Bradenton Catastrophic Medical Malpractice Attorneys
Injuries That Leave a Person Permanently Dependent on Care
Examples of catastrophic harm in medical care:
- Brain damage from oxygen loss during surgery, childbirth, or a slow response to a breathing problem
- A stroke mistaken for something else in the emergency department until the treatment window closed
- Sepsis recognized too late, ending in amputation or organ failure
- Paralysis or permanent nerve damage after a spinal or orthopedic procedure
- Internal bleeding after surgery that went unnoticed while vital signs were being charted
- A medication given in the wrong dose, by the wrong route, or to the wrong patient
Injuries at this level carry decades of attendant care, equipment, therapy, and housing changes, which is why the evaluation and the case preparation look nothing like a case with only broken bones that heal.
Deciding Whether the Harm Was Preventable
Every procedure and every medication carries risks disclosed on the consent form, and a bad result on its own is not negligence. A malpractice case exists when the care fell below what a reasonably careful doctor in the same specialty would have done, and when the shortfall is what produced the harm.
Where a Bad Result Stays a Bad Result
- A known complication that was watched for, caught, and treated correctly once it appeared
- A condition already too advanced for any treatment to change the outcome
- A rare reaction with no warning signs anywhere in the chart
Where the Care Fell Short
- Abnormal test results that came back and went unread for hours or days
- Stroke, cardiac, or sepsis symptoms recorded by nursing staff and never escalated to a physician
- A procedure performed on the wrong site or the wrong structure
- A monitor alarm silenced without anyone laying eyes on the patient
- A patient sent home from the emergency department with a diagnosis the recorded vital signs did not support
Sorting one list from the other takes a physician in the same specialty reading the entire chart start to finish and identifying what should have happened at each point where the care changed direction.
Steps Florida Requires Before a Malpractice Lawsuit Begins
A qualified medical expert has to review the records and sign a written opinion that there are reasonable grounds to believe the care was negligent and that the negligence caused the injury, and that opinion goes out before any lawsuit (Fla. Stat. § 766.203). Against a doctor in a specialty, that expert practices in the same specialty.
Once the opinion is signed, every provider being held responsible receives a formal notice of intent, which opens a 90-day window for that provider and its insurance carrier to investigate and respond (Fla. Stat. § 766.106). The two-year deadline pauses during those 90 days.
Three things fill the months before a lawsuit exists:
- Ordering and assembling the complete record from every facility and provider who treated the patient
- Getting that record in front of a qualified expert in the right specialty who agrees to review it and put an opinion in writing
- Waiting out the 90-day response, which comes back as a rejection, a settlement offer, an offer to arbitrate, or nothing at all
The wait comes from the statute rather than from anything going wrong with your case.
Time Limits on a Bradenton Malpractice Case
Florida sets two years to bring a medical malpractice case (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(c)). The two years begin when you knew, or reasonably should have known, both that the harm occurred and that medical negligence might have caused it (Tanner v. Hartog, 618 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1993)). Being told at the time that a bad result was a known complication does not start the two years.
Separately, the statute limits how long after the care itself a case can be brought at all:
- Four years from the date of the incident that caused the harm, no matter when you learned about it
- Two more years from the date of discovery, capped at seven years from the incident, where the provider concealed or misrepresented what happened
- Neither limit applies to a case brought for a child on or before the child’s eighth birthday
A deadline that looks close is not always the end of it. Florida allows an automatic 90-day extension of the two years by petition to the clerk, which buys time for the required review (Fla. Stat. § 766.104(2)). The extension does not revive a case where the deadline has already passed.
Birth Injuries and Florida's Separate Compensation Program
Parents told there is no lawsuit available after a delivery injury are usually being pointed toward NICA, the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association. Florida created a no-fault program that pays the medical and care expenses of certain infants injured during birth for the rest of their lives, and where a birth qualifies, the program replaces a malpractice lawsuit against anyone directly involved in the labor, delivery, or resuscitation immediately afterward (Fla. Stat. § 766.303).
Qualifying requires all four of the following (Fla. Stat. § 766.302):
- Damage to the brain or the spinal cord
- Caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury during labor, delivery, or resuscitation in the immediate period after delivery, in a hospital
- A birth weight of at least 2,500 grams for a single birth, or 2,000 grams for twins or more
- An infant left permanently and substantially impaired both mentally and physically
Genetic and congenital conditions are excluded, and so is damage that occurred outside labor, delivery, and the resuscitation right afterward.
Being pointed at the program is not the end of the question. Three things can leave a lawsuit available:
- Obstetrical services at the birth were not delivered by a physician who pays into the program, which is a requirement for any award (Fla. Stat. § 766.31)
- The harm came from care outside labor, delivery, and the immediate resuscitation
- Clear and convincing evidence of bad faith, malicious purpose, or willful and wanton disregard for safety, where suit is brought before an award gets paid
An administrative law judge decides whether a birth qualifies, and families do contest it.
Florida revised the program in June 2026, adding coverage for guardianship costs, extending the psychotherapy benefit for family members past the child’s death, and requiring a family member to keep major medical coverage in place for the child (Ch. 2026-127).
Those Who Might Be Responsible for the Harm
The treating physician is one possibility and seldom the only one.
