How Medical Records Help a Malpractice Case
When medical care causes serious harm, memories and testimony may conflict. Your medical chart is a time-stamped record of treatment orders and administration of care.
In a Florida medical malpractice claim, that record becomes the strongest evidence of whether negligence caused your injury, and it is the first documentation our medical malpractice attorneys request. Our team at The Florida Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers could help you learn more about how medical records help a malpractice case.
Medical Records as Evidence in a Malpractice Case
Medical records are more helpful than recollection in a malpractice case because a chart preserves details that testimony cannot reliably recreate. Depending on your care, the records may show:
- First appearance of symptoms and treatment that followed
- Provider’s orders, including date and time
- Administration of medications or missed medications
- Changes in vital signs across hospital or facility shifts in staff
- Documentation of who provided or assisted in your care
- Charted data or missing data
Those details show how long your condition went unaddressed. They also reveal whether the chart contradicts an explanation offered later. A gap in the documentation can be significant.
What Are the State’s Presuit Rules for Medical Records?
Before you can serve a notice of intent to begin medical negligence litigation, Florida Statutes § 766.203 requires a pre-suit investigation establishing reasonable grounds that a named provider was negligent and that the negligence caused your injury. The investigation is not complete until a qualified physician signs a verified written opinion supporting it.
Under Fla. Stat. § 766.204, providers must produce relevant medical records within 10 business days of a request at a reasonable charge. The 20-day deadline applies only where a hospital is part of an independent, special hospital district that holds taxing power and operates at least two hospitals. A provider cannot refuse on the ground that the chart is still incomplete or that a medical bill remains unpaid.
Delays in providing records may work in your favor. A failure to produce the records counts as evidence of noncompliance with good-faith discovery requirements, as does a charge set unreasonably high. Either action waives your own obligation to supply the written medical corroboration the statute otherwise demands. Our attorneys could help you understand the importance of medical records in your malpractice case.
Get Help Reviewing Medical Records in Your Malpractice Case
Most of our cases arrive as referrals from other attorneys, which highlights our experience in malpractice claims and our careful analysis of medical records.
At Colling Gilbert Wright, we are here to help you obtain and evaluate the medical records that determine whether your malpractice claim moves forward. You do not pay legal fees or case costs at the outset because we collect them only out of compensation we obtain for you. Reach out for a free consultation to discuss how medical records help a malpractice case.
