Tampa Stroke Attorneys
You did the one thing you were supposed to do. You got to the hospital fast. And somewhere between the front door and the treatment that could have saved your brain, time slipped away that you will never get back.
Our Tampa stroke lawyers represent patients and families harmed when a hospital that had every resource to treat a stroke in time failed to use it. The Fernandez Firm has recovered over $100 million for Florida clients across 30 years, including in complex hospital negligence cases tried to verdict.
You pay nothing unless we win.
Can You Sue a Tampa Hospital That Delayed Your Stroke Treatment?
Yes, if that delay fell below the accepted standard of care and caused avoidable harm. This matters especially in Tampa, where the major hospitals are not small community facilities. Tampa General was the first Comprehensive Stroke Center on Florida’s west coast, and AdventHealth Tampa and St. Joseph’s hold the same top-tier certification.
That certification is the highest national designation a stroke program can earn. It means these hospitals hold themselves out as equipped to recognize and treat a stroke rapidly, around the clock, with neurologists, advanced imaging, and interventional specialists on hand. When a hospital markets that capability and then loses the treatment window anyway, the gap between what it promised and what it delivered is often the center of a malpractice case.
We investigate exactly where the clock stopped moving: triage, imaging, neurology consult, or the decision to treat.
Why Does the Treatment Window Matter So Much in a Stroke Case?
Because for the most common type of stroke, the treatments that work only work inside a narrow window, and every minute of delay costs brain tissue. The clot-dissolving drug commonly called tPA generally must be given within a few hours of symptom onset. For certain large strokes, a mechanical thrombectomy, physically removing the clot, can extend that window, but it too depends on fast recognition and imaging.
A certified stroke center is built around hitting those windows. It has policies and procedures for rushing a suspected stroke patient to imaging, reading the scan quickly, and starting treatment without delay. When those policies and procedures are not followed, whether through slow triage, a delayed scan, or a missed neurology consult, a patient who arrived in time can still be treated too late.
In a Tampa stroke case, the treatment timeline is frequently the whole ballgame, and it lives in the hospital’s own records.
How Do You Prove a Hospital Waited Too Long?
You prove it with timestamps. Hospital records document, often to the minute, when a patient arrived, when imaging was ordered and performed, when a neurologist was consulted, and when treatment began. Those timestamps, measured against the standard of care, the response a competent stroke center would have delivered, are what reveal a delay.
We obtain the emergency department records, imaging logs, nursing notes, and the stroke team’s activation records, then work with medical experts who can testify to how long each step should have taken and what the outcome would likely have been with timely care. A certified stroke center is held to the standard it advertised, which can make an unexplained delay especially difficult for the defense to justify.
If you believe a Tampa hospital failed you, you can also file a complaint with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which licenses and inspects hospitals statewide. A complaint does not affect your right to also pursue a claim.
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What Kinds of Stroke Cases Has the Fernandez Firm Taken to Trial?
The firm’s track record is built on hospital and physician negligence cases, including ones other firms considered too hard to win. Two results show the range of what we pursue when a hospital’s failure causes lasting harm.
In one hospital negligence case that went the distance, we secured $3.57 million at trial after four years of litigation, because the hospital would not offer what the case was worth until a jury was ready to decide it. In another, we won $250,000 for a patient permanently scarred when a physician failed to supervise an untrained assistant performing a procedure, a case about a provider not doing the job they were responsible for.
Our largest result overall, a $36.7 million verdict, involved life-threatening brain injury caused by medical negligence and was upheld on appeal. Stroke cases turn on the same principle: proving a preventable failure caused permanent damage, and being ready to try it.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.
Why Bring a Tampa Stroke Case to the Fernandez Firm?
Because a case against a major certified stroke center is a fight against a well-funded hospital system and its defense team, and that is the kind of case this firm is built to try. Proving a stroke delay requires medical experts, a command of the treatment timeline, and the resources to litigate for years if necessary.
Florida also requires a pre-suit investigation before a malpractice lawsuit can be filed. Under Florida Statute §766, your attorney must investigate, obtain a sworn medical opinion, and formally notify each defendant, who then has 90 days to respond before a lawsuit can proceed in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County. We manage every step so a strong claim is not lost on a technicality.
