Therefore, you don’t have much time to state your case to a medical malpractice lawyer. That’s why it’s important to pursue your rights and find out what you need to do to facilitate a claim. 

Discovery of Medical Malpractice

When you discover negligence is indeed important. For example, let’s suppose you underwent a surgical procedure five years ago. You can still file a medical malpractice lawsuit if you recently discovered that the instrument had not been removed. In this case, you can file a claim within one year of this discovery.

Exceptions with Regard to the Statute of Limitations when Victims are Children

The statute for medical malpractice in California also makes exceptions for children under the age of 18 years old. In these cases, the legal guardians or parents of the minor can file a lawsuit within three years of the date of discovery. 

If the victim in the lawsuit is under six years old, the lawsuit must be filed within a three-year period or before the child turns eight. 

The law also features an exemption for minors who are affected by fraud. If fraud happens the clock for the statute of limitations stops ticking during the time the fraudulent activity took place.

Also, if a child was injured prior to or during the birthing process, the parents or legal guardian has six years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit on the victim’s behalf.

Proving Negligence

To file a medical malpractice claim, your California medical malpractice attorney must show four elements of negligence. 

These elements must include the following:

• That the medical professional had a duty of care;
• That they breached this duty;
• That the breach led to damages (economic and/or emotional); and
• That it caused the plaintiff to suffer emotionally, physically, and financially. 

If you don’t show these elements, you cannot file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Examples of the Elements of Negligence

Let’s look at examples of what these elements mean. For example, duty means that the medical professional is responsible to behave as any other professional would behave, given a similar situation. 

Therefore, a doctor has the duty to provide an acceptable level of care, such as prescribing a blood pressure medicine for someone diagnosed with hypertension. They must also order an x-ray if they suspect a fracture.

Maybe the medical provider is a nurse. In this case, they have a duty to administer the right medicine at the proper time and in the correct dose. They also have the duty to alert the doctor if the patient becomes unstable. 

To prove a professional breached their duty, a California medical malpractice attorney must show how the defendant deviated from their responsibility. For example, a physician may have known that a patient’s blood pressure was high but did not prescribe the proper medicine. 

Maybe the patient had a badly sprained ankle. However, the attending physician did not order an x-ray to see if the ankle was fractured.

Perhaps a nurse did not administer the correct dose of medicine or notify a doctor of a patient’s change in condition. 

With respect to damages and causation, the plaintiff must show that injuries and damages resulted from the defendant’s breach of duty. For instance, a doctor did not prescribe the proper blood pressure medicine, which eventually led to an elevation in blood pressure and triggered a stroke. The stroke is considered an injury or damage. 

Or, a person whose ankle was not x-rayed got an infection because the fracture was not treated. 

Damages and causation can also be proved if a patient received a double dose of a drug and ended up experiencing respiratory arrest. Infection and respiratory arrest are examples of damages and injuries.

To make things even simpler, you can show negligence by showing the four Ds – Duty, Deviation from the Standard of Care, Damages, and Direct Causation.

Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Medical malpractice claims may also include wrongful death lawsuits. In these matters, you have one year from the date of discovery of the medical negligence or three years from the victim’s death to file a claim, whichever happens first. 

Whether the victim was injured or died, you generally have a short time in which to state your case. 

Paying for Legal Services

You can discuss your claim with a medical malpractice lawyer for free. So, you don’t have anything to lose and everything to gain by arranging a consultation.

Also, you’re not charged for legal services unless your lawyer wins your case. Therefore, this type of legal action is economically feasible and worth considering if you feel you have a claim as well as mounting medical costs.

A medical malpractice lawyer will only charge a certain percentage for settling your claim, and only if they win the case. Guidelines have been established so lawyers charge a fair percentage.

Contact a California Medical Malpractice Attorney Today

If you feel you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice, you need to contact a professional medical malpractice lawyer about your case. In California, speak with an experienced attorney.  Contact Jance M. Weberman by calling (213) 386-9100 today.

The post Understanding Your Legal Rights in a Medical Malpractice Claim appeared first on Jance Weberman | Winning Los Angeles Lawyer.