Recent Blog Posts

Whether you are hospitalized for an emergency injury, elective surgery, or other medical need, you expect that quality patient care will improve your health. It can be devastating to contract an infection because the hospital fails to meet appropriate standards for cleanliness and sanitation, but statistics show that these incidents are common. The US...

The relationship between a patient and mental health professional is one of the most intensely personal in all of medicine, so it is not surprising that the implications of psychiatric malpractice can be devastating. For parents of troubled teens, the outlook is especially concerning. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), suicide is the...

Nurses play a critical role in a hospital, handling numerous, varied aspects of treatment and management to support quality patient care. Disruptions can lead to serious harm, which is why many in the medical field have expressed concerns about the implications of COVID-19. However, survey results gathered before the pandemic indicate that there have...

Anesthesia is required for many different surgeries, and the vast majority of the 51 million inpatient procedures conducted in the US every year go off without a hitch. Rarely does a patient ever wake up during a procedure and it is even more uncommon for individuals to remember what transpired during a moment of...

The butterfly-shaped gland known as the thyroid handles functions within the human body that might surprise you given its seemingly diminutive stature. This gland is responsible for ensuring many important organs work, including the brain, liver, heart, skin, and kidneys. As a result, when you experience issues with your thyroid, other implications will inevitably...

One of the most damaging types of medical errors made by Florida health care providers is misdiagnosis. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical report that the most common medical conditions that lead to diagnostic errors include failure to identify stroke, lung cancer, and blood infections, but issues with spinal cord misdiagnosis are also cause for...

When health care providers deliver the news that your newborn has been diagnosed with a disabling medical condition, the conversation will focus on immediate treatment and ongoing care. Physicians are less likely to raise the issue of how your baby’s disability might have been prevented, or whether the birth injuries were the result of...

After suffering injuries due to negligence by a healthcare provider, it is normal to feel angry, confused, and violated. Retaining a skilled legal professional to pursue your remedies under Florida medical malpractice laws may be a step in the right direction. Once you start your search for a lawyer, you may soon realize that...

Adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems across the US has delivered numerous benefits related to ease-of-use and convenience, but these solutions have fallen short in one key area: The promise to significantly reduce medication errors. United Press International (UPI) reported some disturbing statistics indicating that EHRs fail to detect up to 1 of...

Any time you undergo elective surgery or an emergency procedure, you can expect that healthcare providers will provide some sort of ventilation assistance while you are under the effects of anesthesia. Intubation is a procedure that involves inserting a long tube into the trachea. The other end of the tube is connected to a...

Bed sores are extremely painful, gaping open wounds that develop when a patient remains in the same position for too long, leading to pressure on the skin. Also referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, or decubitus ulcers, these injuries are so easily prevented that they are referred to as “never” events in the...

Coronary heart disease remains the top cause of death in the US according to the American Heart Association (AHA), taking the lives of almost 366,000 individuals every year. However, additional statistics reveal that deaths from heart attack are not the only concern. AHA researchers estimate that around 605,000 people every year will experience their...

Anytime someone passes away in a non-emergency hospital setting while under close observation of health care providers, there will be questions about how such a tragedy could happen. You might be surprised to learn that the source of these fatalities is often infection, specifically sepsis and septic shock. If you lost a loved one...

August 18, 2021 — Freidin Brown, P.A. is pleased to announce that Philip Freidin and Joel H. Brown have been included in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers has published their list for over...

Many people associate medical malpractice with individual practitioners, but it is important to realize that liability extends up the ladder. A hospital or entire health care system could be negligent in providing care, and patients pay the price of their misconduct. Fortunately, there are resources for weeding out organizations that do not meet the...

Medicine is a respected profession, but the individuals and entities responsible for delivering quality patient care are not without fault. From the single physician or medical practice to large-scale hospital facilities, negligence by health care providers puts patients at risk. While not proof of misconduct, the Hospital Safety Grade system established by Leapfrog Group...

Any business owes a duty of professionalism to its customers, but Florida hospitals are held to a higher standard because their medical services directly impact patient safety. A hospital must deliver care in accordance with what is generally accepted in the medical field, which is measured by how a similarly situated facility would conduct...

The medical profession is a respected one, and patients literally entrust their lives and well-being to health care providers from the individual physician to the large-scale health care facilities. You have the right to reasonably assume that these practitioners will comply with the appropriate standards of care. It is disturbing to learn that not...

Hospital rankings systems are important from a societal standpoint and for purposes of governmental funding, but the methodology is also helpful on a personal level. When you need to make decisions regarding where to obtain care, you need solid guidance regarding the facilities in your area. Anyone in the Florida Panhandle may want to...

Updated July 2021: Hospital Negligence an Ongoing Problem in Florida and Beyond What is Hospital Negligence? Hospitals can be liable for negligent acts through some of the same concepts that apply to doctors in a medical malpractice case. Legally, the organization is required to meet the generally accepted standard of care that applies to...

Billing For Care Not Provided Many Floridians rely on Medicare to cover designated medical expenses, and health care providers who offer services recoup their fees through this federal health insurance program. Unfortunately, there are some physicians and practices that take advantage of the system. According to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS),...

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides a national minimum wage along with a rule requiring that workers be paid overtime at one and a half times their normal rate for every hour worked over 40 in a given week. Unfortunately, these simple rules are frequently violated by employers in Florida and around the...

There are numerous cancers, tumors, and related disorders that can plague the human body, but they generally share one common characteristic: Outcomes are closely tied to properly diagnosing cancer in a timely manner. Patients are partly responsible for the diagnosis process, as they must disclose symptoms, express concerns, and be honest about lifestyle-based risk...

Medical malpractice comes in many forms, and the nature of the harm to a patient is closely related to the specialty area of the health care provider. Unfortunately, when the specialization is surgery, errors continue to occur at a high rate. According to the National Institutes of Health, at least 4,000 surgical errors occur...

May 2021 is National Stroke Awareness Month, which provides an opportunity to learn about the risk factors for stroke, and how you can take steps to reduce your chances of suffering a potentially fatal event. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 795,000 people experience a stroke every year nationwide,...

Two important events coincide in May 2021 as they do every year: National Stroke Awareness Month and Preeclampsia Awareness Month. It may not seem like these initiatives are related, but the National Institutes of Health reports that preeclampsia is associated with a 4-fold increased risk of stroke. Ramifications for both mother and child can...

While surgery is certainly a delicate process, a patient recovering in a post-operative setting is also in a fragile state even after the medical procedure is completed. Members of the medical staff must remain diligent during this stage, monitoring the individual’s vital signs and other indicators to ensure there are no complications. A particular...

When you learn that someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds in the US, it is easy to understand why the American Heart Association (AHA) established National Stroke Awareness Month back in May 1989. More than three decades later, the event going on throughout May 2021 will continue to focus on informing the public...

Medical errors are a top cause of death and disability in the US, but there is a form of harm that you may not expect from a health care provider’s negligence: Amputation of major limbs or extremities. According to the Amputee Coalition of America, of the 185,000 amputations that occur in the US every...

Every legal case in Florida is subject to a statute of limitations, and some cases may have additional deadlines throughout the process. In the realm of civil cases, Florida’s statutes of limitations cover many different types of lawsuits. Every state has implemented deadlines of one form or another, with the goal being judicial efficiency:...