Miami Medical Malpractice Law Blog

When you think about pregnancy and child birth, you usually think about the end result -- having a beautiful, healthy baby. But for a Florida woman, her dream of having a child ended when she died of serious complications after giving birth.

The 20-year-old woman was set to give birth to a baby boy in February 2006. She came into the hospital suffering from preeclampsia, a serious condition that sometimes develops during pregnancy, only to die several days later from complications related to severe bleeding. Her family is suing for medical malpractice six years after the fact and the case is now becoming a landmark legal fight in Florida's medical malpractice system.

In recent years, it has become more and more common for health insurance companies to refuse reimbursement to a doctor or medical facility for a patient procedure. As a result, medical practitioners have seen a loss of profits. Instead of addressing the underlying issues with the health care system that has led us to this point, many surgeons are choosing instead to step out of their field of practice and begin performing more lucrative procedures, such as plastic surgery.

But the influx of new plastic surgery practitioners has led to a significant increase in surgical errors and other complications from surgical procedures, caused by doctors who are either untrained, inexperienced or both. And because of the lack of certification requirements in the American medical field, there are few ways of knowing whether the plastic surgery with whom you are entrusting your life is capable and competent.

According to recent data from the United States Census Bureau, there are currently 40 million people over the age of 65 living in the U.S. In addition, the baby boomer generation is now living longer than generations before. The number of people who are living to age 90 and beyond has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Currently, there are 2 million people aged 90 and older in Miami and across the country, and that number is expected to quadruple by 2050.

As the number of elderly continues to grow in the U.S., so does the number of people in assisted living facilities. And with an increase in nursing home residence comes an increased risk for nursing home abuse and neglect. Throughout the country, advocates are fighting for an increased awareness of this problem, and for state and local communities to take action to prevent it.

When we are admitted to a hospital, we want to think that the medical professionals in charge of our care are competent and dedicated to providing the best quality of care. Unfortunately, that is not always the cases. Due to hospital negligence or simple mistakes, harmful errors occur, and they all-too-often lead to injury or even death.

But according to a new study, the vast majority of hospital errors go unreported. Further, medical facilities rarely change their policies and procedures in the wake of errors in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.