Have You Or A Loved One Suffered An Injury Or Loss Due To Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice encompasses many elements of the health care industry. Medical Malpractice is not limited to injury or negligence in a hospital. Injury or loss happens when a healthcare provider in any capacity, be it a medical doctor, a nurse or a pharmacist fails to uphold their duty to care for and protect you. First, do no harm. When a medical provider is negligent patients can suffer major losses.
How Do I Prove Medical Malpractice?
First things first, you have to be able to prove that a relationship actually existed between yourself and the medical or healthcare provider. So, let’s look at an overview of what you need to establish before filing a claim.
You established a relationship with the healthcare provider:
Can you show that you contracted with the physician, nurse, or another healthcare provider? For example, you when to the podiatrist and saw the physician, later your toe became infected. Did the Podiatrist or his assistant treat you?Did you have any interaction at all with the physician?
In many cases, the podiatrist is still responsible for overseeing your care though they may try to extract themselves from a malpractice claim, but the fact is, you were in their office and they should have been overseeing your care.
The healthcare provider was negligent:
Perhaps you received care that was not to your liking, the provider rushed you through the process and left you with a taste of dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, a poor bedside manner is not a claimable action. The question that you will need to answer is whether or not the healthcare provider was actually negligent in their care. Were you misdiagnosed? were you treated on a different part of your body? Was the wrong cocktail of prescription drugs provided to you. These are examples of negligence. If the healthcare provider was negligent n any way and did not meet the legal standard of medical care, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim.
Was the healthcare providers action or inaction responsible for your injury?:
A vital component of your medical malpractice claim will be whether or not the healthcare provider was ultimately responsible for your injury or loss. Prior to your interaction, encounter, treatment, or procedure, did this injury exist? In some cases, a healthcare provider will argue that a patient had a pre-existing condition. Keep in mind that providers’ inaction can also cause injury and harm. While a provider may have caused an injury or harm as a result of their actions, inaction can also be cause for negligence. Should the provider have enacted a treatment or procedure but chose not to, or did not due their due diligence in testing, diagnosing, or reviewing your medical history correctly? The latter can also cause medical malpractice as a result of incompetent care.
What kind of damages derive from Medical Malpractice?
- Mental and emotional pain and suffering
- Loss of wages due to the inability to work as a result of the injury
- Loss of the ability to return to work long-term
- Medical costs and associated bills
What Claims Are Considered Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice covers a whole host of scenarios from being misdiagnosed, to a procedure on the wrong organ. Here are some common Medical Malpractice claims:
- Misdiagnosis: The healthcare provider misdiagnoses a patient leading to dangerous and deadly treatment that is not applicable to the patient’s actual condition or illness.
- Failure To Diagnose: The healthcare provider was incompetent in their course of treatment by failing to diagnose.
- Improper Treatment: This is often followed behind a misdiagnosis but regularly happens independent of one.
- Risk Disclosures: Part of a healthcare provider’s duty of care is to provide you with both the benefits and risks of medical treatments and procedures, failure to warn against known risks is a violation of the patient’s informed consent.
Medical Malpractice Filing Deadlines In California
As with many types of legal filings, there is a deadline for filing a Medical Malpractice Claim in the state of California. This deadline is referred to as a Statute of Limitations.
Statute Of Limitations
According to the Civil Procedure Sec 340.5 a case must be filed within one to three years following the patient’s discovery of the injury. This timeline and the calculation of said timeline can be confusing. It is always best to file a claim within one year of the date of your injury however, there are some circumstances that would allow you to file within a three year period. The longer you wait to file, the more difficult it can be to prove Medical Malpractice, likewise, some injuries do not manifest within the first year and without seeing a different healthcare provider, you may not have discovered that the injury was a result of an earlier treatment or procedure. It is vital to speak to an experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney who can further explain California laws and who can guide you through the process.
Get Compassionate And Aggressive Help
Contact our office to learn more about how we may be able to help you. Do not delay as your deadline may be approaching. Let us help you fight for your rights.