Statistics indicate that there are more than 10 million residents in the State of California for whom Spanish is their native language. There are estimates that the number of people speaking it as their preferred language at home could be as large as 15 million, equivalent to over 38% of the population. Those numbers make California home to the largest Spanish speaking group in the entire United States. When you need a Spanish speaking medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo, the Normandie Law Firm should be your first call.
- Medical malpractice in the State of California is defined as a negligent act, or failure to act, by a healthcare provider. It leads to additional injury or possibly the death of a patient. This means that part or all of the following steps occurred when a person seeking medical care was seen by a doctor and experienced malpractice.
- The doctor-patient relationship is established, and the doctor now has a responsibility to provide medical care for the patient. There can be no malpractice without first establishing the relationship.
- There is either a failure to treat the patient by the doctor, or the doctor made a mistake, or a series of errors when attempting to treat the patient. This step may show that the doctor’s treatment of the patient did not rise to the standard of care, which is a key element in being found guilty of medical malpractice
- The result of the actions or lack of actions leads to a lack of resolution, new injuries, or perhaps the death of the patient
- The patient or the patient’s family has suffered additional pain or a loss that should be compensated as a result of medical malpractice
The only people who make no mistakes are those who are not doing anything at all. Every doctor is going to make mistakes during the diagnosis and treatment stages when seeing a new patient. This is a significant reason why tests are conducted before taking major steps in treatment. Any mistake made by a doctor is not automatically going to be an indication of medical malpractice. The best indication of medical malpractice is the standard of care, which is used to measure and prove negligence in any medical malpractice case. What this means is that the doctor’s actions, when reviewed, indicate that their actions are not consistent with what is acceptable and reasonable in treating the same patient with a similar injury.
Mistakes will occur, and sometimes they do not solve the issue the patient is experiencing. This does not mean the doctor did anything wrong. Medical malpractice can be difficult to prove, which is why it is essential to have an experienced law firm working for you if you believe you have experienced a situation where medical malpractice is possible. If you believe you experienced this, and you need a Spanish speaking medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo, please contact the Normandie Law Firm. Our staff believes everyone deserves legal representation when they need help or have been a victim of any kind. It should never matter where you come from or what language you speak. We are here to help you determine what happened and how we can help you get it addressed.
Any language barrier can be a challenge under the simplest circumstances. In a health crisis, being able to communicate effectively with medical professionals can often be the difference between life and death. Being understood is also crucial when you are dealing with laws and insurance. Our legal team members speak Spanish because the people we may be called upon to help do. We don’t want to have issues when we try to understand every single thing that happened to a client. This is crucial when it comes to understanding the case details and evaluating the possibility of medical malpractice.
In your initial contact with the Normandie Law Firm team, we are going to give you some information about the options available to you. You will be speaking with someone fluent in Spanish and with real legal experience. Our next step will be to schedule you for a free consultation with a Normandie Law Firm medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo. They will be experienced in cases like yours, and during that meeting, they will review all of the facts they need to fully validate your incident as medical malpractice. This first step allows the legal merit of your case to be reviewed and confirmed. This is a very critical process when you understand that each year, there are several thousand cases filed for medical malpractice, with only a couple thousand reaching court and being won, securing damages for you or your family. For lawsuits, like personal injury-related ones, only a small fraction of those cases also gets heard in a court of law. Some of them end in a negotiated settlement between the client and the insurance carrier, but many do not get very far. Before you leave the first meeting, there is one more thing we want to ensure you know. It is about the time limit to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in the State of California.
Our Recent Verdicts and Settlements
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The Statute of Limitations When Filing A Medical Malpractice Lawsuit In California
The California Statute of Limitations for this kind of lawsuit has two different time limits. The first one starts on the date of your initial treatment and gives you three years to file. The second time limit is one year from the date of the discovery of your injury from the malpractice. The statute limit that will be applied to your lawsuit is the earliest occurring date on the calendar. If the statute of limitations expires, the court will not hear your case. There are some allowances made by the court about time limits, but they are rare. When you believe that you experienced medical malpractice, seek additional medical attention for your pain, and contact the Normandie Law Firm as soon as you can. Your Spanish speaking medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo can take you through the evaluation process and determine where you sit with the Statute of Limitations.
Common Examples Of Medical Malpractice In California
There are two types of causes for medical malpractice. One is a failure to treat the patient at all. The second and most common way is with action, but the treatment of the patient does not resolve the issue, and the blame falls on the shoulders of the doctor. It could be based on the details regarding the patient or injury, or it may be a lack of attention to detail on the part of the doctor. Both of these will be a failure to meet the standard of care. Both ways are represented in what we see as the common types of medical malpractice causes.
Anesthesia problems – Caused by failing to review a patient’s medical history and missing details about what the patient can tolerate, or administering too much anesthetic to the patient for their size
Birth injuries – Beginning with improper pre-natal care for the mother, or a failure to monitor for a distressed fetus during birth testing
Medication issues – Prescribing the wrong medication by not reading the diagnosis correctly, or administering a medication to the wrong person
Surgical mistakes – Conducting an operation on the wrong limb or portion of the patient, or making a mistake during surgery, like damaging another organ or failing to resolve all the issues prior to closing up
Quite often, medical malpractice is the first thing people think about when something goes terribly wrong at the hospital. What will prove that it was or wasn’t malpractice is when we dig into the details of the incident and determine what the actions of the medical staff treating you or a loved one add up to. When you need to hire a Spanish speaking medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo, contact the Normandie Law Firm, and we can help you with this process.
The Difference Between Medical Malpractice Lawsuits That Are Settled Out Of Court And In Court
Cases that are often settled out of court are usually ones with minor injuries and no lasting impact on the patient. These will be negotiated when the company that carries the malpractice insurance policy for the doctor raises the question of a quick settlement, knowing that the money being sought and offered isn’t worth a lengthy trial for either party. The cases that wind up in court usually have the biggest impact on the patient, or in cases of death, that will be felt by the families of the victim. The values for these cases are usually much higher. Similar to the out of court settlement experience, the team at Normandie Law Firm will bring the same high level of experience and energy to the litigation process as we will to the negotiation process.
What Is The Average Values Of Medical Malpractice Lawsuits In California?
In the State of California, the medical malpractice negotiated settlement values will come in between $300,000 and $500,000 for bigger injuries. The value from the result of a jury trial and award is usually more than a million dollars. The items that are taken into account when suing for that much money include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The severity of your injury, with the worst case being a lifetime disability of some kind
- The costs for legal representation, including expenses as time in court, are the biggest contributing factor
- The economic damages, including your lost wages and future earning capacity, as well as your medical bills, none of which have limits in California
- Non-economic damages, which include things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and quality of life, have limits set by the state
Upfront Costs For Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
At Normandie Law Firm, we do not ask our clients for upfront legal fees before we take their case. You will not be billed until your lawsuit is resolved in your favor. If we do not win your case in court, we will not be billed at all. Please contact us today when you want a Spanish speaking medical malpractice lawyer in San Mateo working for you.
Other Pages on Our Website Related to This Topic
Spanish Speaking Medical Malpractice Lawyer in San Jose
Spanish Speaking Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Oakland
Spanish Speaking Lawyer For UBER And Lyft Accidents
