Palm Springs Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Doctors, nurses, surgeons, and all others working as healthcare practitioners have obligations under state law to meet a certain standard of care with every person they establish a doctor-patient relationship with. Anyone who has taken legal action against a physician who failed to meet this standard knows how challenging this process can be in both practical and legal terms.

Fortunately, you have help available from dedicated personal injury attorneys who know how to build effective claims against negligent medical professionals and demand comprehensive compensation for your losses. When you sustain serious physical harm because your doctor provided substandard care, speaking with a Palm Springs medical malpractice lawyer about the possibility of civil litigation should be among your top priorities.

What Is the Standard of Care for Palm Springs Doctors?

Rather than a broad duty of care that applies equally to everyone, people who work as healthcare providers are subject to a standard of care that can vary substantially from person to person based on their unique skills, experience, and working conditions. As a medical malpractice attorney in Palm Springs could further explain, breaching the standard of care while helping a patient means doing something an equally qualified and experienced physician working under similar or identical circumstances would not have done.

This distinction is important when it comes to filing suit over alleged negligence by a medical professional because it is possible for a doctor to make a mistake while caring for someone without necessarily breaching the applicable standard of care. For example, emergency room doctors typically have to make treatment decisions quickly under extremely hectic working conditions, so an occasional mistake would not necessarily be an unreasonable departure from what another physician might have done.

Special Restrictions for Medical Negligence Claims

In addition to the unique definition of legally actionable negligence, medical malpractice claims also differ from standard injury cases in how and when a person should file them. Most notably, state law requires prospective malpractice plaintiffs to notify the healthcare professional about their planned claim in writing at least 90 days before actually filing suit. Unique filing deadlines applicable to these claims can deviate substantially from the standard two-year deadline.

California Civil Code § 3333.2 caps recovery through medical malpractice litigation for non-economic damages like physical pain and psychological trauma. The applicable caps are $350,000 for cases not involving wrongful death and $500,000 for cases that do involve wrongful death. However, those caps will increase each year to account for inflation. A medical malpractice lawyer in Palm Springs could provide more information about the non-economic damage cap.

Get in Touch with a Palm Springs Medical Malpractice Attorney

Negligence by healthcare providers can have extremely severe and even life-threatening consequences. Anyone who suffers harm because of misconduct by their doctor deserves financial compensation for their losses. However, getting paid what you deserve for injuries caused by a medical professional is far from simple, especially if you try pursuing your claim without skilled legal counsel on your side.

A seasoned Palm Springs medical malpractice lawyer could be your ally throughout each stage of your unique case. Call today to learn more about filing your claim.