Top Rated Medical Malpractice Attorney Los Angeles
As both an attorney and a doctor, Bradley Kramer, M.D., Esq. is equipped to handle any medical malpractice case regardless of the type of injury suffered. Malpractice, a type of tort or civil wrong, occurs whenever a medical professional deviates from the accepted standard of care for his or her field of medicine. All doctors and health care providers have a duty of care – a legal and ethical obligation to provide every patient with treatment that meets the accepted standard of care for their medical specialty.
Malpractice often results in severe injuries that can leave a patient debilitated for life. It is also one of the leading causes of wrongful death in California. If you or a loved one is the victim of malpractice, you should contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. At The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., our experienced principal attorney is a Los Angeles, California licensed physician and surgeon and is exceptionally qualified to handle your case.
Our law firm will aggressively fight to protect your rights and help you secure the compensation that you deserve. The care provider may be liable and owe you damages which may include medical costs (and future medical expenses), pain and suffering, mental anguish, rehabilitation, lost wages, and other associated costs.
Types of Medical Malpractice Cases
Despite the best efforts of modern medicine, bad results sometimes happen after medical treatment that is simply no one’s fault. Not all patients respond to treatment, and some may even suffer further injury. There are many instances when a bad outcome is the result of malpractice.
Medical Malpractice may range from the acts of grossly reckless physicians and health care providers to the acts of good and respected doctors who displayed negligence in their treatment of a patient. However, the injured patient, in any case, has a right of recovery against the negligent provider.
Some of the Most Common Forms of Medical Malpractice in California Include:
- Misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose a serious disease or illness
Delayed diagnosis- Failing to provide treatment on time
- Prescribing the wrong medication or the wrong dosage
- Failure to provide standard follow-up care
- Misinterpretation of lab results (or lab mistakes)
- Inability to order necessary tests
- Anesthesia errors (such as incorrect dosages, wrong timing, failing to gather sufficient pre-operative information, failing to monitor a patient, etc.)
- Hospital or care facility errors (such as early release, providing treatment to the wrong patient, unnecessary treatment, medication errors, failing to monitor a patient, etc. properly)
Delayed diagnosisSurgical Errors
Surgical mistakes can trigger devastating outcomes like nerve damage, internal bleeding, infections, and even loss of life. They can happen when a surgeon operates on the wrong body part (more common than you might think), leaves a surgical tool inside a patient, or doesn’t respond to complications that come up during the procedure.
Even minor mistakes can lead to long-term problems for the patient.
Some surgical errors are so obviously negligent that they ‘speak for themselves’ under the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur – such as leaving surgical instruments inside a patient or operating on the wrong body part.
Medical Misdiagnosis
When a medical condition is misdiagnosed, it can lead to a delay in life-saving treatment or unnecessary procedures. A misdiagnosis can happen anytime a doctor doesn’t recognize symptoms, orders the wrong tests, or misinterprets lab results. This delay or mistake can sometimes give an otherwise manageable illness time to turn serious or even fatal.
Medication Errors
Mistakes involving prescription drugs are alarmingly common and usually preventable. They can involve giving someone the wrong dosage, prescribing the wrong medication, not checking for allergies or drug interactions, or giving drugs to the wrong patient. Even a single mistake can cause serious harm.
Improper Treatment/Failure to Treat
Sometimes the diagnosis is right, but the care that follows isn’t. A delayed surgery, a missed test result, or sending someone home too soon can all make things worse. The patient ends up dealing with pain or complications that could have been prevented.
Specialist Malpractice
Specialists are expected to follow highly specific protocols in their field. When they don’t, the consequences can greatly alter the life of the patient. Missteps by specialists often involve the wrong treatments (or treatments applied incorrectly) or a failure to recognize urgent medical needs.
Hospital Errors
Hospitals are responsible for the systems and staff that deliver patient care. Mistakes can happen when they’re understaffed, conditions aren’t sanitary, or there’s poor communication between doctors, nurses, and specialists. Common errors involve a lack of patient monitoring, surgical oversights, and poor discharge procedures.
Birth Injuries
Birth injuries can cause serious harm to both mom and baby, and they often happen because warning signs are missed. The most tragic part is that these injuries can usually be avoided. A doctor might not catch fetal distress, might use tools the wrong way, or might wait too long to do a C-section.
What Must be Shown in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
To win a medical malpractice lawsuit, it isn’t enough to show that a doctor made a mistake. You must also prove causation (that the mistake directly led to your injury). In other words, there needs to be a clear connection between the negligent act and the harm suffered.
For example, if a doctor fails to diagnose an infection and the delay in treatment causes the infection to spread and result in serious complications, the failure to diagnose is the cause of the injury.
The Injured Party Must Show the Following Things to Win:
- That the medical professional was responsible for your care and showed negligence. You must prove that the doctor or health care provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care in his or her field of medicine. In other words, the medical professional made a mistake that a reasonable and careful doctor would not have done under the same or similar circumstances. This usually requires the use of an expert witness to testify concerning the mistake.
- That the medical professional’s mistake caused the injury. It must be shown that if the doctor had not made a mistake, the injury would not have happened or would not have been as severe. Expert witness testimony is also used to establish this element.
- That the injured party experienced damages, such as a real injury. Physical damage can include any resulting damage or death from the health care provider’s medical negligence. It may also include such things as lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, the loss of a loved one, etc.