Frank F. Fernandez III and Jennifer Gentry Fernandez handle these cases personally, in the same courts where Tampa’s hospital systems are defended.
Who Will Handle Your Case?
Frank and Jennifer Fernandez review every file the firm accepts. Neither hands a case to an associate.
Frank has tried medical malpractice cases in Hillsborough County and across Florida for more than 30 years. Florida Trend Magazine has named him to its Legal Elite, and he has been recognized as a Top Attorney by Tampa Bay Magazine..
Jennifer came up through Stetson University’s award-winning trial team before focusing on malpractice litigation. Tampa Bay Magazine has named her a Top Attorney multiple times.
Tampa Stroke Malpractice FAQs
Real questions Tampa families ask before they call.
Can I sue a hospital if they didn’t give me tPA in time?
Possibly. The clot-dissolving drug tPA generally must be given within a few hours of stroke symptoms starting. If a hospital’s delay in recognizing your stroke, imaging it, or starting treatment pushed you past that window and caused avoidable damage, that delay may be malpractice. We review the timestamps in your records to find out.
The hospital said my stroke was just too severe to treat. How do I know if that’s true?
You have it reviewed independently. Hospitals often attribute a bad outcome to the stroke’s severity when the real issue was a delay in care. Medical experts can compare your imaging, timeline, and treatment against what a certified stroke center should have done, and determine whether faster care would have changed your outcome.
Can I sue Tampa General or another big Tampa hospital for a stroke?
Yes. Being a large, certified stroke center does not shield a hospital from liability. In fact, that certification sets the standard it must meet. Hospitals can be responsible for the negligence of their staff and for system failures like delayed imaging or slow stroke-team activation. We have pursued claims against major hospital systems.
What is the pre-suit process for a Tampa stroke malpractice claim?
Florida requires a pre-suit investigation under Florida Statute §766 before a lawsuit can be filed: your attorney investigates, obtains a sworn expert opinion, and formally notifies each defendant, who has 90 days to respond. Only then can the case proceed in Hillsborough County. This is one reason to contact an attorney early.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Florida’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the accident or injury to file suit. That window is shorter in practice than it sounds, because Florida law requires a presuit investigation under Florida Statute §766 before a lawsuit can be filed: your attorney must investigate the claim, obtain a sworn medical expert opinion, and serve a formal Notice of Intent to Initiate Medical Malpractice on each defendant, who then has 90 days to respond. Obtaining records and securing an expert review takes months, so waiting until the two-year mark is close can cost you the claim. Exceptions apply for fraud and for cases involving minors.
Can the hospital be liable, or only the ER doctor?
Both can be. A hospital can be responsible for the negligence of its employees and for system failures such as delayed imaging, understaffed shifts, or a stroke team that was slow to activate. We identify every potentially responsible party during our investigation.
What compensation can I recover in a stroke malpractice case?
Current and future medical costs including rehabilitation and long-term care, lost income and earning capacity, and compensation for pain, disability, and reduced quality of life. In cases involving death, surviving family may recover for funeral costs and lost companionship.
Will my case settle, or will it go to trial?
Most malpractice cases settle, but usually only after the defense sees the plaintiff is genuinely prepared for trial. We build every case as if it is going before a Hillsborough County jury, which is what drives a fair settlement rather than a low one.
What Does This Cost You?
Nothing up front. We advance the cost of investigation, expert witnesses, and litigation, and our fee comes as a percentage of what we recover, only if we win. If we do not recover for you, you owe us nothing.
Tell Us What Happened
If you or a loved one suffered a stroke and a Tampa hospital’s delay or mistake made it worse, talk to us before you accept anything from the hospital or its insurer. We will review the timeline and tell you honestly what we see.
Tampa Headquarters 2503 W Swann Ave #100, Tampa, FL 33609 (813) 365-3349
Call (800) 222-8163, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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The Fernandez Firm – Tampa Office
2503 W Swann Ave #100,
Tampa, FL 33609
Phone: (813) 278-1032