by Needle & Ellenberg, P.A.
If you or a loved one developed a serious hospital-acquired infection in Florida, and the infection led to sepsis, organ failure, prolonged hospitalization, surgery, amputation, or death, you may have a medical malpractice claim. Not every hospital infection may constitute malpractice, but when the facts support preventability, poor infection control, or delayed sepsis recognition, a claim may be viable.
Hospital-acquired infections are a national patient-safety priority. The CDC estimates that 1 in 31 U.S. hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection on any given day, and the agency estimates more than 99,000 annual U.S. deaths associated with HAIs. Florida’s licensed hospitals are required under state and federal law to maintain written infection control programs and to train all clinical staff in correct application of protocols.
Why Choose Needle & Ellenberg, P.A.
Founding partners Andrew Needle and Andrew Ellenberg bring more than 70 years of combined experience in Florida medical negligence and plaintiffs’ injury law. Both handle plaintiffs’ injury and death cases exclusively.
Practice Focus
Andrew Ellenberg focuses on plaintiffs’ injury and medical negligence cases, with practice concentrations that include hospital system liability, post-surgical infection and sepsis claims, and failure-to-rescue cases. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1988. Martindale-Hubbell rates him AV Preeminent. Florida Super Lawyers has listed him every year since 2005, and The Best Lawyers in America has listed him every year since 2009 for plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and personal injury work.
Andrew Needle is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by The Florida Bar. His practice concentrations include complex hospital negligence, infection control system failures, and delayed sepsis recognition cases. He holds a J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law (1977) and a B.S. from Cornell University (1974). He is a charter member of the Miami chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Best Lawyers in America named him “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice Law, Plaintiffs, in Miami for 2020 and 2025.
Verdicts and Settlements
Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients across all practice areas, including multiple eight-figure results in medical malpractice matters. Many of the healthcare cases involved birth injuries, delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, anesthesia complications, and health system negligence. Our fees are contingent. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
What Our Clients Say
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“Andrew Ellenberg represented my family during one of the most painful and frightening chapters of our lives. Andrew never treated us like just another case. He understood that behind the legal process was a family going through unimaginable fear and uncertainty.”
– Kerry Parker
Types of Hospital Infection Cases We Handle in Florida
Hospital infection cases require two levels of review: how the infection likely started and how the hospital responded after warning signs appeared. Many strong cases involve infection-control failure followed by delayed recognition of sepsis.
- Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). CLABSI arises from improper insertion or maintenance of central venous catheters: failures in sterile technique, inadequate hub disinfection, or unnecessary prolonged catheter use. Sepsis resulting from a CLABSI can progress to septic shock and multi-organ failure within hours.
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). CAUTI prevention requires sterile insertion technique and daily assessment of catheter necessity. Hospitals are required to perform daily catheter-necessity reviews. When that documentation is absent and a preventable UTI developed into sepsis, the absence of daily assessment records supports the claim.
- Surgical site infections. Post-surgical infections can arise from intraoperative sterile field violations or from post-operative wound care failures. Florida AHCA investigations at AdventHealth Tampa and Baptist Hospital of Miami have documented wound care order implementation gaps and sterile field documentation failures. When ordered wound assessments and dressing changes were not documented as completed, the absence of technique documentation during the relevant care period supports the inference that protocols were not followed.
- MRSA, VRE, and drug-resistant infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other drug-resistant hospital-acquired organisms are often preventable with correct screening, isolation precautions, and contact precautions. Not every MRSA infection is caused by hospital negligence, some patients carry MRSA on admission without knowing it, but if evidence shows the hospital failed to screen appropriately or failed to implement contact precautions for a known MRSA patient, there may be a viable claim.
- Isolation precaution failures. Isolation precautions, contact, droplet, or airborne, are used to prevent the spread of communicable pathogens. When a patient with a known or suspected infection is housed, examined, or treated without proper precautions, the failure endangers both that patient and every other patient on the unit exposed by staff who did not change protective equipment between patient contacts.
- Delayed sepsis recognition. Sepsis cases are frequently timeline cases. The patient’s vitals, labs, wound appearance, mental status, urine output, and oxygen needs may worsen before the record fully reflects the seriousness of the emergency. When escalation lags, the patient can move from infection to septic shock, organ failure, limb loss, brain injury, or death. The hospital’s obligation is not only to document change; it is to recognize what the change means and escalate accordingly.
