Abogado de Negligencia Medica de Los Angeles

J&Y Law provides powerful representation for victims of medical malpractice and personal injury throughout California. While most doctors and medical professionals provide patients with the quality medical care they need and deserve, medical errors are not uncommon, sometimes unfortunately resulting in serious injuries and deaths. If you or a loved one has been harmed due to the medical negligence of a medical professional, you may be entitled to significant compensation.

Our medical malpractice attorneys have a proven ability to hold doctors, surgeons, hospitals, and other medical professionals accountable for harming patients, whether due to their incompetence or negligence. When you become our client, we will help you file a medical malpractice lawsuit and fight tirelessly to protect your rights.

Because we understand your physical, emotional, and financial burdens, your initial consultation with us will be free and you will not pay any attorney fees until we win compensation for you. Contact our office today so we can get started on your medical malpractice case.

What is Medical Negligence?

First of all, you do not have a valid claim for medical malpractice if you are simply unhappy with the treatment you received, or even if you were injured due to a medical error.

Instead, our attorneys must be able to prove that you were injured because the medical care provided to you deviated from the appropriate standard of care – the type of care that a reasonably qualified medical professional would have provided under the same circumstances.

In particular, medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional’s incompetence or negligence:

• Caused harm to the patient
• It makes the patient’s conditions worse
• They cause unreasonable or unexpected complications
• Cause the need for additional treatment

Finally, we must be able to prove that the doctor’s negligence was the direct cause of your injury, resulting in actual damages, such as physical pain, disability, loss of income, medical expenses (past and future), and mental anguish.

How J&Y Can Help With Your California Medical Malpractice Claim

Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys have proven strategies for proving all elements of negligence in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Ultimately, a successful medical malpractice lawsuit depends on thorough pre-trial preparation. At J&Y Law, we will leverage our skills and resources to conduct a wide-ranging investigation.

By examining all medical records, we will work to uncover evidence of the medical negligence that caused your injuries. Additionally, we will collaborate with respected medical experts to develop written statements and testimony demonstrating that the treatment provided deviated from the accepted standard of care, which will prove invaluable during settlement negotiations or at trial. Above all, we will work tirelessly to help you recover the maximum compensation you deserve, in or out of the courtroom.

Common Medical Malpractice Claims in California

While patients can be harmed by several types of negligence, some common medical malpractice claims include:

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

Since many diseases share symptoms with other conditions, making the correct diagnosis can be difficult. In any case, when a patient’s illness or injury is not accurately diagnosed, they are likely to not receive proper treatment and suffer further harm. Some commonly misdiagnosed conditions include:

• Heart attack
• Cancer
• Celiac disease
• Depression
• Lyme disease
• Cerebral infarction
• Thyroid problems
• Fibromyalgia
• Pulmonary embolism
• Aortic dissection

At J&Y Law, we routinely rely on the testimony of medical experts to show how a reasonably trained doctor would have made the correct or different diagnosis under the same circumstances to establish a medical professional’s liability for misdiagnosis and/or failure to diagnose.

Prescription Errors

Prescription errors frequently occur in California when:

• A patient is given the wrong medication or dosage
• A prescription medication is administered inappropriately
• A patient was not warned of the potential side effects of a treatment

Such injuries can result in serious injuries and even wrongful death. Depending on the circumstances, various medical professionals may be held liable for medical malpractice based on prescription errors, including doctors, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners, and drug manufacturers.

Surgical Errors

A surgical error basically involves a preventable error that occurs during surgery, such as:

• Operating on the wrong body part/wrong side of the body
• Do not close a vein or artery that is bleeding
• Puncture of a vital organ
• Leaving a foreign object inside a patient’s body (e.g., sponge, surgical instrument)
• Postoperative complications (e.g. bleeding, infection)

While some surgical errors are the result of a surgeon’s mistake, poor preoperative planning and lack of communication are often cited as the leading causes of surgical errors. In any case, a skilled California medical malpractice attorney is needed to hold responsible parties accountable for surgical errors that result in patient harm.

Birth Injuries

Complications during childbirth that result in physical injury to the newborn are referred to as birth injuries. The various types of trauma associated with birth injuries include:

• Brachial plexus injuries (e.g. Erb’s palsy)
• Cerebral palsy
• Cervical dystonia
• Shoulder dystocia
• Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation)

Birth injuries are frequently caused by improper use of medical devices or techniques (e.g., forceps, vacuum pump) and other errors in the delivery room. While a medical malpractice award is unlikely to reverse a birth injury, it will provide the family with vital resources to ensure that all of the child’s future medical and financial needs are met.

Errors due to anesthesia

Anesthesia can be especially dangerous or even fatal if administered improperly. Anesthesia errors can occur when the anesthesiologist:

• Failure to thoroughly review the patient’s medical history
• Prescribes anesthesia that causes an allergic reaction
• Administers too much or too little anesthesia
• Failure to monitor patient’s vital signs
• Inappropriately intubates the patient

A number of parties may be held liable for medical malpractice due to anesthesia errors, including the hospital, the anesthesiologist, as well as the manufacturer of anesthesia equipment that proves to be defective.

Medical Malpractice Claims in California: What You Need to Know

There are a number of legal requirements that govern medical malpractice claims, including:

The Statute of Limitations

A claim for medical malpractice can be filed within one year after your discovery or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered your injury.

This means that:

• You must file your claim within 1 year of discovering that you were harmed by the negligence of a medical professional.
• If you do not discover your injury until more than 3 years have passed since the negligence occurred, you lose the right to file a lawsuit.
• However, there is an exception to the 3-year discovery rule if a foreign object was left inside your body.

Additionally, if the victim of medical malpractice is a minor child, the claim must be filed within 3 years of the date the injury occurred, unless the victim is under the age of 6, in which case, the claim must be filed within 3 years of his or her 8th birthday, whichever period is longer.

Finally, you must notify all potential defendants in a medical malpractice action of your intent to file a claim at least 90 days before filing a claim with the court. The sooner you contact the medical malpractice attorneys at J&Y, the sooner we can get started on your claim.

Damage Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases

Depending on the circumstances, the compensation awarded in a medical malpractice lawsuit includes both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages will cover your financial losses, such as past and future medical expenses and lost wages, while non-economic damages are meant to compensate you for pain and suffering, physical disfigurement, and disability.

Under California law, there is no limit on economic damages; however, non-economic damages are limited to $250,000.

Expert Witness Reports and Testimonies

You must provide expert medical testimony to show that your doctor (or other medical professional) failed to provide the required standard of medical care. Under California law, a qualified expert is a person who has sufficient knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education on the subject matter to which his or her testimony relates. In other words, if you had a heart attack that was misdiagnosed, a reasonably trained cardiologist would qualify as an expert.

Contact Our Experienced Los Angeles Medical Malpractice Attorneys

At J&Y Law, we have a well-deserved reputation as a dedicated team of advocates who provide our clients with reliable advice and caring, efficient service. If you or a loved one has been harmed due to medical negligence, we will fight to help you win fair compensation. If a medical professional’s negligence was the cause of your loved one’s death, we want to help you find justice through a wrongful death lawsuit based on medical negligence.

Although health care providers, their attorneys, and insurance companies often try to deny liability for injuries and deaths resulting from medical negligence, we know how to hold them accountable. We have recovered millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards on behalf of our clients.

When you partner with J&Y Law, our experienced medical malpractice attorneys will be personally involved in your claim and support you every step of the way. Please contact our office today for a free case evaluation.