How an emergency is handled can make the difference between a positive and negative outcome for a patient. When emergency treatment is sought, it is imperative that the physician and support staff make the correct diagnosis, provide correct follow up care and evaluate a patient’s complaints accurately and immediately. When negligence occurs in an emergency room, you are entitled to compensation for your suffering and for your future with the help of a Kaiser Emergency Room Errors Attorney.
Experienced Representation After A Kaiser Emergency Room Error
Whether your injury resulted from giving incorrect medications, misdiagnosing your ailment, ignoring or overlooking your symptoms, not ordering the correct tests, or performing the wrong medical procedure, you need to contact the attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, in San Francisco, California to represent you and your family. The Kaiser malpractice attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger have successfully represented many Kaiser members in emergency medicine claims. We represent clients throughout California.
If you have suffered a severe injury or medical negligence at Kaiser Permanente, Walkup Melodia can help you. Please contact us online or call now (415) 981-7210.
Your Rights To File Against Kaiser
As a Kaiser Permanente member, your rights to file medical malpractice claims against Kaiser are limited. Since 1978, all Kaiser Permanente group policies have included a provision mandating use of a private arbitration procedure for all medical claims against Kaiser Permanente. These complex proceedings often result in the denial of medical claims, regardless of the negligence, carelessness or malpractice of the health care provider when patients try to prosecute them without the help of a skilled Kaiser lawyer.
How Does the Kaiser Arbitration Process Work?
Arbitration takes place in the presence of a neutral, third-party arbitrator, who serves as the judge and the jury. This process operates in a similar way to civil trials for medical malpractice lawsuits. Both parties will present evidence and testimony from medical experts to the arbitrator, who will decide whether the claimant is eligible for compensation.
Claims against Kaiser are started by sending a demand for arbitration to the Office of the Independent Administrator (OIA). The OIA oversees the arbitration process. Your attorney will prepare your demand for arbitration, which needs to include the following information:
- The name, phone number, and address of you and your attorney
- The amount of compensation that you are seeking in your claim
- A description of your injury and how Kaiser’s negligence is responsible
- The names of the doctors, nurses, and other parties who caused your injury
Once you submit a demand for arbitration, the OIA will generate a random list of arbitrators for you and Kaiser. You can select an arbitrator from this pool by sending your ranked preferences to the OIA. You and Kaiser may jointly select an arbitrator from the OIA’s list or agree to a qualified party from outside of the system.
The arbitrator will first hold an arbitration management conference, where you and Kaiser plan the proceedings. You will need to attend a mandatory settlement meeting, where you and your attorney will attempt to negotiate an award. If you are unable to settle, an arbitrator will hold an arbitration hearing to determine whether Kaiser must pay your claim.
Common Types of Emergency Room Errors
The emergency room is a hectic, high-stress environment where medical professionals need to make immediate decisions.
Errors can lead to serious consequences for patients who need emergent medical help. Mistakes in the emergency room can worsen a patient’s condition and even endanger his or her life.
Below are a few examples of medical negligence that can happen during an emergency room visit:
- Misdiagnosis: Misdiagnosis is one of the most common emergency room errors. When a doctor fails to assess symptoms and accurately diagnose your medical condition, it can grow worse and prevent you from receiving proper treatment. A delayed diagnosis can be extremely dangerous, especially for conditions like a heart attack or stroke.
- Improper Discharge: Emergency room staff want to treat you quickly and send you home as soon as it is safe to do so. Unfortunately, some doctors discharge patients too early or without proper aftercare instructions. These decisions can have life-threatening consequences.
- Medication Errors: If you are given medicine in the emergency room, you expect your doctor or nurse to administer the right drug at the correct dosage. Medications may be mixed up by medical professionals, prescribed incorrectly, or given in excess or insufficiently. These medication errors can result in overdose, allergic reactions, or a worsening medical condition.
- Triage Mistakes: When you visit the emergency room, the staff will assign a degree of urgency to your condition to determine when you receive treatment. This process is known as triage and is designed to prioritize patients with the most severe emergencies. However, if your condition is classified as less severe than it is, you could experience dangerous delays in treatment.
- Failure to Order or Read Tests: When diagnosing patients, doctors must order the right diagnostic tests and correctly interpret the results. If a doctor fails to order the proper tests or misinterprets them, you can experience detrimental effects. You may receive an inaccurate diagnosis and experience worsening health problems.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Kaiser Emergency Room Error?
Emergency room errors can cause injury or worsening medical conditions, which can have devastating impacts on your life. If you were the victim of medical negligence, it is very common to experience financial hardships, physical pain, and emotional suffering. In these situations, you deserve justice for the harm that you experienced.
By pursuing a Kaiser arbitration claim, you can recover compensation to pay for these losses, which may include:
- Past and future medical care related to your injury or medical condition
- Lost wages while you are receiving treatment or recovering from the incident
- Loss of future earning potential if the injury renders you unable to work
- Disability accommodations, such as nursing care and mobility equipment
- Physical pain and suffering, such as permanent disability and chronic pain
- Emotional pain and suffering, such as emotional distress and mental anguish
Decisions in arbitration claims are binding. Courts do not overturn or change the terms of the arbitrator’s decisions. To avoid financial hardship in the future, it is important to accurately calculate your award from the beginning by retaining a skilled Kaiser lawyer.
A Kaiser emergency room error attorney can assess all avenues to compensation and retain expert witnesses to estimate your amount of damages. The lawyer will use this information to advocate for maximum compensation from the time you file your demand letter to the time of the arbitration hearing.
Pursuing Justice for Kaiser Emergency Room Patients
Medical malpractice claims can be complex and stressful, especially after a recent injury. Kaiser Permanente’s mandatory arbitration clause makes this process even more difficult. Victims of emergency room errors deserve justice, but arbitration is often weighed in the hospital’s favor. People who enter arbitration without an attorney are much more likely to lose their case.
At Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, our lawyers are dedicated to helping victims of negligence recover fair compensation for their injuries. We specialize in arbitration claims against Kaiser Permanente and we understand the complex steps involved in this process.
As your legal advocates, you can trust our firm to leverage all of our resources, experience, and knowledge to build a strong case and secure fair compensation in your arbitration claim. Our Kaiser emergency room error attorneys can fight for you each step of the way.
EXAMPLE OF OUR SUCCESS
Emergency Room Negligence – Major Confidential Settlement
Our medical malpractice wrongful death trial lawyers obtained a major Confidential Settlement in a wrongful death case on behalf of the surviving wife and daughter of a 55-year-old contractor who died of an undiagnosed aortic dissection after spending 36 hours in the hospital without ever being seen by a cardiologist.
Contact A Kaiser Emergency Room Errors Attorney
If you or a family member has been a victim of emergency room negligence or emergency physician malpractice, you should consult an experienced attorney to evaluate your case. Contact us by email or by calling (415) 981-7210 to schedule a free initial consultation. All Kaiser Permanente claims are handled on a contingency basis. You pay no legal fees unless we successfully recover compensation for your injury.
