Video – Attorney Mark Kaire Explains How Medical Malpractice Differs From Other Personal Injury Cases

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Is.. obviously, medical malpractice is underneath the umbrella of personal injury. Is it just like any other personal injury, a car accident, slip and fall, etc., etc., such as statute of limitations, court, you know, procedures, is it the same?

Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL

Good question. So, we’ve had some changes to the laws here in Florida. In the past, the answer to your question would have been “no” in terms of statute of limitations. Up until April of 2023, our statute of limitations for personal injury cases was four years and medical malpractice was two years.

Now in Florida, both cases, or both, all personal injury cases in the state of Florida, including medical malpractice, have a two-year statute of limitations.

However, with medical malpractice, it is two years from the date that you knew or should have known of the medical malpractice, and that pushes the window back up to a maximum of four years. It cannot exceed four years.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

From the date of the…

Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL

From the date of the incident.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Incident, okay.

Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL

You get an additional two years from the date that you knew or should have known, but it can never be more than four years from the date of the original incident. So that’s in terms of statute of limitations.

In terms of damages, there is really one difference that is significant in medical malpractice as opposed to regular personal injury law, and that’s in the area of wrongful death.

So, for wrongful death purposes in medical malpractice, only children 25 and under are able to recover for the loss of a parent.

Likewise, a parent can only recover if their child is not married for the loss of a child under age 25.

Ray Hrdlicka – Host – Attorneys.Media

Interesting.

Mark Kaire – Medical Malpractice Attorney – Miami-Dade County, FL

In regular wrongful death cases, so a car accident that results in a wrongful death, we don’t have that age limitation, but you do in medical malpractice.