Karlin & Karlin
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Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals owe a duty of care to their patients by doing everything possible to promote their health and wellness. Sadly, some healthcare professionals breach their duty of care. If you suffered injuries as a result of this type of malpractice, be sure to get in touch with a skilled attorney today.
Like other types of personal injuries, medical malpractice can cause serious mental and emotional trauma in addition to physical harm. A Rialto medical malpractice lawyer could take on medical negligence and intentional tort claims provide the counsel, guidance, and representation necessary to hopefully win desired damages and move forward in life.
According to California laws, all healthcare field persons become subject to medical malpractice claims if they cause their patients bodily harm. These individuals include, but are not limited to:
Hospitals, laboratories, and clinics also face liability charges depending on the nature of the plaintiff’s claim. Patients typically seek monetary compensation for damages such as lost wages, medical bills, home health care, lost earning capacity, occupational and physical therapy, and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. According to California Civil Code Division 4, Part 1, Title 2, Chapter 2, Section 333.2, caps apply to non-economic damages, or damages unrelated to financial hardship. The state places a $250,000 cap on medical malpractice non-economic damages such as scarring and disfigurement, inconvenience, loss of life enjoyment, loss of organ or limb use, and pain and suffering.
Attorneys note that punitive damages can also apply to medical negligence claims. Such damages refer to especially horrific or intentionally harmful actions on the part of the defendant.
Medical malpractice comes in many forms, many of which can have life-altering consequences. Some forms of malpractice involve lack of informed consent, or when a doctor or other healthcare professional performs a procedure without the patient’s explicit consent. Others have to do with surgical errors, such as operating on the wrong body part, leaving a foreign object in the body, or performing surgery while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Medical negligence claims with legal professionals’ help can also include birth injuries, failure to diagnose an illness or medical condition, prescription medication mistakes, misdiagnoses, and delayed treatment for various diseases, injuries, and conditions. Claims can also arise because patients did not receive timely treatment for their health issues.
Sometimes a patient is partially liable for a medical malpractice case. For example, if a doctor asks a patient if they are taking any other prescription drugs and they lie and say no. If the drug the doctor prescribed had a negative reaction with the other medications the individual takes, that person assumes partial responsibility for resulting harm. However, since California uses pure comparative negligence rules over modified comparative negligence rules, the individual can still receive malpractice compensation with an attorney’s help. The amount of compensation gets reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the plaintiff, such as 70 percent.
Modified comparative negligence rules do not allow plaintiffs to collect damages if they are 50 percent or more to blame for their injuries.
If you have sustained bodily harm because of the negligence of a healthcare worker, contact a Rialto medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. You could be entitled to damages that help you live your life in addition to bringing awareness to malpractice at your local hospital or clinic.
Contact our firm today to start the claims process.
Karlin & Karlin
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