Dedicated Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Attorneys Serving Clients in San Francisco, CA
The Kaiser Foundation health plan now includes more than 12.5 million members throughout the Country more than 8 million members in California. Although Kaiser has membership in ten states, its headquarters are in Oakland, California. Under the health plan agreement, Kaiser members have no choice in selecting hospitals outside the Kaiser system, or doctors outside of the Permanente Medical Group if adequate care can be provided at Kaiser facilities a utilizing Permanente Group partner or employee doctor. Importantly in California, members do not have the right to go to court to seek justice in the event of medical malpractice through a San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer. All members under 65 are tied to the one-sided Kaiser arbitration system. This arbitration requirement is imposed by the Kaiser contract – and it is critical that members retain lawyers who know the arbitration system inside – out when malpractice occurs.
More Settlements For Kaiser Members Than Any Other California Firm
The Kaiser Medical Malpractice team at Walkup has skilled and experienced malpractice lawyers, and a full-time M.D.J.D., the organizer and moderator of California’s only Kaiser-focused continuing education program for lawyers who sue Kaiser, has delivered financial recoveries for Kaiser members from San Diego to the Oregon border. Our team has won for clients in cases involving birth trauma, paralysis, quadriplegia, wrongful death, surgical errors, and failures to diagnose cancer, stroke, and cardiac conditions. Our firm members have more than 125 years of cumulative experience prosecuting Kaiser claims. No other California firm can make that claim. We don’t just do this work occasionally: we do it every day up and down the state. At any one time, we have as many as 10 cases against Kaiser going on simultaneously.
Until they are injured by a medical mistake, diagnostic error, or fatal misdiagnosis, most Kaiser members do not know that Kaiser has its own private system for resolving malpractice claims. Since 1978, your health plan agreement has imposed binding arbitration as the only way to obtain justice for Kaiser’s wrongdoing. Claims for infants, children, teens, and adults must all be arbitrated. A private administrator funded by Kaiser, the Office of the Independent Administrator (OIA), runs a private court system for all claims made against Kaiser doctors. Arbitration is unique and complex. You don’t want a lawyer who hasn’t been there before. We are experts in the process and procedures that control Kaiser arbitrations. Familiarity and experience in the process are critical because the system has no right of appeal. Patients have only one shot at success. Our team knows how to maximize that opportunity.
Our Proven Record In Prevailing Against Kaiser: More Than $500 Million Has Been Paid To Our Clients by Kaiser
At Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, in San Francisco, California, we have been successfully prosecuting malpractice cases against Kaiser since 1970, for more than 50 years. Our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer has won in arbitration against Kaiser in obstetrical cases, failure to diagnose cases, surgical error cases, delayed diagnosis cases, wrongful death cases, pediatric cases, medication cases, brain injury cases, cerebral palsy cases, radiology cases and paralysis cases. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in medical claims against Kaiser Permanente HMO since 1978. We are experts in helping Kaiser members unravel the intricacies of the Kaiser Permanente arbitration procedures. We know how to protect the legal rights of Kaiser members. Unlike other firms our Kaiser malpractice team includes a lawyer who is also a doctor.
Our Approach To Kaiser Malpractice Claims
THRESHOLD LIABILITY ASSESSMENT
Once a new client contacts us, the Walkup Kaiser malpractice team knows the steps to take to obtain all relevant records, X-rays, and special studies, and create a timeline of care. We are consulting with our in-house M.D. J.D., as well as subject matter experts, in order to evaluate whether or not the care received was consistent with prevailing standards of care. Was there an error in the diagnosis? Were symptoms correctly recorded and evaluated? Were appropriate treatment options communicated to the patient? Were symptoms of systemic problems recognized, addressed, and halted before significant injury occurred? Was what happened here a known complication or a series of events that happened because proper and appropriate care was not provided? Are the economic damages and non-economic damages verifiable with documents or witnesses? Is further review and consultation with outside experts justified? Does a review of past Kaiser cases we have handled indicate that prosecution of a case against Kaiser will, more likely than not, be successful and result in recovery by the patient? Was the treatment here consistent with published guidelines, medical texts, and governing organizational standards? Would this injury have occurred except for the mistake, error, delay in treatment, or failure to treat consistent with national standards of care?