- The hospital, surgery center, or clinic, for its own decisions about staffing, supervision, and who it lets practice there
- Nurses and technicians who saw a change in the patient and did not get a doctor involved
- Anesthesia, emergency, and radiology groups, which contract with a facility instead of working for it
- A radiologist or pathologist who read the imaging or the biopsy, sometimes from another state
- A pharmacy or a pharmacist who filled the prescription
- The manufacturer of a device or drug used in the treatment
Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel will uncover all parties that share fault and hold them accountable.
Costs a Catastrophic Case Needs to Account For
Future care in a permanent-injury case gets priced out in a life care plan, usually prepared by a nurse or rehabilitation specialist who works through what the person will need year by year for the rest of their life. In a large case an economist may be brought in to translate those future costs into what they are worth in today’s dollars.
- Attendant or skilled nursing care, including overnight coverage
- Surgeries, therapy, and medication projected across the coming decades
- Wheelchairs, lifts, and communication devices, along with their replacement cycles
- Vehicle modifications and home changes to doorways, bathrooms, and entryways
- Income the injured person can no longer earn
- Income given up by the family member who left a job to provide care
Every line in the plan has to be supported by the treating providers’ own records and by published cost data for this region, which is one reason the document takes months to build.
Paying an Attorney While the Family Is Already Paying for Care
Catastrophic medical malpractice cases are handled on contingency, so there is no hourly bill and no retainer. Attorney’s fees come out of a recovery, and no recovery means no fee.
Expert costs are separate from attorney’s fees, and they are substantial, since the physicians who review the records and later testify charge by the hour and a life care planner runs into thousands more. Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel pays those costs up front so your family is not funding the case during the years it takes to prepare.
Adult Children and Parents Barred From Recovery After a Death
One provision in Florida’s Wrongful Death Act applies only when the death came from medical negligence. Adult children 25 and older cannot recover for their own pain and suffering over a parent’s death, and parents cannot recover for the death of an adult child 25 or older (Fla. Stat. § 768.21(8)).
Critics call it the “Free Kill” law. Repeal has stalled repeatedly: a bill passed both chambers in 2025 and was vetoed, and the House passed another in January 2026 that died without a Senate hearing.
Being told you have no case is not always the end of it:
- A surviving spouse, or a child under 25, keeps full wrongful death rights
- Funeral expenses, medical bills the family paid, and financial support the person provided are still recoverable
- The restriction reaches only deaths that meet Florida’s definition of medical negligence, so a death in a medical setting caused by something other than medical care or judgment can fall outside it
Read more about Florida’s “Free Kill” Law here.
Records to Request and Notes to Keep
A licensed facility has to give a patient, or that patient’s guardian or personal representative, a true and correct copy of the records on written request (Fla. Stat. § 395.3025).
- Request the complete chart in writing rather than accepting a discharge summary
- Name what you want: nursing notes, the medication administration record, vital sign flow sheets, imaging on disc, and fetal monitoring strips for a birth injury
- Keep a dated notebook of what each provider tells you, with names and times
- Save discharge instructions, equipment receipts, and mileage to appointments
- Decline recorded statements to a hospital risk management representative until you have talked with an attorney
Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel’s Catastrophic Med Mal Team
Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel has represented injured Floridians for nearly a century. Catastrophic medical negligence work takes expert review, thousands of pages of records, and sometimes years between the first phone call and a resolution, and the representation covers all of it:
- Ordering and organizing the full record before anyone forms an opinion about the care
- Selecting a reviewing physician in the specialty that governed the treatment rather than a general expert
- Building the life care plan with input from the treating providers who already know the patient
- Handling the presuit period, the informal discovery, and the negotiations that come with it
- Preparing the case for trial in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, which covers Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto counties
Our catastrophic medical malpractice team will fight for justice on your behalf and work to maximize the compensation you receive.
Questions Manatee County Families Ask First
Is a bad outcome enough to bring a medical malpractice case?
No. A physician in the same specialty has to review the records and conclude the care fell below the accepted standard and that the shortfall caused the harm.
Does the two-year deadline start on the date of the surgery?
It starts when the harm was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, which is sometimes the date of the procedure and sometimes months later.
Can a case be brought if a consent form was signed?
Yes. A consent form covers known risks of a properly performed procedure and does not cover care that fell below the standard.
Do I need the medical records before calling an attorney?
No. Bring what you have, including discharge paperwork and the names of the facilities, and the complete records get requested as part of the review.
Can we still sue if NICA covers our child’s injury?
If a birth qualifies for the program, the program replaces a lawsuit against everyone involved in the delivery, and an administrative law judge is the only one who can decide whether it qualifies. Not every birth injury does qualify, so being told the program applies is worth a second look.
Can adult children recover anything after a parent’s death from medical care?
Economic losses like medical expenses and funeral costs remain recoverable, and the restriction on pain and suffering applies to adult children 25 and older. See our post on Florida’s “free kill” law.
Talk With Our Bradenton Catastrophic Medical Malpractice Team
The catastrophic medical malpractice team at Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel fights for the families of people whose lives were changed by a preventable medical error, and pursues the full compensation their care and their future demand, so your family can put its energy into healing, instead of the fight.
Case reviews are free, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery. Bring whatever you have, including discharge paperwork and the names of the facilities and providers involved.
Call the Bradenton office at (941) 227-4677, or use the contact form.
