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We have successfully litigated hundreds of cases,
including cases of medical malpractice!
· Our medical malpractice
attorneys will aggressively litigate your case,
through trial if necessary, until you get the
result that is best for you.
· Our Principal
Attorney, Mr. Walston, teaches litigation to practicing
attorneys!
· We have never
lost a jury trial!
· We will represent
you for FREE until you recover. If you don’t
win, we don’t charge!
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Home
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Injuries
& Accidents >> Medical Malpractice
Attorney
Representation in San Francisco, California since
1989
SAN FRANCISCO MEDICAL
MALPRACTICE ATTORNEY
Medical
Malpractice
 When
illness or injury forces you to see a physician
or go to the hospital, you can generally be assured
that a medical professional's years of experience
and training will result in excellent treatment.
But in truth, medical care providers are only
human, and errors are always possible. Medical
malpractice occurs when a negligent act or omission
by a doctor or other medical professional results
in damage or harm to a patient. If you or a loved
one has been injured due to medical negligence,
you need to contact a San Francisco medical malpractice
attorney at the Walston Legal Group immediately.
The medical malpractice attorneys at the Walston
Legal Group are focused on aggressively representing
our clients and quickly and cost-effectively obtaining
their goals.
Negligence
by a medical professional can include an error
in diagnosis, treatment, or illness management.
If such negligence results in injury to a patient,
a legal case for medical malpractice can arise
against:
- The
doctor, if his or her actions deviated from
generally accepted standards of practice;
- The
hospital for improper care or inadequate training,
such as problems with medications or sanitation;
-
Local, state or federal agencies that operate
hospital facilities.
Medical malpractice laws are designed to protect
patients' rights to pursue compensation if they
are injured as a result of negligence. However,
medical malpractice suits are often complex and
costly to win. Therefore, if you believe you have
a medical malpractice claim, it is important to
consult with a San Francisco medical malpractice
attorney who will discuss your case with you,
and help you determine your best options.
Legislation
Affecting Malpractice Actions
Due
in part to the power and resources of health care
industry lobbyists, many states have passed legislation
making it more difficult to bring and prevail
in medical malpractice actions. In most states
today, physicians and hospitals are protected
by legal limits, called "caps," on the
amount of damages and attorneys' fees that can
be awarded in medical malpractice suits. Also,
most states have a two-year time limit for filing
medical malpractice actions, unless extraordinary
circumstances affect the case.
One
obstacle plaintiffs in many states may have to
overcome before they can even file a medical malpractice
action against a health care professional is the
requirement that they file what is commonly known
as a "certificate of merit." In order
to file a certificate of merit, a plaintiff will
first have to have an expert, usually another
physician, review the relevant medical records
and certify that the plaintiff's health care provider
deviated from accepted medical practices, which
resulted in injury to the plaintiff. The plaintiff's
attorney then files the certificate of merit,
which confirms that the medical malpractice attorney
has consulted with a medical expert and that the
plaintiff's action has merit.
"Respondeat
Superior" and Independent Contractors
Medical
malpractice can be committed by several types
of health care professionals and, in a case where
a hospital employee commits malpractice, the hospital
itself may be held liable under the legal doctrine
of "respondeat superior." Under this
theory, an employer may be held liable for the
negligent acts of its employee if the employee
was acting within the scope of his or her employment
when the negligence occurred. This doctrine is
very important to plaintiffs in medical malpractice
cases, because it helps ensure there will be a
financially responsible party to compensate an
injured plaintiff.
In
some situations, commonly involving attending
physicians working in hospitals, health care providers
are considered independent contractors rather
than employees, which makes the doctrine of "respondeat
superior" inapplicable. What this means is,
if a doctor or other health care professional
an independent contractor, and commits medical
malpractice while treating a patient in a hospital,
the hospital cannot be held liable for the doctor’s
negligence. However, the hospital can be held
liable for its own negligence, for example, in
granting attending privileges to an unlicensed
or incompetent physician.
Getting
Legal Help in a Medical Malpractice Case
In
general, there are no guarantees of medical results.
An unanticipated or unsuccessful result from medical
treatment or surgery does not, in itself, mean
that medical malpractice has been committed. Nonetheless,
if you believe you may have been the victim of
medical malpractice, you should meet with an experienced
medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible
to discuss the facts of your case and receive
a professional evaluation of your situation, especially
in light of time limits for filing a medical malpractice
lawsuit.
Steps
You Can Take Now
- Write
down as much as you can about when, where, why,
and from whom you obtained the medical care,
what you were told by the medical professionals
about the medical care you were receiving, the
names of the medical professionals, and what
went wrong.
- GET
A SAN FRANCISCO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ATTORNEY
IMMEDIATELY! You need all the help
you can get, and you need it as soon as possible.
If you do not assert your rights within the
time set by law, you will lose your ability
to assert them at all.
Practice
Areas:
Criminal
law: including San
Francisco criminal attorney representation
for Drunk
Driving, DUI, DWI,
White Collar Crimes, Drug
Crimes, Computer
Crime, Identity
Theft, Violent
Crimes
Injuries
& Accidents: including San
Francisco attorney representation for Cars,
Trucks & Bike accidents, Wrongful
Death, Assault
& Battery, Premises
Liability, Animal
Attacks, Medical Malpractice, Dangerous
Products
Civil
Rights:
including attorney representation for
Constitutional Law, Police
Misconduct, Discrimination
Litigation
Defense: including San Francisco
attorney representation for Insurance
Defense,
Personal Injury, Premises
Liability, and Medical
Malpractice
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