Pompano Beach Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice claims run on a separate body of law from every other injury case in Florida. Before a lawsuit can be filed, a qualified physician must review the records and certify the claim has merit. Jacobson Injury Firm represents patients and families harmed by medical negligence across Broward County.

Attorney Adam Jacobson handles every case personally. Contact us today for a free consultation, and see our broader Pompano Beach personal injury practice for related claims.

Which Hospital Treated You Can Cap Your Recovery at $200,000

This is the most consequential fact for a Pompano Beach patient, and it rarely surfaces until after decisions have been made. Broward Health North, on Sample Road, is operated by the North Broward Hospital District. That district is a special taxing district, and the Florida Supreme Court confirmed in 1986 that it falls within the state’s sovereign immunity provisions.

The practical effect is set by Florida Statute 768.28. Damages recoverable from a sovereign entity are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 for all claims arising from the same incident, and punitive damages are unavailable. A claim worth several million dollars against a private hospital is worth $200,000 against a public one, unless the Florida Legislature passes an individual claims bill, which is a slow and rarely successful process.

Three points follow, and each affects strategy from the first week.

• Pre-suit notice is required and the deadline is shorter. A claim against a sovereign entity demands written notice to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services before suit, plus a waiting period. Missing it bars the claim outright.
• Not every provider in a public hospital is a public employee. Emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and on-call specialists are frequently employed by private groups that contract with the hospital. Those defendants carry no cap. Establishing who actually employed the person who harmed you often decides whether the case is worth $200,000 or considerably more.
• Private hospitals nearby are not capped. Where treatment occurred at a private facility, no sovereign limit applies at all.

Identifying the corporate structure behind each provider is early work rather than something to sort out at settlement. Broward County operates several facilities under the same district umbrella.

Florida’s Damage Caps Are on the Books but Unenforceable

Florida Statute 766.118 still reads as though noneconomic damages in medical malpractice are capped, at $500,000 against practitioners and $750,000 against non-practitioners, with higher figures for catastrophic injury and death. Those caps are unenforceable.

The Florida Supreme Court struck down the wrongful death caps in Estate of McCall v. United States in 2014 and the personal injury caps in North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan in 2017, both on equal protection grounds under the Florida Constitution. Kalitan arose from Broward County. There is currently no enforceable cap on noneconomic damages in a private-sector Florida medical malpractice case.

The statute remains printed in the code, which is why the figures still circulate and why some sources repeat them as current law. They are not. Sovereign immunity limits are a separate matter entirely and do still apply, as described above.

The Pre-Suit Process No Other Injury Claim Requires

Chapter 766 of the Florida Statutes builds a screening process in front of every medical malpractice claim, and it takes months. Understanding the sequence explains why these cases cannot be filed quickly and why waiting to call is costly.

• Records review and expert corroboration. Under Florida Statute 766.203, a claimant must conduct a reasonable investigation and obtain a verified written medical expert opinion corroborating that reasonable grounds exist. No notice can go out without it.
• Expert qualification is strict. Florida Statute 766.102 generally requires the corroborating expert to practice in the same specialty as the defendant, not merely a similar one. Locating a qualified, willing physician is frequently the longest step in the case.
• Notice of intent and the investigation period. Florida Statute 766.106 requires serving notice on each prospective defendant, which opens a 90-day period during which the defendant investigates and the limitations period is tolled. The claim cannot be filed during that window.
• Informal discovery and a mandatory response. The defendant must respond by rejecting the claim, offering settlement, or offering to arbitrate damages. Each response carries different consequences.

None of this happens in a few weeks. A file that arrives with two months left on the deadline may not survive the process, which is the practical reason these claims need attention early.

The Deadline Is Two Years, With a Hard Outer Limit

Medical malpractice runs on its own limitations rule under Florida Statute 95.11, and it did not change with the 2023 reforms that cut ordinary negligence claims from four years to two.

• Two years from discovery. The clock runs from when the incident was discovered, or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence, rather than automatically from the date of treatment.
• Four years as an absolute bar. A statute of repose cuts off most claims four years after the negligent act regardless of when the harm was discovered.
• Seven years where fraud or concealment prevented discovery, which is a narrow exception requiring proof.
• Children have a separate rule extending the repose period, so a parent should not assume a birth injury claim has expired.