Florida Legal Requirements for Infection and Sepsis Malpractice
Standard of Care and Infection Control Regulations
Florida law defines the standard of care as what a reasonably prudent health care provider would have done under the circumstances. The standard is specialty-specific. What is expected of a radiologist reading a scan is not what is expected of a primary care physician, and neither is what is expected of an emergency physician evaluating acute symptoms. That specialty framing matters when multiple providers across multiple encounters contributed to the injury.
Florida hospitals are licensed and regulated under Chapter 395, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 59A-3, Florida Administrative Code. Rule 59A-3.253 requires each hospital to establish and implement an active infection control program meeting national standards, including CDC guidelines and Joint Commission or equivalent accreditation body standards. Facilities must track HAI rates, investigate clusters or outbreaks, and implement corrective measures. Failure to follow the hospital’s own written infection control policies, or to train and supervise staff in applying them, is the foundation of most HAI malpractice claims.
Proving Causation in HAI Cases
To establish an infection control malpractice case in Florida, the plaintiff must prove through expert testimony: (1) the applicable standard of care for the infection control procedure at issue; (2) the hospital’s departure from that standard; (3) that the departure caused the patient’s infection; and (4) damages. Because infections have multiple potential sources, causation is often the most contested element, which is why documentation of the specific breach, a contaminated sterile field, a missed isolation order, an undocumented dressing change, can be critical to building a strong claim.
Why Every Hospital Infection Does Not Equal a Case
Not every hospital infection may constitute malpractice. Some patients arrive colonized with organisms that later cause infection. Some infections occur despite reasonable care. The case strengthens when the record supports preventability, documented breaches of protocol, delayed recognition of warning signs, or an inadequate sepsis response. Key indicators include the organism’s typical association with hospital environments, a specific procedure during which sterile technique was required where documentation is missing, and infections at or near the site of an invasive device placed after admission.
Statute of Limitations and Presuit Notice
Florida imposes strict deadlines on medical malpractice claims, and missing the deadlines can result in a potentially viable case being barred from court. Our lawyers can help you determine whether your potential case is within Florida’s statute of limitations.
Before any medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed in court, Florida law requires that the Claimant send the potential defendant healthcare providers a Notice of Intent, after which there is a 90-day presuit screening period for the exchange of information between the parties. With rare exception, the Claimant’s attorney must include with the Notice of Intent a verified affidavit(s), from a qualified expert(s), who under oath says what were the actions and/or omissions of the potential defendant healthcare provider(s) that caused injury and damage to the Claimant.
What Damages Are Recoverable in Florida Hospital Infection Cases?
Economic Damages
Recoverable economic damages include all medical expenses caused by the infection (additional hospitalizations, surgeries, antibiotics, wound care), lost wages during extended recovery, permanent disability if the infection caused lasting harm, and, if the patient died from sepsis or other infection-related complications, wrongful death damages. Cases involving prolonged septic shock or amputation of an infected limb may involve very substantial damages.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages include pain, suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring and disfigurement since the time of the alleged malpractice and into the future. While there was once a limit on the amount that could be recovered for this category of damages, those caps were overruled by Florida’s highest court. Some healthcare providers claim that the caps on non-economic damages still apply to a certain category of claimants who receive health insurance through Medicaid, but this is regularly disputed by lawyers for victims of malpractice. Florida’s high court has not yet ruled on this issue.
Wrongful Death Damages
Sepsis is one of the most serious pathways in hospital negligence cases and can lead to organ failure and death when recognition or treatment is delayed. When a hospital-acquired infection causes death, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act under Fla. Stat. § 768.21 controls recovery.
Florida’s Wrongful Death Act contains a significant restriction that applies only to medical negligence cases. Under Florida’s wrongful death statute, children of the deceased who are not under 25, and parents of a child who is not under 25 and unmarried, cannot recover non-economic damages when the death was caused by medical malpractice. This law often referred to as Florida’s “Free Kill” law is a sad and unfortunate reality for people who have lost loved ones due to malpractice, but fall within a legal protection that exists only for healthcare providers.
Contact Needle & Ellenberg, P.A.
If you believe a Florida healthcare provider caused serious harm to you or a family member through a hospital-acquired infection or delayed sepsis recognition, the first step is a free case evaluation. Medical malpractice cases are fact-intensive and deadline-driven. Early review by experienced counsel makes a difference in what the records show and what the timeline preserves.
We offer free, no-obligation case evaluations. Our staff speaks Spanish, and we represent clients in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, and throughout Florida. Contact us to schedule your consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.