Damages in Santa Ana Medical Malpractice Cases

The cost of American healthcare has skyrocketed, along with the cost of insurance. Managing the costs of successful medical treatment is hard enough for most people. If a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare worker makes a mistake, particularly one that remains undiscovered for months or years, a patient and their family could lose their livelihood or even their home.

If a healthcare provider or hospital has failed you or your family member, consider talking to a lawyer about your options for damages in Santa Ana medical malpractice cases. Our medical negligence attorneys could explain whether you may seek compensation for what you have suffered and lost.

What Patients and Their Families Lose From Medical Malpractice

Someone who experiences medical malpractice is likely to face additional expenses. Their family, too, will suffer from the sudden loss of income and the need for extra help and care in the home. The costs usually include:

• Medical treatments to recover from the injury or illness that the provider caused
• Mobility aids or other accommodations for disabilities inside and outside the home
• Extra education and care costs for patients who are children with special needs resulting from their injuries or illnesses
• Loss of wages or income during recovery from the injury or illness, as well as loss of future income due to any disability it caused
• Funeral expenses and related costs, if the patient has died and the family pursues a wrongful death claim

This does not begin to include the psychological costs that appear in Santa Ana medical malpractice cases. A survivor loses trust in their healthcare team, or possibly in all healthcare, and often suffers deep depression, anxiety, or PTSD. A family that loses their loved one experiences horror and betrayal together with shock and grief. These, too, inflict a very real cost.

What Kind of Damages Can Patients Claim Under State Law?

When a Santa Ana patient or surviving family brings a medical malpractice case, they can generally claim two kinds of compensation: economic damages and noneconomic damages.

Economic damages cover everything that can be counted or estimated. They include what a patient has lost or will lose in the future due to the malpractice, such as medical bills, expenses, and income. Noneconomic damages compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, and other psychological losses to patients or their families. State law limits these damages under California Civil Code § 3333.2, but the limit rises every year.

Under very rare circumstances a court may award punitive damages: an extra, limited award to discourage extremely bad conduct. However, a patient can only receive punitive damages if they can prove a healthcare provider acted from oppression, fraud, or malice; see Civil Code § 3294.

Contact a Santa Ana Attorney To Pursue Damages in a Medical Error Case

At Ikuta Hemesath Leonard, LLP, medical malpractice is all we do. For years, our attorneys have worked to get the best possible damages in Santa Ana medical malpractice cases for our clients and their families, who struggle every day to recover and rebuild. We do the investigative work to determine what happened and what it has cost our client and their loved ones.

The state provides a short window of time for filing malpractice cases. When a government-linked healthcare provider is at fault, a patient may have as little as six months to present a claim. Call us today so we can hear your story and get started on your case.