- EXPERT SELECTION AND RETENTION
Locating, interviewing, and retaining qualified medical experts is critically important in the successful prosecution of any Kaiser medical negligence case. At Walkup, our medical negligence team has been working with experts from across the country for more than 50 years. All medical negligence cases require that the injured plaintiff provide persuasive, competent testimony from a qualified expert in the specialty of medicine involved. We understand that doctors who specialize in testimony are not persuasive, whereas physicians well regarded by their peers, including professors and attending physicians at major academic medical centers, are often the best possible experts. When it is difficult to find highly qualified experts, we work with a network of highly skilled lawyers across the United States who share witness information in medical negligence cases. Through such networking, as well as our association with firms that specialize in sourcing expert testimony, we find and retain the best possible experts who can tell our clients’ stories in a persuasive and compelling manner. When possible, we work only with board-certified experts in the same specialty as the defendant. We find experts whose backgrounds are similar to or exceed those of the defendant physician. We look at prior depositions and trial testimony of experts and ask for reviews from attorneys who have used them in the past. We know that experts who are calm, deliberate, and thoughtful are most persuasive. When possible, we look for experts who have published in scholarly journals, medical textbooks, or other publications. If necessary, we work with out-of-state experts in order to find the best possible witnesses with the fewest possible conflicts. All medical negligence cases require that the injured plaintiff provide persuasive, competent testimony from a qualified expert in the specialty of medicine involved.
BUILDING ECONOMIC DAMAGE CLAIMS
While Walkup’s Kaiser negligence team members are highly skilled in communicating and demonstrating damages for physical pain, suffering, disability, and emotional trauma, in California such “non-economic” damages have a hard “cap”. That cap prevents a jury from awarding a fair recovery by compelling judges to reduce any award to the amount of the cap. The general damage cap is currently $430,000. That is the maximum any patient who is harmed can recover no matter how badly they are hurt, whether they have chronic pain, paralysis, or disfigurement, and whether they are five years old, 25 years old, or 65 years old. This means that the recovery of economic damages becomes critical. Economic damages are the amounts of money recoverable for past lost wages, future lost wages, future lost pension, future lost financial support, past medical expenses, future medical expenses not covered by insurance, future household assistance, and future attendant care and nursing services not covered by insurance. These economic damages can be substantial. In representing clients in cases against Kaiser, we collaborate with a range of experts to build an economic damages case supported by evidence. We regularly work with physiatrists, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors, neurologists, life care planners, economists, vocational rehabilitation counselors, and other professionals to help us submit a solid, trustworthy, and believable collection of evidence to support a major award of economic damages.
*Click on the individual result to see details regarding the case.
In 2021 and 2022 We Obtained A Record-Breaking Kaiser Arbitration Awards
We have a track record of historic awards against Kaiser, both in negotiated mediations and in litigated arbitrations. Two recent settlements were for amounts in excess of 8 million dollars. In one case we recovered nearly nine million dollars on behalf of a child who was born with birth defects that would have been identified if appropriate screening had been offered to the parents. In another case our team obtained an 8.5 million dollar payment in a settlement on behalf of a health plan member who sustained brain injury when his thiamine deficiency was not identified after gastric bypass surgery.
In arbitration, Walkup attorneys Doris Cheng and Sara Peters obtained a $3,158,000 verdict this year against Kaiser for the wrongful death of a delivering mother when uncontrolled post-operative hemorrhaging caused fatal cardiac arrest. Before the arbitration Kaiser made no settlement offer in the case. Kaiser claimed that the mother suffered a pulmonary embolus that was unforeseeable and unpreventable. Our team proved otherwise.
In 2021 Walkup Kaiser Team attorneys Sara Peters and Christian Jagusch M.D. J.D. obtained a binding arbitration award against Kaiser in the amount of $1,600,000 after a 10 day arbitration. That case involved an improper obstetrical delivery where our infant client was subjected to excessive neck and shoulder traction during delivery, with the result that the child was left with a partially paralyzed arm caused by a shoulder dystocia. Kaiser refused to settle the case before arbitration.