Why Choose Jacobson Injury Firm for Your Pompano Beach Malpractice Claim?

Command of the Rules That Decide These Cases

Malpractice claims are decided by structure before they are decided by medicine: who employed the provider, whether a cap applies, whether the expert qualifies, and whether the pre-suit sequence was followed correctly. Florida’s modified comparative fault standard under Florida Statute 768.81 then applies, barring recovery once a claimant carries more than half the blame. Claims arising in Pompano Beach proceed through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County.

Demonstrated Results for Injured Clients

The firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients. Our client reviews describe how the firm communicates through long and technical cases.

No Attorney Fees Unless You Recover

Malpractice claims at the firm run on contingency. We advance the substantial costs these cases require, including physician review and expert testimony. Nothing is owed at the outset, and no recovery means no fee.

Key Components of a Pompano Beach Medical Malpractice Claim

Proving the Standard of Care Was Breached

A bad outcome is not malpractice. Medicine involves risk, and complications occur without anyone being careless. The claim requires proof that the provider failed to meet the level of care, skill, and treatment that a reasonably prudent similar provider would have delivered, and that the failure caused the harm. This is negligence measured against a professional standard rather than an ordinary one, and it is established through physician testimony rather than argument.

Obtaining and Preserving the Complete Record

Patients are entitled to their records, and the complete file includes more than the discharge summary: nursing notes, medication administration records, imaging and the radiologist’s reads, monitoring strips, and the electronic audit trail showing who accessed what and when. That audit trail sometimes contradicts the narrative in the chart. Requesting the full record early preserves evidence and starts the review a qualified expert will need.

Checking the Provider’s History

Florida publishes licensure and disciplinary information through the Department of Health and a searchable practitioner profile system. Facility inspection and complaint records sit with the Agency for Health Care Administration. A pattern of prior findings changes how a case is valued and occasionally how quickly it settles.

No PIP and No Injury Threshold Here

Worth stating plainly. Personal injury protection, the 14-day treatment deadline, and the permanent injury threshold apply to motor vehicle claims only. They have no application to a malpractice claim.

Calculating Damages

Recoverable damages cover past and future medical care, lost earnings, diminished earning capacity, pain, disability, and disfigurement. Where negligence produces permanent harm, a life care plan and an economist are usually required, which our catastrophic injury practice addresses. Florida Statute 768.0427 also rewrote how medical damages are proven and required disclosure of letters of protection.

When Malpractice Causes a Death

A separate and severe limitation applies. Florida bars adult children aged 25 or older from recovering noneconomic damages for a parent’s death, and bars parents from recovering them for an adult child’s death, in medical malpractice cases only. Our wrongful death page covers this provision, the repeal efforts that have failed, and what remains recoverable. Any family considering a malpractice death claim should understand it before making decisions.

“Excellent service and results. Attorney Jacobson was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my case. They explained everything clearly and delivered great results.”

Isaac M.

Medical Malpractice Claims We Handle

Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis

Cancer, stroke, heart attack, and infection missed or attributed to something else. Delay converts a treatable condition into an untreatable one, and the claim turns on what the presenting signs should have prompted.

Surgical Errors

Wrong-site procedures, retained instruments or sponges, nerve and organ damage, and anesthesia errors. These claims frequently involve several providers and separate employers, which makes the cap analysis above especially important.

Emergency Room Negligence

Premature discharge, failure to order indicated imaging, and triage failures. Emergency physicians are commonly employed by contracted private groups rather than by the hospital, which changes both the defendant and any applicable cap.

Birth Injuries

Oxygen deprivation, improper delivery technique, and failure to respond to fetal distress. These claims carry extended timing rules for children and typically require lifetime care projections.

Medication and Pharmacy Errors

Wrong drug, wrong dose, missed interactions, and administration errors. The medication administration record and the electronic audit trail usually establish what happened.

Nursing Home and Facility Neglect

Pressure ulcers, falls, dehydration, and medication mismanagement in residential facilities. These claims overlap with premises liability and are governed partly by separate resident rights provisions.

