Medical malpractice lawsuits are based on grounds that patients have a legal right to receive healthcare treatment free of medical negligence. From state to state, the specific requirements and conditions that can increase or decrease the ability of a patient to file a claim will vary. However, in any malpractice claim, regardless of the state, a patient will be required to prove several integral legal elements. These elements, which are requirements of any viable medical negligence claim in any state, include establishing the existence of a doctor-patient relationship, proving duty of care was owed, proving breach of duty of care (including negligence), proving proximate cause, and documenting damages. As a patient, the legal rights and protections afforded in any individual claims case will vary, and in turn, the only definitive method for a patient to ascertain his or her legal rights is through contacting a medical malpractice lawyer.
Requirements for Medical Malpractice Claims in the State of California
Like all other states, California addresses the requirements necessary for filing viable medical negligence claims differently than any given other state. The following outlines some of the most notable differences applicable to claims specifically in the state of California for medical negligence, including:
- Any legal action as the result of medical malpractice must commence no later than one (1) year after the discovery of negligence, but no more than three (3) years from the date of the negligent event. Cases where the statute of limitations is tolled include foreign body claims, and for minors, the statute of limitations period varies based on the child’s age.
- In the state of California, a pure comparative negligence rule is followed, which essentially dictates that any self-inflicted negligence or proportion of fault assigned to a patient will only decrease the amount of recovery proportionally, but never will prevent recovery itself.
- California courts have established vicarious liability laws that allow patients to hold hospitals liable for negligence of employees and ostensible agents or employees, based on a barometer of whether a reasonable third party would believe a given agent or non-employee was a staff member of a given hospital.
- California currently places caps on recovery in medical malpractice cases involving non-economic damage claims, which is currently set at $250,000 for an individual patient.
Getting Legal Help with Medical Negligence Claims in California
In reality, the aforementioned are only a few of the many potential state-specific differences applicable to filing claims of medical negligence in California versus other states. For patients, the nature of medical malpractice claims, including both the legal and medical knowledge required to make a viable claims case, requires most patients to seek legal counsel.
