Medical Malpractice
The California Law Firm of Catalano & Catalano represents people against medical professionals who act negligently in the course of diagnosis and treatment. Our medical malpractice law practice takes an aggressive approach to identifying cases of medical malpractice and pursuing the legal action necessary to compensate for injury or death.
Generally speaking, medical malpractice is negligence or carelessness of a doctor or other medical professional (a hospital, physician, surgeon, dentist, nurse, medical assistant, etc.) which results in personal injury, harm, physical or mental suffering, or death to a patient under that professionals care. Personal injury may be the result of a variety of medical circumstances, including, but not limited to:
- Failure to diagnose or improper diagnosis of a condition, like cancer, which results in failure to treat or improper treatment
- Surgery error (ie. Puncturing an organ, failure to remove a sponge or other utensil)
- Improperly performing a procedure, surgical or other
- Birth injuries (ie. Improper delivery resulting in erbs palsy, cerebral palsy or other brain damage, improper care of the mother during delivery)
- Prescribing incorrect medication
- Negligent care of elderly patients or nursing home negligence
- Improperly administering anesthesia
- Emergency room negligence
- Failure to order proper medical tests
- Failure to refer to a medical specialist
In California, a medical professional is required to exercise a level of skill, expertise and care in their diagnosis and treatment that other reasonably knowledgeable professionals would use in a similar situation. If your doctor or healthcare provider has been negligent or careless in your medical treatment, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Medical malpractice law is extremely complicated due to its personal nature and state-specific legal issues. In California, the statute of limitations in a medical malpractice claim for injury or death requires that the action must be brought within one year of discovering the negligent medical act, and no more than three years from the date of injury. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice legal matters involving minors varies depending on the victim’s age. The Law Firm of Catalano & Catalano can guide you through a California medical malpractice law claim, helping to identify all parties responsible for your injury, finding medical expert testimony that will support your medical malpractice case, and recovering the full amount possible for your injury.
Your insurance company may also be liable in your medical malpractice claim. The Law Firm of Catalano & Catalano specializes in California insurance law.
*The California Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) limits the amount attorneys can collect from a medical malpractice lawsuit. Medical malpractice cases in California have a cap on non-economic damages such as compensation for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, and other non-pecuniary injury.