When you put your trust or faith in healthcare professionals to care for you and become injured due to medical negligence or malpractice, the disbelief, disappointment, and financial impact of sudden medical bills and income losses can be overwhelming. You may be entitled to monetary compensation to recuperate these losses with extra consideration for pain and suffering. Call (415) 292-4100 to speak to an experienced San Francisco medical malpractice lawyer at The Zinn Law Firm now. We comprehensively evaluate all damages to secure full and fair compensation.
Why Choose Our San Francisco Medical Malpractice Lawyers?
The Zinn Law Firm represents medical malpractice victims throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California who suffered severe injuries and need help securing compensation to pay their medical bills and compensate for income losses to care for their families. We have secured millions for our clients injured in medical malpractice cases, birth injuries, Kaiser medical malpractice incidents, residential care facility abuse, catastrophic injuries, and wrongful death.
Free Consultations
Our San Francisco medical malpractice lawyers recognize the economic, physical, emotional, and mental health struggles injury victims navigate. We provide free consultations to offset those stresses while allowing you to have your story heard. You deserve to be acknowledged during these challenging times. Our attorneys listen with care and compassion while developing a tailored legal strategy regarding your case's specifics. Everything you share with our lawyers remains completely confidential, and you are not required to retain our services after receiving our free legal assessment of your case.
Contingency Fee Arrangements
Our San Francisco medical malpractice lawyers value transparency and do not take cases if we don't honestly believe we can secure compensation on your behalf. We work within contingency fee arrangements, meaning we only get paid if we win your case. There are no out-of-pocket expenses to obtain our legal counsel and representation. These arrangements provide much-needed peace of mind for injured parties who must prioritize medical treatments and recovery.
Building Strong Cases
Building strong medical malpractice cases involves proving key elements of negligence: duty, breach of duty, causation of injuries, and suffered damages. Our attorneys have extensive experience demonstrating negligence in medical malpractice cases, recovering millions of dollars for their losses. The Zinn Law Firm gathers, analyzes, and presents critical evidence to strengthen medical malpractice claims, such as:
- Medical records from all healthcare providers
- Test results, including X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and bloodwork
- Eyewitness statements
- Videos of surgeries
- Medical and rehabilitation bills
- Expert witness testimony from medical experts
- Communications with medical providers, such as letters and emails they've sent
The Zinn Law Firm serves San Francisco and The Bay Area medical malpractice victims. Call (415) 292-4100 today for a free consultation with an experienced San Francisco medical malpractice lawyer. We help recover the compensation that injured parties are owed and deserve. Our office is conveniently located in the Shelterpoint Business Center in Mill Valley, across from the Golden Gate Bridge:
The Zinn Law Firm
Compensation for San Francisco Medical Malpractice Claims
Compensation for San Francisco medical malpractice claims varies depending on the severity of the injuries, the length of medical treatment and recovery, and potential long-term healthcare needs. Insurance policy limits also significantly impact compensation amounts. Our medical malpractice attorneys calculate economic damages and determine the value of your non-economic damages with the assistance of expert witnesses, such as medical experts, life planners, economists, and vocational rehabilitation specialists.
Economic Damages
Our trusted San Francisco medical malpractice lawyers begin our claim valuation by gathering viable evidence, such as medical bills, bank statements, pay stubs, lost-wage statements from your employer, and receipts, to calculate your economic damages. The economic or special damages in San Francisco medical malpractice claims frequently involve the following considerations:
- Healthcare Costs: These include all medical treatments, surgeries, hospitalizations, mental health care, and rehabilitation services, such as orthopedics, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.
- Long-Term Medical Care: Our medical malpractice attorneys work with life care planners and treating physicians to assess your ongoing, future, and long-term medical care needs. These include check-ups, surgical procedures, medical treatments, and long-term facility costs. You shouldn't face these costs later.
- Lost Income: Income losses, such as earnings, tips, overtime, sick leave, and vacation pay, are compensable. Our attorneys also assess lost pension plans, retirement, and medical benefits.
- Future Lost Earning Capacity: If your injuries or disability prevent you from returning to your job or the possibility of future employment, our San Francisco medical malpractice lawyers work alongside medical specialists, vocational experts, and economists to thoroughly value your future lost earning capacity. Factors considered include profession before the accident, education, transferrable skills, work history, current labor market conditions, work-life expectancy, cost of living, and projected future earnings.
- Home Healthcare Expenses: In-home assistance service costs can be recovered. These generally include help with cooking, cleaning, childcare, shopping, managing finances, and medication reminders. They also entail assistance with basic care needs like eating, dressing, toileting, and bathing.
- Transportation Costs: When injuries or disabilities prevent you from driving, transportation costs for traveling between medical and rehabilitation appointments are covered. These include taxis, public transportation, and rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.
- Home Modifications: We calculate the expenses associated with home modifications using invoices or estimates for projected costs. These include wheelchair ramps, chair lifts, levers, and accessible kitchens and bathrooms.
