Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in California
Hi,
My name is Ivan Martinez and I live in Oxnard CA. I have a question and need to know if I have a case or not.
My daughter is 1 year old and recently got very sick. My wife took her to the local clinic because my daughter had a high fever and didn�t stop crying. After waiting 5 hours she was taken in and looked at by a doctor.
The doctor checked her temperature and it read 103 F and said not to worry until it reached 105+. He then took a urine sample and said he would call us and let us know the findings. He prescribed Tylenol, Motrin and Pedialyte.
My daughters fever kept going up and down so my wife took her for a follow up 3 days later from initial visit. The same doctor examined her and said that her urine results came back clean and told my wife our daughter was well. My wife told the doctor she wasn't fine because her fever kept going up and couldn't control it with anything, the doctor said "Don�t worry she will be just fine".
My wife went home and kept giving our daughter over the counter medicine and still could not control our daughter�s high fever.
Two days later we saw that our daughter was very weak and could barely open her eyes and still had a high fever so we took her to the Hospital Emergency room where she was taken in and examined. The doctor told us she was okay and that her fever might have been due to a virus that was going around, I then got upset and told the doctor that she wasn't okay because she was very weak and could not breathe. He then brought another doctor and the 2nd doctor requested X-rays to be done on her. The x-rays showed that our daughter had pneumonia and gave her an antibiotic shot and prescribed Azithromylin to be taken for two days.
We went home and 1 day after our daughter was still very sick, so we took her to a different hospital emergency room where they took her in and she was examined. The nurse or doctor started saying she was fine and it was then that my wife went mad and told the nurse that she was crazy and she wanted a there�ll exam done on our daughter because she had been sick for over a week and that wasn�t normal. We were sent to a temporary patient room where they took a blood sample and had us wait. A few hours our later the doctor requested x-rays. The doctor came back and said that our daughter had PNEUMONIA, ANEMIA & was DEHYDRIATED so she needed to be hospitalized.
Our daughter was hospitalized for 5 days where she had blood transfusions done and many other respiratory treatments. She was then transferred to another hospital where she was hospitalized for another 8 days. Blood transfusions where done again and other treatments as well.
When our daughter was released the doctor told us that the x-rays showed something on her lungs and that she would need more visits with a specialist with possibility of future surgery.
Would this be considered MEDICAL NEGLIGANCE?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ivan Martinez
1 Answer from Attorneys
Yes, it might be, but there are a series of treating doctors that are involved in her care. As to each one, you will have to determine if they were negligent and caused damage. When there is more than one doctor involved over time, the problem is significant, as each gets to point the finger at someone else, including you for waiting to seek care at several steps in this.
To pursue a malpractice case requires you obtain the opinion of a doctor who is a 'qualified expert' in that field of medicine, who is prepared to testify in court that there was medical malpractice, meaning some specific treatment she received fell below the acceptable standard of care, and that such negligence caused legally recognized damage or death. Neither your opinion about malpractice, nor mine, is relevant nor 'proof' of malpractice. Consult with your other treating doctor[s] you are not accusing of negligence to see if they are willing to provide that opinion and testimony, or you can contact independent experts for that purpose if your treating doctors say there is negligence but they won't testify. I can provide referrals and assistance if necessary. If you obtain such an expert's testimony, and if you determine that you have a case with MERIT [provable malpractice and a likelihood of winning], VALUE [substantial provable damages] and COLLECTABILITY [defendant with substantial assets or insurance], then you would have proper grounds to bring your legal claims in a lawsuit. Keep in mind that you have only one year maximum from 'notice' or learning of the suspected malpractice to bring suit.
If serious about pursuing this, feel free to contact me.
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