Dealing With California Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice types of lawsuits are subject to different laws than the typical personal injury claim and can be very complex. Strict rules and statutes of limitations for filing claims must be followed, and it is essential to secure the aid of an experienced Los Angeles medical malpractice law firm that knows the law and understands the medical and scientific aspects of the case.
At The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., in Los Angeles, we have both the legal and the medical experience to build a strong case in your favor and help you get the compensation that you deserve.
If you believe that you or a family member is the victim of medical wrongdoing, call our office in Los Angeles, California at 310-289-2600 as soon as possible.
Contingency Fees in Medical Malpractice Cases
At The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., we know that pursuing a medical malpractice case can be overwhelming. That’s why in most cases we evaluate your claim in-house without you having to hire outside experts upfront. Since Dr. Kramer is both a physician and an attorney with decades of experience litigating high-stakes personal injury and medical malpractice cases, we can often determine the viability of your claim without cost to you
In some cases we may need to consult with highly qualified medical specialists to review your records and provide expert analysis. If that’s the case, there may be some upfront fees. Once we’ve determined that you have a viable malpractice claim, either through our own review or through the help of outside experts, we handle your case on a contingency fee basis. That means you don’t pay any attorney’s fees unless we win or settle your case.
Note that the costs of litigation (court filing fees, deposition costs, expert witness fees) are separate from attorney’s fees. In some cases we advance those costs on your behalf, in others you pay them. The arrangement depends on your case and we’ll discuss it with you before we move forward.
This way you can pursue justice and compensation without paying attorney’s fees out of pocket. Our success is tied to yours. If we don’t get you compensation you owe us nothing
Q & A With Bradley I. Kramer, MD, Esq.
Do I Need a Medical Malpractice Attorney?
Unequivocally. Without question, any person who believes medical malpractice injured them needs to call a Los Angeles attorney who has significant experience in the medical field. There are a lot of personal injury lawyers out there that have no experience in medicine whatsoever. I would submit that those malpractice attorneys are not well equipped to handle these cases.
The reason my office is so well equipped to handle medical cases is that I am a licensed physician and surgeon in the state of California, as well as being an attorney. When any person comes into my office, I can not only understand 100% what happened in that hospital or medical clinic but, on many occasions, I have performed that procedure myself. I have the ability to evaluate these cases in a way that almost no other law firm can do in Los Angeles County.
What Are Some of the Most Common Claims?
There are a variety of claims that can be made in the same way that there are a variety of different types of vehicle accidents, be it car or truck or bicycle. The most common claims are usually going to be a surgery gone wrong or failure to diagnose. Those would be the two most common inquiries that I get. There are also some items such as pharmaceutical negligence, inability to treat, abandonment, and lack of informed consent.
We have also handled birth injuries, wrongful deaths, and pharmaceutical overdoses in clinics, hospitals, outpatient facilities as well as pharmacies, all of which fit into this category.
How Do I Know If I Have a Case?
The first step in any malpractice case is to get the medical records. Under HIPAA laws and California laws, every patient who receives treatment from a medical provider or a health care professional is entitled to view those records. The first step, in any case, is to get a copy of those files and to put them in the mail to an attorney who is knowledgeable about medical cases.
One of the biggest differences or benefits of retaining my office as opposed to a general personal injury attorney’s office is that when I receive medical records, I do not need to send them out to a physician to review them. I conduct all of the medical reviews of those records in the house. I can look at records and know in two or three hours, generally, whether or not there is a viable claim there. If there is, I will immediately bring that person in for an interview and talk to them about their case and what their goals are from that case, and get that claim filed.
It should also be noted that, unlike car accident cases, the statute of limitations on medical malpractice cases is only one year. So, it’s a very short leash for these types of cases.
How Does a Medical Malpractice Claim Differ From a Personal Injury Claim?
Ultimately, a personal injury case and a medical malpractice case both involve individuals who were injured. The difference between these two types of cases is that in a malpractice case, that individual is going to need medical expert testimony to state that the injuries that they incurred were a direct result of that physician’s or that nurse’s failure to meet the standard of care.
Not only did the doctors do something that they should not have done, but the indiscretion, failure to follow protocol, was a direct cause of the injury suffered by the individual. (30:01)
Does Your Knowledge in the Medical Field Help You to Pick the Best Expert?
Certainly. I have contacts within the community in virtually every discipline in medicine who could evaluate and act as an expert in cases. I have spent years developing these relationships so that I get an honest opinion from experts right off the bat as to whether or not a claim has merit. I do not go through multiple experts trying to get favorable testimony. When the physicians I have arrangements with receiving a case from me, they know that what I am looking for is an honest evaluation of those cases.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Receive for a Surgical Error?
Currently, in California, we have a very Draconian system in place called MICRA. And MICRA is a series of laws that limits the compensation for victims of malpractice. There are a variety of limitations, but the most notable one is that there is a $250,000.00 limit for all pain and suffering associated with a case and that involves anything from a surgery gone wrong, to loss of a limb, to wrongful death.
The only way to get above that limit is to have future medical needs as a result of that injury or to have lost earnings as a consequence of that injury. Outside of that, there are a lot of cases that are limited to that $250,000.00 cap.
Schedule a Consultation with Medical Malpractice Lawyer and Doctor Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq.
If you have experienced medical malpractice or medical negligence in Los Angeles or California at large, contact our experienced medical malpractice attorneys at The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq. for a consultation today.