Under Florida law, the hardest issue to prove in a medical malpractice case is causation. The reason is based on the requirement that the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant’s breach of the standard of care was the proximate cause of the damages claimed. This means the plaintiff must show that it is more likely than not that the defendant’s actions or inactions were a direct cause of the victim’s injury:
“To prevail in a medical malpractice case a plaintiff must establish the following: the standard of care owed by the defendant, the defendant’s breach of the standard of care, and that said breach proximately caused the damages claimed.” Gooding v. Univ. Hosp. Bldg., Inc., 445 So.2d 1015, 1018 (Fla.1984). With regard to proximate cause, “Florida courts follow the more likely than not standard of causation and require proof that the negligence probably caused the plaintiff’s injury.” Id. Stated another way, “a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action must show more than a decreased chance of survival because of a defendant’s conduct…. [T]he plaintiff must show that what was done or failed to be done probably would have affected the outcome.” Id. at 1020. Encompassed within this standard is another: that the plaintiff must establish causation without an impermissible stacking of inferences. See Castillo v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., Inc., 854 So.2d 1264, 1281 (Fla.2003) (Pariente, J., concurring) (citing Voelker v. Combined Ins. Co. of Am., 73 So.2d 403, 407 (Fla.1954)).
See: Shartz v. Miulli, 127 So. 3d 613
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