Other economic losses can be retrieved following medical malpractice, depending on the unique circumstances involved in your case. Injured parties should keep receipts of all costs incurred due to their injuries, as they are all recoverable financial losses. We will ensure calculations of all economic damage. There are no damages caps on economic damages in California medical malpractice cases.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic or general damages account for the intangible hardships and losses that medical malpractice injuries impose. While they are more challenging to quantify, we collaborate with experts to testify to their extent and solidify the need to compensate for them. Injured parties are responsible for consistently journaling symptoms of pain and suffering to help verify the extent of injuries and their impact on daily life. Non-economic damages include the following intangible losses:
- Physical pain, including chronic pain conditions
- Emotional suffering and mental distress
- Physical impairments, including hearing and vision losses
- Development of substance use disorder due to prescribed pain management and associated rehab costs
- Loss of enjoyment of life or a decreased quality of life
- Development of iatrophobia—the fear of doctors and medical procedures
- Lost years or diagnosed shortened life expectancy
- Disfigurements such as amputations and scarring
- Disabilities including spinal cord injuries like paralysis and traumatic brain injuries
- Psychological impacts, including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety
- Sexual dysfunction
California imposes medical malpractice damage caps on non-economic losses. They are currently set at $430,000 for medical malpractice-related injuries that don't involve wrongful death and $600,000 for malpractice that resulted in wrongful death. These malpractice non-economic damage cap amounts will increase annually by $40,000 for injuries and $50,000 for wrongful death until 2034, when the damage caps reach $750,000 and one million.
Punitive Damages
Unlike economic and non-economic damages, which compensate for financial and intangible losses, punitive damages punish the defendant and deter others from repeating the negligent or intentional action. These are uncommon with medical malpractice cases and shouldn't be anticipated when assessing compensation amounts. Punitive damages are only awarded by juries in civil lawsuits. Our medical malpractice attorneys have no control over which cases they are applied to or what amounts may be awarded.
Wrongful Death Benefits
In California, the surviving spouse, domestic partner, and children can file for wrongful death benefits after losing a loved one to medical malpractice or its complications later. When none exist, parents and other close relatives may file. Wrongful death benefits include compensation for medical bills, income losses, and pain and suffering of the decedent from the date of injury until their passing. Families can also secure compensation for guidance, financial support, and consortium losses.
Where Does Medical Malpractice Occur in San Francisco?
Medical malpractice occurs in various healthcare settings in San Francisco. However, inpatient facilities, such as hospitals like the UCSF Medical Center and California Pacific Medical Center, have higher-stakes procedures and 24-hour care, making them more prone to malpractice. Intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency departments typically have a higher incidence of medical malpractice claims. Considerable factors include the need for improved communication and teamwork, the complexity of injuries and care, and the high-pressure and high-stress atmosphere. Outpatient clinics may lack resources, leading to diagnostic errors.
Common Medical Malpractice Injuries
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine found that diagnostic errors are the most common, catastrophic, and costly medical mistakes. Diagnostic errors occur across all areas of medicine. Those leading to death, permanent impairment, or disability were associated with misdiagnosed cancers, vascular events, and infections. These account for close to three-fourths of all serious harms from diagnostic errors. Other common medical malpractice cases include the following:
- Surgical Errors: We calculate damages for surgical errors, including wrong-site surgery, incisions in the wrong location, nerve or organ damage, and leaving surgical instruments or foreign objects inside a patient's body.
- Anesthesia Errors: Medical research involving ten studies detailing medication errors for adult patients under general anesthesia concluded that medication errors during general anesthesia are as high as 1.12 percent, with incorrect doses and substitution errors being the most common errors.
- Birth Injuries: When healthcare professionals fail to monitor the mother or fetus during pregnancy or delivery properly, it can lead to complications such as nerve injury, skull fracture, facial injuries or paralysis, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries, or brain injuries and damage.
- Medication Injuries: Medication errors can have detrimental consequences, including severe allergic reactions and wrongful death. Medication errors our malpractice attorneys represent in malpractice cases include administering wrong medications, incorrect dosages, unauthorized drugs, dangerous drug interactions, and administering and prescribing errors.
- Failure to Treat: We establish negligence when medical caregivers and providers neglect to deliver the necessary standard of care expected when treating patients. Failure to treat can lead to worsening conditions and other medical complications.
- Failure to Obtain Informed Consent: Patients have the legal right to be thoroughly informed about potential risks and complications before medical professionals administer medications or perform procedures. When healthcare professionals fail to obtain informed consent and the procedure or treatment results in injuries or wrongful death, it typically constitutes medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice can also include infections caused by sterilization issues and injuries caused by defective medical devices. However, not all medical malpractice occurs in hospitals and doctor's offices. Due to overworked and understaffed facilities, residential care facilities and nursing homes see many malpractice cases. Slip and fall accidents, medication mismanagement, and bedsores are typical examples of negligence in these facilities.
The Zinn Law Firm Shuts Insurance Companies Down
Medical malpractice insurance is often a corporate policy structure aggressively covering entities such as hospitals, medical facilities, clinics, and physician groups. These policies cover the facility and its employees and are designed to protect assets by paying as little as possible or nothing at all. Standard practices insurance companies implement to delay, deny, and undervalue medical malpractice claims include:
- Blaming the patient
- Delaying the process
- Downplaying or denying injuries
- Challenging the necessity of medical treatments
- Trying to trap claimants with recorded statements
- Pressuring claimants to accept early settlements before achieving their maximum medical improvement (MMI) or treatment plateau
The Zinn Law Firm understands that the odds are stacked against you. Our San Francisco medical malpractice lawyers are passionate about leveling the playing field with our aggressive legal representation. No one deserves to navigate these processes unknowingly, unprepared, and alone. We will fight for what you are owed and what you deserve after being injured due to malpractice. The Zinn Law Firm will file civil lawsuits to secure fair settlements when insurers refuse to pay valid medical malpractice claims.
Speak to an Experienced San Francisco Medical Malpractice Lawyer
The statute of limitations for filing for medical malpractice in California is one year from the patient discovering the injury or three years from the date that the injury occurred, whichever comes first. Don't delay seeking a free legal assessment to determine a path to compensation. Call (415) 292-4100 to speak to an experienced San Francisco medical malpractice lawyer about the specifics of your case. At The Zinn Law Firm, we listen with compassion, care, and concern while crafting personalized legal strategies to secure a fair settlement for your claim.