Can You Sue a Doctor for Negligence in Florida?
Gregg Hollander | September 8, 2026 | Medical Malpractice
Yes. You can sue a doctor for negligence in Florida if the doctor failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that failure caused you harm. Depending on the circumstances, the claim may be considered medical malpractice under Florida law.
A poor outcome, unexpected complication, or mistake does not automatically mean a doctor was negligent. The central question is usually whether the doctor provided the level of care that a reasonably careful healthcare provider would have provided under similar circumstances.
At Hollander Law Firm, our Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach medical malpractice lawyer evaluates serious medical negligence cases by closely reviewing medical records, the decisions made, and what should have happened differently.
For a free, no-obligation consultation, please call (561) 347-7770 or fill out our online form today.
When Can You Sue a Doctor for Negligence in Florida?
To successfully pursue a medical negligence claim against a doctor in Florida, several elements generally must be established:
- The doctor owed you a duty of care. A doctor-patient relationship generally creates a legal duty to provide care that meets accepted professional standards.
- The doctor breached the standard of care. The doctor did something a reasonably careful healthcare provider would not have done, or failed to do something that should have been done under similar circumstances.
- The negligence caused harm. Identifying a medical error is not enough. The evidence must establish that the error caused an injury, a worsened condition, or another harmful outcome.
- You suffered damages. A medical malpractice claim may involve additional medical expenses, lost income, disability, pain and suffering, or other losses resulting from the injury.
Suing a doctor for negligence depends heavily on the medical evidence. Two patients can experience the same complication, but only one may have a malpractice claim if the evidence shows that negligent care caused or worsened the outcome.
What Are Common Reasons to Sue a Doctor?
Medical negligence can occur at many points in a patient’s care.
Some of the more serious reasons to sue a doctor may include:
- Failing to diagnose or timely diagnose cancer, sepsis, stroke, or a heart attack;
- Failing to order appropriate diagnostic tests or properly evaluate test results;
- Making a preventable surgical error;
- Making an anesthesia or medication error;
- Failing to recognize signs that a patient’s condition is deteriorating;
- Delaying treatment when prompt intervention was medically necessary; and
- Providing negligent care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or newborn treatment.
The presence of one of these circumstances does not necessarily establish malpractice. The doctor’s actions must be evaluated in the context of the patient’s condition, the information available at the time, and the accepted standard of care.
How Do You Prove a Doctor Was Negligent?
Proving that a doctor was negligent usually requires more than showing that something went wrong. The medical records must be evaluated to determine what the doctor knew, what decisions were made, and how those decisions compared with the accepted standard of care.
Depending on the case, that may mean reviewing:
- Physician and hospital records;
- Diagnostic imaging and laboratory results;
- Medication records;
- Surgical or procedure notes;
- Patient monitoring data;
- Consultations and specialist recommendations; and
- The timing of diagnoses, treatment, and follow-up care.
Medical experts also play an important role. A qualified expert may need to determine how a reasonably careful doctor would have responded under similar circumstances and whether the care provided fell below that standard.
Causation is equally important. A doctor may have made an error, but suing a doctor for negligence requires evidence that the error caused an injury or made the patient’s condition worse. In a delayed cancer diagnosis case, for example, the investigation may focus not only on when the cancer should have been identified, but also on how the delay affected treatment options, disease progression, or the patient’s prognosis.
What Does Florida Require Before You Sue a Doctor?
Under Florida’s medical malpractice laws, a potential claim must first be reasonably investigated to determine whether there are grounds to believe the healthcare provider was negligent. That generally includes having a qualified medical expert review the medical records and providing a written opinion supporting the claim.
The doctor must then receive a notice of intent to initiate medical negligence litigation. This begins a pre-suit investigation period during which the healthcare provider and their insurer can investigate the allegations before a lawsuit proceeds.
These requirements make the early evaluation of a potential claim especially important. Medical records must be obtained and reviewed, the appropriate experts identified, and Florida’s pre-suit procedures completed within the applicable deadlines.
Frequently Asked Questions About Suing a Doctor for Negligence in Florida
Can I Sue My Doctor for Negligence If My Condition Got Worse?
Possibly. A worsening condition alone does not prove negligence. You generally need evidence that the doctor failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that this failure caused or contributed to the worsening of your condition.
Can You Sue a Doctor for Misdiagnosis in Florida?
Yes, when a doctor’s failure to correctly or timely diagnose a condition amounts to medical negligence and causes harm. These cases may involve missed cancer, stroke, sepsis, heart attack, or other serious conditions where earlier diagnosis and treatment could have affected the outcome.
Can I Sue a Doctor for a Surgical Error?
Potentially. Surgical complications can occur even when appropriate care is provided. A malpractice claim may exist when a surgeon makes a preventable error, performs the wrong procedure, damages another organ or structure through negligence, or fails to recognize and respond appropriately to a complication.
Can You Sue a Doctor If You Signed a Consent Form?
Yes. Signing an informed consent form does not give a doctor permission to provide negligent care. Consent may address known risks and complications associated with a procedure, but it does not necessarily prevent a patient from bringing a malpractice claim when negligence causes an injury.
Do I Need a Medical Expert to Sue a Doctor in Florida?
Medical expert review is generally an important part of a Florida malpractice claim. Before filing suit, Florida’s presuit process generally requires a corroborating written medical expert opinion supporting reasonable grounds to believe medical negligence occurred.
Can You Sue a Hospital and a Doctor at the Same Time?
Potentially. A serious medical injury may involve negligence by more than one healthcare provider or organization. Depending on the circumstances, a claim could involve a physician, hospital, nurses, specialists, or other providers whose actions contributed to the patient’s injury.
Can You Sue a Doctor for Medical Malpractice?
Yes. Medical malpractice is a form of professional negligence in the delivery of medical care. In Florida, you may be able to sue a doctor for medical malpractice when the doctor fails to meet the accepted standard of care and that negligence causes you harm.
Speak with a Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer at Hollander Law Firm
When you suspect a doctor’s negligence caused a serious injury, the medical records may tell only part of the story. Determining what went wrong can require examining the decisions that were made, when they were made, and how the care you received compared with accepted medical standards.
For more than three decades, attorney Gregg Hollander has represented individuals and families in serious medical malpractice cases throughout Florida. At Hollander Law Firm, we carefully evaluate the medicine, work with qualified experts when appropriate, and explain what the evidence means for your potential claim.
If you believe a doctor’s negligence in Florida harmed you, contact us online or call (561) 347-7770 today to discuss what happened and learn about your legal options.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal resources during the content development process: