Helping Santa Rosa Kaiser Permanente Members Obtain Compensation for Malpractice Injuries
Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger successfully represented a Santa Rosa Kaiser Permanente HMO member whose life expectancy was reduced below 50 percent when the negligence of medical professionals at Kaiser Santa Rosa resulted in the delayed diagnosis of the woman’s breast cancer. View additional cases and results. Our Santa Rosa Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Lawyer represents all clients in the Santa Rosa area.
Many members of Kaiser Permanente group health insurance do not realize that they have limited legal options to pursue compensation for medical malpractice injuries and deaths. Since 1978, all of Kaiser Permanente’s policies have contained strict provisions that limit member’s legal options to binding private arbitration. Kaiser Permanente’s arbitration system entails strict timetables and other complex guidelines that can cause someone inexperienced with the system to fail. According to statistics, this entails more than 75 percent of cases pursued without the assistance of an attorney experienced in Kaiser Permanente medical malpractice litigation.
At the law firm of Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, we have procured more than $100 million in negotiated settlements and binding arbitration for Kaiser Permanente HMO members in Santa Rosa and nationwide. We have successfully handled medical malpractice claims involving:
- Wrongful death
- Birth injuries
- Brain injuries
- Paralysis
- Heart attacks/heart disease
- Failure to diagnose
- Emergency room errors
- Nursing injuries
Kaiser Permanente Facilities in Santa Rosa, CA
Kaiser Permanente patients in Santa Rosa can only seek treatment at a Kaiser facility or one that is affiliated with the health network. Kaiser operates the following facilities in the Santa Rosa area:
- Santa Rosa Hospital
- Santa Rosa Mercury Way
- Santa Rosa Medical Office Buildings 1 & 2
- Santa Rosa Medical Office Building 4
- Santa Rosa Medical Office Building 5
- Santa Rosa Pain Medicine, Endocrinology & Neurology Offices
- Santa Rosa Hearing Center and Plastic Surgery
- Santa Rosa Psychiatry and Chemical Dependency Offices
- Rohnert Park State Farm Drive
- Santa Rosa Mental Health & Wellness
What Is Medical Malpractice in California?
Healthcare providers have a responsibility to treat their patients with care and respect. When providing medical services in a hospital, clinic, or another facility, they must act in the same way that a reasonable and similarly trained healthcare provider would. This is known as the medical standard of care.
When a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional deviates from the accepted standard of care, he or she can cause severe harm to the patients under their care. Medical negligence is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, resulting in as many as 251,000 deaths on an annual basis.
Santa Rosa patients can experience dangerous and devastating acts of negligence at the hands of medical professionals. Below are a few examples of medical malpractice in California:
- Surgical errors
- Medication mistakes
- Failure to take patient history
- Failure to provide proper aftercare instructions
- Prematurely discharging a patient
- Unnecessary surgery or invasive procedures
- Misreading or ignoring test results
- Failure to order the proper diagnostic tests
- Misdiagnosing a medical condition
- Delaying critical medical treatment
How to Pursue an Arbitration Claim Against Kaiser Permanente
If you experienced medical malpractice at a Kaiser Permanente facility, you have the right to pursue arbitration. Like a medical malpractice lawsuit, a Kaiser arbitration claim allows you to recover financial compensation for your damages as long as you can prove that the provider’s actions caused your injury. Unlike a medical malpractice lawsuit, this process does not take place in the California court system.
Instead, Kaiser Permanente patients are required to undergo a private arbitration process overseen by the Office of the Independent Administrator (OIA). The OIA is an independent agency.
When you decide to pursue arbitration, your Santa Rosa Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Lawyer will first need to file a demand for arbitration that includes a description of your injuries, the negligence that occurred, and the compensation that you want to recover. After you submit this document to the OIA, you will select an arbitrator from a list of options, either jointly with Kaiser or by submitting your ranked preferences to the agency.
Once the arbitrator is selected, your lawyer will need to attend a series of important meetings. First, they will attend an arbitration management conference where you will set dates for upcoming hearings and meetings. Then, they will attempt to negotiate a settlement with Kaiser at the mandatory settlement meeting.
If your case does not settle, your claim will proceed to the arbitration hearing. The arbitrator will act as the judge and hear evidence from your attorney and Kaiser. Once these arguments are made, the arbitrator will decide whether you are eligible for compensation.
Benefits of Hiring a Santa Rosa Medical Malpractice Attorney
The arbitration process can be complicated to navigate under the best of circumstances. However, the process can seem even more overwhelming while you are recovering from an illness or injury caused by malpractice. In these situations, you must have an attorney represent your claim and advocate for your best interests.
Patients who enter Kaiser arbitration without an attorney are more likely to lose their claim. By hiring a Santa Rosa medical malpractice lawyer to represent your arbitration claim, you can tap into several critical advantages to benefit your case:
- Your lawyer will handle all matters related to arbitration on your behalf, allowing you to focus on healing and recovery.
- Your attorney can enlist the help of medical experts who can evaluate your injuries and testify on the nature and the extent of the negligence.
- Your lawyer will have years of experience helping victims of medical malpractice at Kaiser and can leverage this knowledge to guide you through the process.
- Your attorney will have well-honed negotiation skills, allowing them to argue aggressively for your best interests against Kaiser representatives.
- Your lawyer can help you assess the arbitrator options provided by the OIA and select the right party to oversee your case.
- Your attorney can explore all potential avenues to compensation and calculate your potential settlement.
- Your lawyer can provide you and your family with much-needed support and guidance and will be available to answer any questions that you have about the arbitration.
If you plan on filing for arbitration against Kaiser, do not navigate the process alone. Instead, speak to an attorney at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger with experience representing Kaiser patients who can fight for your right to maximum recovery.
How Much Have Kaiser Patients Won in Arbitration Claims?
Settlements in Kaiser cases depend heavily on the damages that you suffered as a result of the malpractice, such as the cost of your medical care and the extent of your permanent disability. Your settlement may range from a few thousand dollars to over $1 million.
At Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, we have recovered significant amounts of compensation for victims of medical negligence at Kaiser:
- $6.3 million for a case of negligently performed pediatric neurosurgery
- $3.2 million for a case of undiagnosed cardiac tamponade and brain damage
- $2.4 million for a death resulting from an advice nurse error
- $2 million for a case of negligent care from a medical provider
- $1.9 million for a failure to diagnose a spinal cord abscess
- $1.3 million for a failure to diagnose bladder cancer, leading to wrongful death
- $1.2 million for a delayed diagnosis of thoracic disc disease, leading to paraplegia
Your attorney from Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger can help estimate your potential award and determine the compensation that you need to recover. Using this information, you can advocate aggressively for the highest possible settlement and avoid financial hardship in the future.
Contact a Santa Rosa Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Learn more about your rights as a Kaiser Permanente HMO member. Contact the attorneys at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss Kaiser’s arbitration procedures and your Santa Rosa medical malpractice case.
All Kaiser Permanente arbitration lawsuits are handled on a contingency basis. You pay no legal fees unless we successfully recover compensation for your injury.