Five years earlier Walkup attorneys Michael A. Kelly and Valerie Rose obtained a binding arbitration award of $2,400,000 in favor of the surviving family members of a 42-year-old Alameda County woman who died from an untreated infection when her telephone messages for help to a Kaiser advice nurse were never given to her doctors. The Arbitrator’s verdict followed five days of testimony and came after Kaiser refused to negotiate with the family or make any pre-trial offer of settlement. Our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer showed that Kaiser’s advice nurse system was flawed and dangerous. Their program for telephone screening in order to save time and money caused a patient death.
The patient had twice called with complaints of worsening symptoms of cough and chest pain signaling pneumonia. Instead of directing her to an emergency room, she was routed to yet another telephone evaluation with a Kaiser Permanente physician who decided without a physical examination that she did not need to be seen by a doctor. By the time she was seen in the ER on the fifth day of her illness, she was in irreversible septic shock which claimed her life. Michael Kelly commented after the verdict “This advice nurse system is supposed to be the front gate to the Kaiser system – the problem is, once you’re through the door, the doctors have no idea what information the patient has given to the gatekeeper.”
A San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer malpractice team member has arbitrated cases against Kaiser involving failure to properly manage infections, neurological problems, labor and delivery, delayed diagnosis of fetal distress during birth, improper surgical technique, failure to diagnose brain aneurysms and cardiac problems, and a host of other conditions and treatable illnesses.
Kaiser Patients Need Lawyers Familiar With Arbitration
Kaiser patients need a lawyer who understands how to arbitrate and settle malpractice cases in the unique Kaiser arbitration system. Kaiser’s own internal statistics show that where patients don’t have a lawyer, more than 50% of the time they lose the case in a process where a judge decides the case before any hearing ever takes place.
Most Kaiser Permanente HMO members do not know that Kaiser has established specific rules for medical claims processing that prohibit members from suing Kaiser in court.
Walkup Melodia lawyers have successfully settled or arbitrated more cases against Kaiser than any other California firm. We are the go-to firm for Kaiser members with serious injuries. We know how to access and use Kaiser’s own internal guidelines, policies and procedures to help establish the standard of care and demonstrate that a breach has occurred.
Because we are trial lawyers we treat arbitrations like trials. We have the arbitrator manage the proceedings consistent with the California Code of Civil Procedure and the California Evidence Code. We believe Kaiser patients need experienced Kaiser malpractice lawyers. Informality works to the disadvantage of the Kaiser member and to the advantage of Kaiser. The lawyer representing a Kaiser member must stress for the arbitrator that this is the patient’s only opportunity for justice, that the Kaiser member did not bargain for this private arbitration forum, and now that they are here, without any right of appeal in an entirely secret proceeding, only the evidence code and the ethics of the arbitrator guarantee fairness for the patient.
A lawyer who knows how to represent clients in Kaiser cases knows that this is their clients only “day in court”. Just as jurors often learn best through exhibits, visual aids, demonstrations, models, charts and diagrams, so do arbitrators. Our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer takes advantage of the opportunity to make a presentation that is the equal of what would be done in trial: we retain and present highly qualified experts; we use visual aids, we play sections of critical videotape testimony, blow-up and refer to the key pages in the medical record
Any a lawyer bringing suit for a patient against Kaiser must be familiar with Kaiser’s system of electronic medical records, how the Kaiser electronic medical record system can potentially hide evidence of malpractice, where Kaiser stores its internal algorithms and procedures for making diagnoses, how policies and procedures govern referrals and where to locate Kaiser’s ” rules of the road” for patient care.
In final argument, the lawyer representing a Kaiser patient must marshal the evidence and prepare a verdict form as would be done in Superior Court. A special verdict form gives the arbitrator a roadmap on how to find for the patient. A good Kaiser arbitration lawyer must highlight and use the critical and applicable jury instructions to remind the arbitrator of the applicable law, the important facts and the burden of proof. The arbitrator must be reminded regularly of the importance of her/his task and that while there are no jurors in the room, and the hearing is not in the county courthouse, it is every bit as solemn and important for this client (whose right to a jury trial was taken away by Kaiser’s superior bargaining power.)
