What You Should Know About Legal and Medical Malpractice?

Malpractice usually refers to professional negligence, which is a lack of care. Most attorneys, doctors, and other professionals have a fiduciary duty of care, which is the highest responsibility imposed by California law. Professionals have extensive education and experience in areas like medicine and law, while their clients and patients have little experience in these areas. With great power comes great responsibility.

The high duty of care also means that a California Personal Injury Lawyer often obtains substantial compensation in these cases. The extreme nature of these injuries comes into play as well. If Brian’s doctor made a medical mistake during his delivery, he may require lifetime care. Furthermore, a large punitive damages award gets Dr. Negligent’s attention and forces him to change how he approaches patient care.

Legal Malpractice

The standard of care varies significantly, usually according to the lawyer’s experience, and is the benchmark in a legal or other professional malpractice case. Some lawyers do the wrong thing, or they don’t do the right thing.

Examples of Legal Malpractice include missing a filing deadline, charging an unconscionable fee (like $5,000 for a traffic ticket), and refusing to communicate with their clients.

For several reasons, most lawyers don’t handle many legal malpractice cases. The state bar handles disciplinary proceedings, and, in most cases, these proceedings include financial compensation awards. Second, although the duty of care is high, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer must prove that the lawyer went off the rails, like this counterfeit umpire.

Additionally, mistakes in legal cases are rarely fatal. Another lawyer, like one of our personal injury lawyers, can usually pick up a dropped baton, run with it, and, in many cases, win the relay race.

Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice cases are far more common. Typically, a lawyer, even a negligent one, is directly involved in a client’s case. Lawyers who feel they have a stake in the outcome are rarely negligent. Many doctors, on the other hand, are drop-in professionals. They delegate most of the work to nurses, physician assistants, and other professionals.

Misdiagnosis

If doctors properly perform diagnostic tests, diagnosis errors are rare. Unfortunately, many SoCal doctors are test-shy.

Fear might be the culprit. Some doctors worry that a health insurance company won’t pay for a test it deems medically unnecessary. Overconfidence could be an issue as well. Instead of making evidence-based diagnoses, many doctors go with their guts. Overconfidence and fear cloud judgment, whether you’re a doctor or not.

Cancer may be the most commonly misdiagnosed illness. Many doctors believe cancer is a lifestyle or genetic disorder. Only smokers get lung cancer, and only people with a family history of the disease get liver cancer.

This approach is usually appropriate. However, because of the aforementioned high duty of care, “usually” doesn’t cut it. This approach has too many holes. For example, it doesn’t detect environmental or occupational cancer, and these victims often have no risk factors whatsoever.

Early diagnosis is the key to a successful outcome in cancer cases. When doctors detect cancer in Stage I, it’s usually manageable, almost like diabetes. By Stage III, the disease is practically untreatable.

Birth Injuries

Delivery room birth injuries are the bitter end of a long string of mistakes that usually begin during prenatal visits. Doctors either don’t correctly identify warning signs of a troubled delivery or ignore them.

During a delivery room emergency, unless a doctor delivers a baby in under five minutes, the baby will most likely have cerebral palsy. Desperate doctors, like desperate people in general, often make bad decisions. They rely on dangerous mechanical birth aids, such as forceps.

These delivery tools are large surgical salad tongs. The doctor grabs the baby’s head with the tongs and pries the baby out of the mother’s womb. As one might expect, this barbaric process often causes a permanent head injury. A fragile newborn baby isn’t much bigger or more solid than a two-liter soda bottle.

Surgical Mistakes

Improperly sterilized instruments cause serious injuries. Surgical teams usually superheat instruments to sterilize them. If the temperature is slightly too hot, the instrument sears patients. If it’s slightly too cool, cutting an organ is like injecting bacteria into the organ.

It’s hard to believe, but basic surgical mistakes, such as RSIs (retained sponges and instruments), are very common, especially in emergency rooms. These surgical teams usually move quickly from one patient to the next.

Reach Out to Our CA Personal Injury Attorneys Today!

Professional negligence is a serious matter. For a free consultation with experienced Medical and Legal Malpractice Attorneys, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. Virtual, after-hours, and home visits are available.

Credit: Photo by Midjourney