Medical professionals must provide care that meets the applicable medical standard. When a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other provider fails to meet that standard and harms a patient, our San Diego personal injury lawyers can investigate whether medical malpractice occurred.
Call the Mercaldo Law Firm at (619) 377-4455 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with a San Diego medical malpractice attorney.
Why Choose Us as Your Medical Malpractice Law Firm In San Diego?
The Mercaldo Law Firm was established in 1978 with the expressed purpose of representing people who have suffered catastrophic injuries and the surviving families of victims of wrongful death. For over 30 years, the expert staff and experienced trial lawyers of the Mercaldo Law Firm have been involved in the litigation of wrongful death / catastrophic injury, and medical malpractice cases.
- Catastrophic loss
- Wrongful Death
- Medical Malpractice
- Personal Injury
- Product Liability
- Trucking/Transportation Law
We understand that people don’t put money aside in case of a serious medical malpractice injury. For this reason, we use a contingency-based payment model so you only pay for our services after we’ve recovered compensation for you in a settlement or court award.
What Are the Most Common Types of Medical Malpractice In San Diego Lawsuits?
When a medical professional makes a critical error, the consequences can be injury, a worsened medical condition, a shortened life expectancy, or wrongful death. The most common types of medical malpractice cases in San Diego include the following:
- Medication mistakes
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Missed diagnosis
- Surgical errors, such as wrong-patient, wrong-side, or wrong-site surgeries, surgical awareness, or surgical tools left behind—all described as “surgical never events” by the medical community
- Anesthesia errors
- Failure to obtain a complete patient history
- Failure to obtain informed consent
- Inadequate post-surgical monitoring
- Prematurely discharging a hospitalized patient
Proving liability for any of the above types of medical malpractice requires clear and compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability.
Meeting the Burden of Evidence In San Diego Medical Malpractice Claims
A medical malpractice victim or the surviving family member of a wrongfully deceased medical malpractice victim is the claimant and plaintiff in the case, placing the burden of proof on them. Proving medical malpractice liability requires evidence of the following:
- That a doctor-patient relationship was in place at the time the malpractice occurred
- That the provider owed a legal duty of care to the injury victim, requiring them to treat the patient at the medical community’s accepted standard of care
- That they breached this duty of care
- That the breach of duty caused the injury, and
- That the injury victim suffered damages from the injury
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you could recover compensation for either minimal or substantial damages.
Recoverable Damages In a San Diego Medical Malpractice Claim
The recoverable damages in medical malpractice claims vary depending on the severity of the harm caused and the related financial costs. Common damages recovered in successful cases include:
- Past and future medical expenses and out-of-pocket costs
- Past and future lost earnings and reduced future earning capacity
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Compensation for permanent harm, such as scarring, disfigurement, loss of limb, organ loss, loss of one of the senses, disability, chronic pain, or loss of enjoyment of life
Compensation may be available to the family of a deceased medical malpractice victim under California’s wrongful death law.
Contact a San Diego Medical Malpractice Lawyer
A successful medical malpractice claim requires a thorough investigation with access to medical expert testimony and a carefully calculated list of damages. Instead of leaving your case in the hands of a medical malpractice insurance company that may undermine your claim, call the Mercaldo Law Firm at (619) 377-4455 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with a San Diego medical malpractice attorney.