At Walkup Melodia, our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer doesn’t just understand the process, they actually teach other lawyers about it! Walkup senior partner Michael Kelly annually chairs a special statewide continuing legal education program to teach other lawyers on how to successfully prosecute cases against Kaiser. In addition, Walkup lawyers Doris Cheng, Andrew McDevitt, Sara Peters and Christian Jagusch have all taught other lawyers how to win against Kaiser.
Kaiser Permanente Locations
Our lawyers prosecute injuries caused by Permanente group doctors, Kaiser foundation hospitals and Kaiser Permanente negligence arising from injuries occurring in numerous areas throughout Southern California, Northern California, and the West, including Sacramento, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, San Jose, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Nevada.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Kaiser
What is the Kaiser Permanente arbitration process?
The Kaiser Permanente arbitration process begins with a formal Demand for Arbitration describing the medical negligence, the injuries caused by the negligent care, and the damages you are seeking.
After the demand is filed, an arbitrator is selected and your case moves through information acquisition, depositions, expert retention, and discovery. If your case does not settle before a formal hearing, it proceeds to a private arbitration hearing where witnesses and experts testify before the arbitrator.
There is no jury. The arbitrator reviews the evidence and issues a final and binding decision.
What is the statute of limitations for filing a Kaiser medical malpractice claim in California?
Kaiser medical malpractice claims are subject to California’s medical malpractice statute of limitations. Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.5, you generally must bring a claim within one year from the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, or within three years from the date of the injury, whichever occurs first.
Missing an applicable deadline can permanently prevent you from pursuing an otherwise valid Kaiser medical malpractice claim.
What types of damages can be recovered in a Kaiser medical malpractice arbitration?
If you or a loved one was injured by medical negligence at Kaiser, you can recover both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages can include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, the cost of in-home assistance or nursing care, and other measurable financial losses caused by the injury. Economic damages are not subject to California’s medical malpractice cap.
Non-economic damages compensate for losses such as physical pain, suffering, emotional distress, disability, and disfigurement. These damages are subject to limits under California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, commonly known as MICRA.
In serious injury cases, determining the full value of your economic damages may require physicians, life care planners, economists, vocational rehabilitation specialists, and other experts to evaluate future medical care, lost income, and other long-term financial needs.
What are the most common medical malpractice claims brought against Kaiser Permanente?
Medical malpractice claims against Kaiser Permanente and Permanente Medical Group providers can arise from many types of preventable medical errors. Common claims include delayed or missed diagnosis of cancer, stroke, or heart attack; birth injuries; surgical mistakes; medication errors; radiology or pathology mistakes; and failures to properly evaluate or treat patients in emergency departments.
Claims may also involve telephone advice nurses or other Kaiser systems when failures in triage, communication, or follow-up delay necessary medical treatment and cause serious injury or death.
Walkup has represented Kaiser patients and their families in cases involving these and other forms of medical negligence for decades.
Can you file a wrongful death claim against Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco?
If your loved one died because of negligent medical care at Kaiser Permanente, your family may be able to bring a wrongful death claim. These claims are handled through Kaiser’s binding arbitration system rather than through a jury trial in San Francisco Superior Court.
A Kaiser wrongful death claim may involve negligent treatment, delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, inadequate monitoring, or other failures by Kaiser or Permanente Medical Group healthcare providers. Eligible family members may seek damages for lost financial support, funeral and burial expenses, and the loss of companionship and moral support caused by the death.
The same Kaiser arbitration rules and filing deadlines that apply to medical malpractice claims also affect wrongful death claims arising from Kaiser care.
Why is having an attorney who specializes in Kaiser arbitration necessary?
Kaiser medical malpractice cases are handled under arbitration rules and procedures that differ from ordinary lawsuits filed in California Superior Court. The process involves specific filing requirements, arbitrator selection procedures, discovery rules, expert testimony, and deadlines. There is no jury, and arbitration decisions are final and binding.
An attorney experienced in Kaiser arbitration is important. Your lawyer will obtain and analyze your Kaiser medical records, identify and retain the appropriate medical experts, prepare witnesses, conduct discovery, and present the evidence to an arbitrator.
Because there is generally no opportunity to retry the case or appeal an unfavorable decision, experienced and skilled layers are critical. Careful preparation before your arbitration hearing is especially important.
