Brain injuries can profoundly affect the lives of both the victims and their families. If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury or damage because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, you may have grounds to pursue a malpractice lawsuit and financial recovery.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a type of civil legal action in which the victim or their family seeks accountability for injuries or death caused by the health care provider’s failure to meet the standard of care. While the precise standard of care may differ, depending on the circumstances and the patient’s medical history, it is generally defined as the provider’s duty to act within the accepted standards of their profession or specialty. In other words, it’s the healthcare provider’s duty to act in a manner that other reasonably skilled, careful, and knowledgeable providers would act.
To bring a medical malpractice claim, the plaintiff must prove that: 1) the healthcare provider owed the patient a duty of care, 2) that the provider breached that duty due to their negligence or other medical errors, 3) the breach of duty substantially caused the plaintiff’s injury, and 4) the plaintiff suffered actual damages because of the injury.
What Brain Injuries Are Caused by Medical Malpractice?
There are two general classes of brain injury. The first is a traumatic brain injury, which results from blunt force trauma or rapid acceleration/deceleration within the skull. (Ex: motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, whiplash). The second type of brain injury is a hypoxic/anoxic brain injury, which happens when the brain tissue does not receive enough oxygen – causing brain cell damage.
Brain injuries resulting from medical malpractice are acquired brain injuries, meaning that they are caused by trauma to the brain. Examples of brain injuries that may result from medical negligence include:
- Hypoxic Brain Injury: When a person suffers a hypoxic brain injury, their brain does not receive a sufficient amount of oxygen. Hypoxia can affect a specific part of the body or the entire body.
- Anoxic Brain Injury: This is an extreme form of hypoxia when there is a complete lack of oxygen supply to the body or brain. These types of injuries often cause profound brain damage and long-term consequences.
- Traumatic Brain Injuries: Patients in medical settings can suffer a traumatic brain injury due to surgical errors or trauma during labor and delivery.
Brain injuries can have devastating, life-long consequences that prevent victims from living normal lives. Victims may suffer from from cognitive issues such as memory loss, difficulty with problem-solving, and issues controlling their temper. More serious cases can include a complete loss of cognitive functions. Brain injuries can also create expenses for the victim’s families, who incur medical bills for diagnosis, treatment, medication, therapy, and rehabilitation.
Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Related to Brain Injury
While your right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit depends on the specific facts of your case, typically, victims can hold their healthcare providers responsible if the victim can prove that the provider failed to meet their standard of care. Under California law, medical negligence happens when “A provider fails to use the level of skill, knowledge, and care in diagnosis and treatment that other reasonably careful providers/specialists would use in the same or similar circumstances.”
A departure from the standard of care can include surgical errors, medical errors, or birth injuries. Failure to diagnose and emergency room errors can also be considered a breach of the standard of care.
Victims of medical malpractice may be entitled to a financial recovery of their damages, including compensation for medical bills, medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, assistive care, and future medical expenses.
Contact Bostwick & Peterson
Bostwick & Peterson, LLP has dedicated their practice to representing the needs of personal injury victims, including those who suffer from brain injuries due to medical malpractice. We will aggressively pursue a level of compensation sufficient to cover all costs associated with the injury and will pursue all possible forms of compensation for the injured victim and their families.
Our award-winning team has recovered record results for victims who sustained life-altering brain injuries, including the largest medical malpractice recovery in California history. We can review your case and discuss how we can help.
To schedule a consultation, contact us at (888) 831-8448 or use our online contact form.