Hospital-Acquired Infection and Monitoring Failures

Sepsis that goes unrecognized, post-operative infection, and failure to monitor a deteriorating patient. See all practice areas.

What to Do If You Suspect Medical Negligence

• Request your complete medical records in writing, from every provider and facility involved. You have a right to them, and the request itself creates a dated record.
• Write down what you remember while it is fresh: who said what, when symptoms started, what you reported and to whom, and who was present.
• Keep every discharge instruction, prescription, appointment record, and bill. Billing records sometimes reveal procedures the chart does not describe.
• Continue treating with a provider you trust. Your health comes first, and a documented recovery record also supports the claim.
• Do not sign anything from the facility’s risk management department, and be cautious about recorded conversations framed as service follow-up.
• Call a lawyer early. The pre-suit expert review takes months, and a claim brought close to the deadline may not complete the process in time. See our statute of limitations resource and case timeline for how these cases progress.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a bad outcome the same as malpractice?

No. Medicine carries inherent risk and complications happen without anyone being careless. A claim requires proof that the provider failed to meet the standard a reasonably prudent similar provider would have met, and that the failure caused your harm. That determination is made by a qualified physician reviewing the records, not by how the result felt.

Does it matter which hospital treated me?

Considerably. Broward Health North in Pompano Beach is operated by the North Broward Hospital District, a sovereign entity. Damages against it are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, with no punitive damages. The same injury at a private hospital carries no such limit, which is why identifying the correct defendant is the first step.

Are there caps on pain and suffering in Florida malpractice cases?

Not for private defendants. Florida’s statutory caps remain printed in the code but were held unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court in 2014 for wrongful death and 2017 for personal injury. Sources still quoting $500,000 or $750,000 as current law are wrong. Sovereign immunity limits for public hospitals are separate and do still apply.

How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim?

Two years from when you discovered or should have discovered the injury, with an absolute four-year cutoff from the date of the negligence regardless of discovery. A narrow seven-year exception exists for fraud or concealment, and children have extended timing. The 2023 reforms did not change these rules.

Why do malpractice cases take so long to file?

Florida requires a screening process no other injury claim has. A qualified physician in the defendant’s specialty must review the records and provide a written opinion that reasonable grounds exist, then formal notice opens a 90-day investigation period before suit can be filed. Locating a willing same-specialty expert is often the longest step.

Can I sue the hospital or only the doctor?

It depends on employment. Hospitals are responsible for their own employees, typically nursing and technical staff. Physicians are frequently independent contractors employed by private groups, particularly in emergency medicine, anesthesia, and radiology. Establishing who employed each provider determines both who can be sued and whether a sovereign cap applies.

What if my family member died from medical negligence?

A separate provision applies and it is severe. Florida bars adult children 25 or older from recovering noneconomic damages for a parent’s death, and bars parents from recovering them for an adult child’s death, in malpractice cases only. Economic losses remain recoverable. This should be assessed before any other decision is made.

Will I have to go to court?

Many malpractice claims resolve through settlement or during the pre-suit period, and a defendant may offer to arbitrate damages instead of litigating. Cases that proceed take longer than ordinary injury claims because of the expert work involved. We prepare each file for trial regardless of how it is likely to end.

How much does a medical malpractice lawyer cost?

Our firm works on a contingency fee, so nothing is owed at the outset. These cases carry real costs for physician review and expert testimony, and we advance them. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed and the consultation is free.

How much is my medical malpractice case worth?

Value depends on the severity and permanence of the harm, future care costs, lost earnings, whether the defendant is a private or sovereign entity, and the strength of the expert support. The same injury can be worth very different amounts depending on who employed the provider, which is why that question gets answered first.

Speak With a Pompano Beach Medical Malpractice Lawyer

The pre-suit review these claims require takes months, and the four-year outer deadline does not pause for it. Reaching out early is what makes the process fit inside the time available. Consultations are free and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call (561) 567-7163 or send us a message. The firm also serves Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, with the full list on our areas we serve page and further reading in our personal injury resources and blog.