California Medical Malpractice Lawyers

More people die each year in the United States from medical errors than from highway accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.

For several decades, Masry & Vititoe has represented those who have been seriously injured by medical malpractice or physician negligence. Through experience and education, our firm is able to expertly evaluate medical injuries and pursue personal injury claims on behalf of the injured plaintiff. Masry & Vititoe provides sophisticated legal services for almost any type of medical injury.

Medical malpractice is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States. Approximately 200,000 people in the United States die each year due to mistakes by medical professionals and prescription errors, according to a recent report from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It was reported that 12,000 deaths a year result from unnecessary surgery - 7000 from medication errors in hospitals - 20,000 deaths are caused by other hospital errors - 80,000 deaths a year from hospital born infections and 106,000 deaths a year from non-error, adverse effects of medications.

More than 13,000 doctors in the United States have been disciplined for serious incompetence or misconduct, including drug abuse, negligence, substandard patient care, Medicaid fraud and patient sexual abuse. According to a study by Washington Health Group, most of those physicians continue to treat patients and retain their licenses. State confidentiality laws make it nearly impossible to find out the background information on a doctor, even if that doctor has been disciplined for incompetence or negligence. Recent studies confirm that a small percentage of doctors are responsible for the vast majority of injuries caused by substandard care. This reaffirms our general perception that most doctors are good doctors, and worthy of our trust.

We carefully screen all medical related cases. Medical negligence is extremely difficult to prove, and requires qualified experts who are willing to testify that the care given failed to meet the appropriate standards, and that this failure caused injuries.

However, doctors and nurses are just like the rest of us - they sometimes make mistakes. And when caregivers make mistakes, they must be accountable for the harm they cause - just like the rest of us. We trust doctors; we need to trust them. When they violate that trust, doctors need to be held responsible.

Some common examples of situations that may involve medical negligence include:

• Improper use of Anesthesia;
• Failure to Diagnose, or Properly Diagnose an Illness;
• Failure to Treat an Illness;
• Incorrect Treatment of a Diagnosed Illness;
• Improper Administration of Drugs;
• Failure to Order Proper Tests;
• Failure to Consult with a Specialist;
• Failure to Monitor a Patient;
• Failure to Stabilize a Patient;
• Improper Use of a Medical Device;
• Birth Injury or Birth Trauma due to Obstetrical Physician, Nursing, or Hospital Negligence;
• Injury to Mother or Child during a VBAC (vaginal birth after C-Section);
Failure of Hospital Staff to Properly Interpret Doctors' Orders on Patient Charts, Resulting in Incorrect Administration of Medications or Treatments;
• Surgical Procedures that are not necessary, or that are done without Patient Consent.

However, in order to prove a case of negligence, the victim must prove that the negligence, such as the mistakes listed above, caused their injury. Causation is sometimes the most difficult part of the case. Proof of causation must come from qualified experts who rely on sound science and medicine. Determining if you have a potential case for medical malpractice or medical negligence is difficult, at best.

Masry & Vititoe believes that in order to represent our injured clients in the best possible manner, our law firm must have an understanding of the human anatomy and how it responds to a medical injury. Therefore, through experience and education, our firm is able to expertly evaluate injuries and successfully pursue claims on behalf of the injured plaintiff.

While proving a physical, emotional, or cognitive injury can be difficult, our experienced and knowledgeable medical malpractice attorneys and staff are able to undertake difficult cases and prevail, convincing skeptics of the merits of a claim via credible, trustworthy evidence and objective test findings. Our firm is committed to protecting our client's rights and has repeatedly demonstrated our ability to succeed in the most challenging and complex medical malpractice cases.

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