Moreno Valley Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When you seek out a medical professional, you expect a certain degree of care, attention, and responsibility. After all, those in the medical field often command great respect among their peers and their patients alike. It’s not hyperbole to claim that you may put your life in their hands. If an injury or death were to happen because of their negligence, you may want to seek out a skilled Moreno Valley medical malpractice lawyer for help.

Kampf, Schiavone & Associates: Your Skilled Moreno Valley Medical Malpractice Attorneys

The legal team at Kampf, Schiavone & Associates understands how difficult, complicated, and personal a medical malpractice case can become. If you decide to take legal action against someone in the medical field, the resulting fallout can be significant. No doctor, dentist, or nurse wants a malpractice case attached to them. They may be willing to settle out of court to avoid career embarrassment, or they may fight back with everything they have to shut you down.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a trusted medical professional or healthcare provider causes you harm or even death due to their own negligent or malicious actions. Due to a breach of their duty of care, you have suffered and may be owed substantial damages. If you wish to report a medical malpractice incident, you can find the required forms on the Medical Board of California website. For a malpractice case to be considered, it must have certain elements:

• A professional healthcare provider owed you an expected duty of care that was considered reasonable.
• Somehow, the healthcare provider breached that duty of care.
• Due to the breach, you were injured or harmed in some way. Your injury was a direct result of the healthcare provider’s negligence.
• You suffered financial losses in the form of lost wages, medical expenses, or pain and suffering, and you are owed compensation for those losses.

Medical Malpractice Statistics in California

According to data gathered by the National Practitioner Data Bank, adverse action reports in California totaled 3,509 in 2024, and there were 981 medical malpractice payment reports. About $317.13 million was paid out to plaintiffs who successfully argued their cases in court or were able to reach a settlement through negotiation. If you are struggling with the aftermath of a medical malpractice case, you may want to speak with a local support group, such as Family and Mental Health Services.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in California is a bit more complicated than in other personal injury claims. For most cases, you will have three years from the date of your injury or one year after the date that you discovered the injury, whichever comes first. Medical malpractice cases do have multiple exceptions to the statute of limitations:

• If a foreign object is left in your body after surgery, the one-year discovery deadline still applies, but the three-year time limit does not.
• If the medical professional in question fraudulently concealed the malpractice, that statute of limitations may pause, allowing you to file a claim years or even decades after the incident, especially if you didn’t learn about this until much later.
• If the victim is a minor under six years old, the claim must be filed within three years of the injury or before the minor’s eighth birthday, whichever happens later.
• Additionally, you must provide the healthcare provider with 90 days’ notice of your intent to take legal action before you do so.

Common Forms of Medical Malpractice

It is important to keep in mind that there is a difference between negligent actions that lead to a malpractice case and a genuine mistake that results in an unavoidable injury. If an accident were to happen during surgery, that doesn’t always mean you can file a malpractice claim. You must be able to prove negligence, and an experienced malpractice lawyer can help you do that. Here are some of the more common types of medical malpractice cases that occur all the time:

• Misdiagnosis: Unfortunately, misdiagnoses happen all the time in every state. It’s not uncommon for a doctor to diagnose a patient with something they don’t have. There are thousands of medical conditions, and many of them have similar symptoms. If your doctor does misdiagnose you, it could lead to further complications since you aren’t being treated properly for the condition you do have.

  It’s important to keep in mind that not every misdiagnosis is a malpractice case. For it to count as malpractice, your doctor must have ignored very obvious signs of one condition that other doctors would easily have caught.

• Surgical Errors: Surgical errors are arguably the most frightening and traumatic type of malpractice case. Errors in surgery are more common than you might think. Every surgery has some degree of risk associated with it, and you may be willing to accept that risk when you agree to the surgery. Malpractice happens when your surgeon takes unnecessary risks that lead to errors or accidentally leaves medical equipment inside you.
• Failure to Treat: A failure to treat happens when the patient is diagnosed, but they never receive their treatment. This tends to happen when a patient is discharged too early, and their doctor never bothers to follow up on their case. In order to move forward with a malpractice case, you will need to show a clear pattern of how your doctor failed to treat you.
• Medication Errors: It is terrifyingly common to receive incorrect medication from a trusted medical professional or a pharmacist. Taking the wrong medication for your medical condition can lead to a much worse condition, an adverse reaction, or even death in more extreme cases. If you are feeling considerably worse since taking a new medication, you may want to confirm that you received the right prescription.

FAQs

What Are the Odds of Winning a Medical Malpractice Case?

The odds of winning a medical malpractice case are difficult to ascertain. Malpractice cases can be notoriously difficult to win. Not only do you have to prove a pattern of negligence, but you are going up against someone whose entire career may rest on the outcome of your case. They often have many resources at their disposal.

This is why it’s absolutely vital to hire a skilled, experienced malpractice attorney. They can work hard to build a strong case based on solid evidence, giving you a much stronger chance of a winning case.

How Much Is a Medical Malpractice Attorney?

There is no telling how much a medical malpractice attorney may cost. In Moreno, Every medical malpractice case is different, with its own contributing factors that will influence your lawyer’s fee. Generally, your attorney’s fee will largely be dependent on the complexity of your case, the evidence you have that proves negligence, and your lawyer’s own experience, education, and resources. They may work on a contingency fee basis as well.

What Are the Four Things That Must Be Proven to Win a Medical Malpractice Case?

In order to successfully win your medical malpractice case, there are certain elements you will have to prove. Those four elements are:

• A duty of care that was owed to the patient.
• A breach of that duty by the medical professional in question.
• The breach of duty directly caused your injuries.
• You suffered damages from the injury that must be compensated for.

What Is the Hardest Element to Prove in a Medical Malpractice Case?

While all the elements of a medical malpractice case can be difficult to prove depending on the case at hand, the hardest can often be causation. To prove causation, you must be able to demonstrate that the medical professional’s negligent actions directly led to your injuries. Medical conditions are complex and layered, and it’s not always easy to show that your injury was the result of your doctor’s negligence.

Reach Out to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer From Kampf, Schiavone & Associates Today

Dealing with the emotional and financial fallout of a medical malpractice case can be difficult to deal with on your own. While trying to put together a case for medical malpractice, you may also be dealing with a serious medical condition or an injury that needs to heal. You’ll need help building your case and managing your condition. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can help you figure out your next steps and build a solid case.

The last thing you want is to face the medical professional’s legal team unprepared and without proper legal representation. You likely won’t stand a chance.

The legal team at Kampf, Schiavone & Associates understands what’s at stake in your case. Medical malpractice cases can get complex and personal, and it’s important that you take the proper steps to protect yourself. A good lawyer can take control of your case, allowing you to focus primarily on your recovery and managing your medical issues. Contact us to speak to a valued team member about all the ways we can help you prepare for your case.