Kissimmee Medical Malpractice Attorney

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider delivers care that falls below accepted professional standards and that substandard care causes harm.

The standard of care is what a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would do under similar circumstances. When a doctor, nurse, or hospital falls short of that standard, the person in their care pays the price.

Florida accounts for more than 10% of all medical malpractice incidents reported nationwide. According to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the 2024 FLOIR Medical Malpractice Annual Report:

• 1,059 incidents recorded in Florida in 2024,
• Over $1.65 billion total indemnity paid during the 2023 calendar year, and
• 890 paid claims with an average payout of $1,308,100.

These numbers don't capture what families actually go through. Behind every claim is a cancer diagnosis that came too late, an infection that went untreated until amputation was the only option, a child born with cerebral palsy because warning signs during labor went ignored.

Where Medical Errors Happen in Kissimmee

Medical mistakes don't just happen in operating rooms. In Kissimmee, life-altering errors occur during routine checkups, outpatient procedures, and emergency visits that should have been straightforward.

Major facilities serving Kissimmee and Osceola County include:

• HCA Florida Osceola Hospital is a 407-bed Level II Trauma Center located in central Kissimmee. It is the only hospital in Osceola County with a Comprehensive Stroke Center and a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Room, providing advanced emergency and specialty care.
• AdventHealth Kissimmee is a 240-bed hospital on North Orange Blossom Trail. It offers cardiac care, emergency services, surgical suites, and a range of inpatient and outpatient services for Kissimmee residents.
• HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital is a 94-bed hospital located in southwest Kissimmee and serves neighboring Polk County. It provides 24/7 emergency care and general hospital services.
• Orlando Health ER and Medical Pavilion is a freestanding emergency room and outpatient facility situated on East Osceola Parkway, designed for urgent medical needs and outpatient diagnostic services.

Then there are the local urgent care clinics, imaging centers, outpatient surgical facilities, and specialty offices across Kissimmee. Each one is a place where someone trusts a provider to get it right.

We’ve seen what happens when they don’t. Families come to us after an ER visit that ended too soon, a scan that was misread, a surgery that went wrong, a loved one discharged and back in the hospital days later in worse condition.

When that happens at any facility in Kissimmee, we know how to find out why.

Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle

The cases that come through our doors share something in common: a provider who had the training and tools to prevent harm and failed to use them.

Diagnostic Failures

A 52-year-old man visited the ER multiple times with severe headaches and vision changes, each time being told it was stress. On a later visit, a CT scan revealed an inoperable tumor.

Missed and delayed diagnoses are among the most common malpractices. Cancer, stroke, heart disease, and infections are treatable when caught early. When providers dismiss symptoms or skip necessary tests, the window closes.

Surgical Errors

Surgery needs precision and protocol. When those break down, the consequences are severe: punctured organs, nerve damage, instruments left inside the body, wrong-site procedures, post-operative infections that spiral into sepsis.

Our Kissimmee medical malpractice lawyers have handled cases where surgeons operated on the wrong knee, where internal bleeding went unnoticed for hours, where a routine gallbladder removal ended in a perforated bowel and months of recovery.

Emergency Room Negligence

We’ve represented families where loved ones were discharged during heart attacks, strokes were misdiagnosed, and internal injuries went undetected due to missed imaging.

Birth Injuries

The hours surrounding labor and delivery are critical. Delayed C-sections, failure to monitor fetal heart rate, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors—these decisions can cause brain damage, cerebral palsy, and brachial plexus injuries that affect a child for life.

Medication Errors

Wrong drug. Wrong dose. Dangerous interaction. Medication errors happen at every stage: prescribing, filling, administering. In busy hospitals and pharmacies, a single lapse can cause organ failure, severe allergic reactions, or death.

Hospital Negligence

When hospitals understaff units, cut corners on training, or allow communication failures between departments, individual people suffer the consequences. We pursue claims against institutions when systematic failures contribute to harm.

Watch: What Sets a Good Medical Malpractice Attorney Apart

Signs You May Have a Medical Malpractice Claim

You may not have realized something was wrong until weeks or months after your treatment. A second doctor raised concerns. A complication that was called “normal” turned out to be anything but.

