malpractice

Medical Negligence Lawyers Based in the Ocala Area

Neurologists are doctors who specialize in treating disorders or injuries that arise in the nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. These doctors use tests to evaluate muscle strength, reflexes, cognition, balance, memory, and movement. Treating neurological disorders is particularly difficult, and the standard of care is very high. Many of the procedures used as treatment are invasive, and there has been a large growth in diagnostic tests. However, there are a large number of neurologist malpractice claims. At the Dean Law Firm, our Ocala neurologist malpractice lawyers may be able to help you recover damages if you have been harmed by a professional’s negligence.

Understanding Situations Involving Neurologist Malpractice

Conditions that a neurologist may diagnose and treat include cerebral palsy, stroke, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, neuropathy, disc herniations, skull fractures, lumbar and cervical spine stenosis, brain tumors, nerve tumors, brain aneurysms, hydrocephalus, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and Moyamoya syndrome. A neurologist may commit many different types of errors in handling these types of conditions, including diagnostic errors, negligent delays in performing a test or procedure, instrument injuries, negligence during a procedure, prescription errors, and failures to refer to another doctor.

There may be communication problems involving breakdowns between a neurologist and a patient, or between a general practitioner and a specialist, or between specialists. Sensitive parts of the body are involved in these cases. Mistakes made by neurologists, neurosurgeons, nurses, hospital staff, and lab techs can result in serious and irreparable brain injuries and problems such as confusion, hemorrhage, memory loss, seizure, dizziness, and tinnitus. Sometimes they result in chronic pain, paralysis, or a wrongful death.

If you are injured by a neurologist's error, a neurologist malpractice attorney in the Ocala area can help you investigate whether you may have a claim, although not all errors count as malpractice. In order to establish neurologist malpractice in Florida, we will need to show that a health care provider owed you a professional standard of care, the provider deviated from the professional standard of care, the deviation actually and proximately caused your injuries, and you sustained actual damages. The professional standard of care will depend on multiple factors, including the situation at issue, the defendant's specialty if any, and the geographic location. In most cases, we will need to retain an expert to testify about the professional standard of care, whether there was a breach, and causation.

As in many other states, there are pre-suit requirements that make it imperative to consult us as soon as you realize that you may have been a victim of neurologist malpractice. Our Ocala neurologist malpractice attorneys will need to serve a notice of intent to sue on the health care provider prior to suing in court. This includes consulting with a health care provider about the facts of your situation for the purposes of obtaining an affidavit from the health care provider stating that you have a valid medical malpractice claim. Often, it is necessary to retain a neurologist to testify about what the professional standard of care was in that situation.

After the notice is served, a settlement process lasting 90 days proceeds. In those 90 days, the statute of limitations is tolled. The health care provider is free to indicate that it does not want to settle before those 90 days are up, in which case you have 60 days or the rest of the statute of limitations to sue, whichever of these is longer.

If we can establish liability, you may be able to recover compensatory damages. These include both economic and noneconomic losses, including medical bills, rehabilitation bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, lost earning capacity, therapy, household services, and other compensatory damages. When a loved one dies due to neurology malpractice, you may be able to recover losses for funeral and burial expenses, conscious pain and suffering prior to death, and loss of services.

Consult an Experienced Neurologist Malpractice Lawyer in Ocala

At the Dean Law Firm, our trial attorneys may be able to sue a health care provider on your behalf if you or a loved one is harmed by neurologist malpractice. We serve patients and their families in Ocala, The Villages, Crystal River, and other communities in Citrus, Levy, Sumter, Marion, and Lake Counties. Contact us at 352-387-8700 or through our online form.