It is normal to trust your doctor. Most health care providers do their jobs well, obey medical industry standards of care and do their best to treat patients properly. Some health care workers and hospitals, however, allow patient care to slip. Even a minor act of negligence or small infraction could lead to patient injuries or deaths. If you or someone you love is the victim of medical malpractice in La Mesa, contact The Law Offices of Howard Kitay for a free consultation. You may be entitled to compensation.
Medical malpractice is one of the most sophisticated types of personal injury claims. It takes specialized knowledge to work through the elements of the average medical malpractice claim in California. Without a legal background, you could be at a disadvantage when negotiating with an insurance adjuster. If you hire a medical malpractice lawyer in La Mesa, however, he or she could protect you from insurance bad faith and use aggressive tactics to settle your claim for a fair and full amount. Your lawyer can take care of the complicated factors of your claim on your behalf while ensuring no one takes advantage of you.
Medical malpractice is the legal term for someone in the health care industry failing to meet the correct standards of patient care. Malpractice specifically refers to a practitioner knowingly doing something that could injure or harm a patient, while medical negligence could refer to more careless mistakes. Either way, you could be eligible for compensation as an injured patient or the family member of a deceased loved one in La Mesa.
Holding a health care provider liable for your injuries and damages will take proving his or her breach of the duty of care. Proof during a medical malpractice lawsuit often comes in the form of medical documents and expert witness testimony. Our lawyers can help you fulfill the burden of proof using tried-and-true legal strategies. We understand the claim requirements, standards of proof and other elements that are necessary for a successful medical malpractice suit.
A statute of limitations controls how long a plaintiff has to bring a cause of action. In California, a patient can wait no later than three years from the date of the medical malpractice to file a civil claim. If the patient does not discover the injury until after the date of the malpractice, he or she has one year from the date of discovery to file. Waiting too long could lead to the expiration of the statute of limitations – as well as losing the right to file, in most cases. An exception exists for cases involving minors, however. Typically, the clock does not start ticking for a minor until his or her 18th birthday.
Compensation from a medical malpractice claim could pay your family for its pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and other losses related to the defendant’s negligence. At The Law Offices of Howard Kitay, we work hard to obtain our clients top results for their injuries and damages. Find out if you have a claim, as well as how much we believe it could be worth, during a free medical malpractice case review in La Mesa today. Speak directly to our La Mesa personal injury lawyers now at (619) 442-0542. We also respond promptly to message requests sent through our online evaluation form. Initial consultations are always free.