Ask yourself:

• Did your condition get worse after treatment?
• Did another doctor mention concerns about your prior care?
• Were test results or symptoms ignored?
• Did you develop an infection after surgery that wasn’t caught in time?
• Were you discharged and back in the hospital within days?

Florida law requires malpractice claims to be filed within two years of discovering that negligence caused your injury. The state also imposes a four-year absolute deadline from the date the malpractice occurred.

Courts enforce these deadlines strictly. Waiting too long means losing your right to compensation permanently, regardless of how strong your case is.

If you suspect you are the victim of negligent medical care, Osborne, Francis & Pettis can help. Call an experienced Kissimmee medical malpractice attorney at (561) 293-2600 or send a secure message for a confidential case review.

Who Can Be Held Responsible?

While filing deadlines matter, it’s equally critical to identify every party that may have played a role in the harm.

Identifying every responsible party is critical to building the strongest possible medical malpractice case. Depending on the circumstances, claims can be brought against:

• Physicians and surgeons who misdiagnose or make procedural errors;
• Nurses who fail to monitor or administer incorrect medications;
• Hospitals responsible for staffing, training, and communication protocols;
• Anesthesiologists whose errors cause brain damage or cardiac events;
• Radiologists who misread imaging studies;
• Pathologists who misidentify tissue samples;
• Pharmacists who dispense wrong medications or miss dangerous interactions; or
• Nursing homes that neglect residents or fail to respond to emergencies.

Errors often trace back through multiple providers, departments, and systems. Our Kissimmee medical malpractice attorneys investigate the full chain of care and pursue accountability against everyone whose negligence contributed to the harm.

Our Kissimmee Medical Malpractice Lawyers Can Help You Recover Compensation

A malpractice injury impacts every part of your life—surgeries, hospital stays, months of rehab, lost paychecks, or once-easy activities needing help.

Florida law allows compensation for:

• Medical expenses. Corrective surgeries, extended hospital stays, rehabilitation, physical therapy, home health aides, mobility equipment, and medications required because of the error.
• Lost wages and earning capacity. Income lost during treatment and recovery, plus diminished earning potential if your injuries prevent you from returning to the work you did before.
• Pain and suffering. The physical pain of procedures you shouldn't have needed, the anxiety of trusting another provider after one already failed you, and the daily reality of living with preventable injuries.
• Loss of consortium. The toll on your marriage and family when injuries create physical limitations, emotional distance, and caregiving demands no one planned for.
• Wrongful death. When negligence takes a life, surviving family members can pursue compensation for funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the irreplaceable loss of someone who should still be here.

Results for Families We’ve Represented

According to a national survey, people who hired an attorney for medical malpractice claims recovered nearly three times more than those without representation. Over 90% of those with legal counsel obtained a settlement or award.

These results reflect what’s possible when a top-rated Kissimmee medical malpractice lawyer fights for families harmed by negligence:

$4.5 Million | Stroke Missed in the Emergency Room

Emergency department staff failed to recognize the signs of a stroke and delayed the clot-busting medication that could have made a difference. By the time the diagnosis came, the damage was permanent. The recovery covers lifelong care for neurological deficits that proper treatment would have prevented.

$3.8 Million | Surgery Causes Brain Injury in a Child

Physicians performed a surgery that was contraindicated for her condition. When her health declined afterward, they missed the warning signs of a brain infection. The delay caused permanent brain damage. Her family came to us looking for answers and accountability.

$3.2 Million | Warning Signs of Stroke Ignored

Medical providers failed to diagnose and treat an impending stroke in time. The stroke left him with significant physical and cognitive injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life. We took the case to fight for what his family needed.

$2.75 Million | Left Unattended During a Mental Health Crisis 

Admitted to a psychiatric unit during a mental health emergency, he was left unmonitored and suffered brain damage as a result. The settlement ensures he will have resources for care as long as he needs it.

“Too many families come to us after being told that what happened was just an unfortunate outcome. When we review the records closely, we often find clear evidence of negligence that could have been avoided. Florida patients deserve better, and we’re committed to holding providers accountable.”

— Greg Francis | Osborne, Francis & Pettis