How does Walkup Law Firm investigate and build a case against Kaiser Permanente?
Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger begins by obtaining and reviewing your complete medical records and establishing a detailed timeline of the care you received. Our Kaiser malpractice team includes an in-house physician-attorney who works with our trial lawyers to evaluate the medical evidence and identify potential failures in diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, or follow-up care.
We also retain qualified independent medical experts in the specialties involved in your case. These experts review the records, evaluate whether the care met the accepted medical standard, and determine whether a failure in care caused your injury.
If your case proceeds to arbitration, our lawyers use the medical records, expert testimony, depositions, and other evidence to explain what went wrong, how the negligent care caused your injury, and the full extent of your resulting damages.
What sets Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger apart in Kaiser malpractice cases?
Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger has represented Kaiser patients in medical malpractice claims for more than 50 years and has recovered more than $500 million for Kaiser members and their families. Our attorneys regularly handle Kaiser arbitration cases throughout California and understand the rules, procedures, medical records, and defense strategies involved in these claims.
Our Kaiser malpractice team includes an in-house physician-attorney who works directly with our trial lawyers to evaluate medical evidence. The firm also provides continuing legal education to other California attorneys on the prosecution of Kaiser malpractice claims.
This depth of experience allows our lawyers to identify medical and legal issues early, retain the right experts, and prepare your case for the demands of Kaiser arbitration.
How much does it cost to hire a San Francisco Kaiser malpractice lawyer at Walkup Law Firm?
Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger represents injured Kaiser members and their families on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay an upfront retainer or hourly attorney fees. We advance the costs necessary to investigate and prepare your case, including the cost of obtaining records and retaining qualified medical experts.
We receive an attorney fee only if we obtain a financial recovery for you through settlement or arbitration. Initial consultations are free, so you can have a potential Kaiser malpractice claim reviewed without paying an upfront legal fee.
Learn More About Our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer
The Walkup Law Firm has a dedicated Board Certified physician-attorney on staff to assist in the screening of medical malpractice cases against Kaiser. We also utilize outside consultants to work with us in the evaluation and preparation of Kaiser claims. Injured patients are the survivors of patients who lost their lives as a result of Kaiser medical malpractice should contact us online or call (415) 981-7210 to schedule a free initial consultation. Our San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Lawyer does not charge a fee for reviewing your Kaiser case, or for prosecuting the case, unless we successfully recover financial compensation for you.
We are on call seven days a week for your convenience.
Examples Of Our Recoveries On Behalf Of Injured Kaiser Members
Wrongful Life / Failure to Provide Genetic Counselling – $9,000,000 Settlement
Failure to Treat Post – Operative Thiamine Deficiency Resulting in Brain Injuries –$8,750,000 Settlement
Negligently Performed Pediatric Neurosurgery Resulting in Quadriplegia — $6,350,000 Settlement
Failure to Recognize Fetal Distress – Quadriplegia/Brain Damage – Wrongful Death — $5+ Million Settlement
Failure to Perform Timely Cesarean Section Cerebral Palsy — $4,100,000 Million Arbitration Verdict
Undiagnosed Cardiac Tamponade – Brain Damage — $3.2 Million Annuity Settlement
Death of a Mother In Childbirth — $3,158,000 – Binding Arbitration Award
Death Resulting from Advice Nurse Error – $2,400,000 Arbitration Verdict
Negligent Care Litigation Case — $2+ Million Arbitration Award
Failure to Diagnose Spinal Cord Abscess / Wheelchair Confinement — $1.9 Million Settlement
Shoulder Dystocia Obstetrical case — $1,600,000 Arbitration Award
Failure To Diagnose Bladder Cancer – Wrongful Death — $1,300,000 Settlement
Misdiagnosis of Aortic Dissection – Amputation/Brain Damage — $1.1 Million Settlement
Heart Catheterization Mistake Causing Death – $850,000 Settlement
Failure to Timely Diagnose Lung Cancer – Metastatic Spread – Shortened Life Expectancy — $600,000 Settlement
Delay in Diagnosis of Breast Cancer – Shortened Life Expectancy — $250,000 Settlement
