Attorneys Advocating for Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Victims in San Jose, California
The law office of Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger is Northern California’s leader in representing Kaiser members and their families in San Jose and statewide. Our clients include Kaiser members who have suffered serious injuries, failures of diagnosis or medical errors or have lost a loved one as a result of KP medical negligence or malpractice of a Kaiser Permanente medical provider. All Kaiser Permanente group health insurance policies contain provisions prohibiting civil court filings seeking damages for medical malpractice, our San Jose Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Attorney has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of injured clients and their families through Kaiser’s mandated private arbitration system.
Need A Kaiser Malpractice Lawyer?
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 for an immediate consultation with a hospital malpractice lawyer to help you with Kaiser arbitration.
Our lawyers have successfully recovered compensation for clients suffering from birth injuries, brain damageand other catastrophic injuries resulting from the negligence or carelessness of a Kaiser Permanente medical provider, such as:
- Failure to promptly treat infections
- Failure to diagnose tumors resulting in paralysis or wrongful death
- Failure to diagnose cancer
- Pediatric and delivery errors
- Failure to diagnose heart disease or identify risks of heart attack
- Surgery errors and mistakes, including anesthesia mistakes
- Other medical negligence
List of Kaiser Permanente Facilities in San Jose, CA
In San Jose, Kaiser Permanente patients can seek treatment at a designated Kaiser facility or an affiliated hospital or clinic. Below are some of the Kaiser locations serving patients in San Jose and the surrounding area:
- San Jose Main Campus
- Gilroy Medical Offices
- Cottle Road Complex
- Via Del Oro Campus
- Hearing Aid Center
How Does the Kaiser Permanente Arbitration Process Work?
Arbitration is a substitute for a jury trial. Unlike mediation, which involves coming to a mutual agreement, the arbitrator makes the final decision regarding the case. In Kaiser claims, these decisions are binding and cannot be appealed or overturned by the court.
The Kaiser Permanente arbitration process bars injured patients from filing a lawsuit against negligent medical professionals. Kaiser arbitration claims are overseen and administered by the Office of the Independent Administrator (OIA).
If you experienced medical malpractice at a Kaiser facility, you could pursue arbitration to recover compensation for any damages that you suffered. The arbitration process involves a series of complex steps and proceedings:
- First, you will submit a demand for arbitration to the OIA. This document will include your information and your attorney’s information, along with details on your injuries, the act of negligence, and the compensation that you are seeking.
- After you initiate your case, you and Kaiser will need to select an arbitrator. The OIA will send a list of potential options. You can choose to select an arbitrator jointly with Kaiser or submit your ranked preferences to the OIA.
- After the arbitrator is appointed, the proceedings will formally begin with an arbitration management conference. During this meeting, you and Kaiser will set dates for the upcoming events in the arbitration.
- Next, you will attend a mandatory settlement meeting and try to negotiate a settlement with Kaiser. If you can come to a beneficial agreement, your case will conclude at this stage.
- Finally, if you are unable to settle, your case will proceed to an arbitration hearing. The arbitrator will serve as the judge and hear arguments and evidence from both parties. Then, the arbitrator will decide whether you are eligible for compensation.
Arbitrators make their decisions based on their knowledge of medical malpractice laws, but not all of them have a deep background in this area. Because arbitration decisions are binding, it is critical to fight for maximum recovery to avoid financial hardship in the future. You need an attorney experienced in fighting for patients against Kaiser.
You must have a Kaiser Permanente medical malpractice lawyer by your side who can formulate an effective case and advocate aggressively for your compensation rights.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice in California
Medical malpractice refers to a medical professional’s failure to uphold a certain standard of care, resulting in harm to a patient. There is a set of accepted standards and procedures that all medical providers must follow, including nurses, physicians, surgeons, and even dentists.
In simple terms, these providers must act in the same way that a similarly trained and reasonably careful professional would do under the same circumstances. If they deviate from this standard through a negligent act or failure to act, they could be held liable for medical malpractice.
Below are a few examples of actions that could constitute medical malpractice:
- Performing unnecessary surgeries on a patient
- Performing the wrong surgical procedure
- Failure to take appropriate patient history
- Misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose a medical condition
- Prescribing the wrong medication to a patient
- Using defective or broken medical equipment
- Prematurely discharging a patient
What Compensation Can You Recover in Arbitration Against Kaiser?
An injury caused by medical malpractice can affect your life in major ways. You could suffer a permanent disability that impacts your ability to work, engage in the activities that you once loved, or live on your own. You can experience severe, ongoing pain and emotional distress due to the trauma inflicted by the medical professional. Financial hardship is also common due to medical bills and other critical costs.
By pursuing an arbitration claim, you can recover compensation to pay for these losses. There are two types of damages: economic and non-economic.
- Economic Damages: These are the financial losses that you experienced as a result of the malpractice. Examples of economic damages include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning potential, and disability accommodations.
- Non-Economic Damages: These are your pain and suffering damages, which can be physical or emotional. Examples of non-economic damages include chronic pain, permanent disability, mental anguish, and loss of quality of life. California has a $250,000 cap or limit on non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims.
Awards in Kaiser arbitration claims can range from a few thousand to millions of dollars. Your settlement will depend on the losses that you suffered. You can work with your attorney to determine how much compensation you might be eligible for and ensure that any offers you receive are adequate for your needs.
Is There a Time Limit for Pursuing Arbitration Against Kaiser?
There are filing deadlines that you will need to meet to pursue arbitration against Kaiser. California has a law known as the statute of limitations, which sets a time limit on filing certain types of lawsuits. Kaiser arbitration claims adhere to this deadline as well, and failure to file your claim in time will result in a dismissal.
You have one year from the date that the medical malpractice injury occurred to file for arbitration in California. If you did not discover the injury until a later date, you have one year from the date of discovery to file your claim. Whichever date comes first will be your filing deadline.
To protect your right to financial recovery, you must seek help if you are injured by a medical professional. Seek follow-up medical care and save all of your medical records. Then, contact an attorney from Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger to identify your filing deadline and initiate your arbitration claim.
Contact a Kaiser Permanente Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you or a loved one has suffered harm as a result of the medical negligence, carelessness or malpractice of a medical provider, you deserve to be compensated for your medical expenses, pain and suffering and other damages. However, without the assistance of an experienced attorney who comprehends the intricacies of the San Jose and Santa Clara Kaiser Permanente arbitration system, there is little chance to succeed. In fact, according to statistics, patients who are not represented in arbitration lose 75 percent of the time.
Ensure you are legally protected when confronting Kaiser Permanente’s arbitration system. Contact the San Jose Kaiser Permanente Lawyer at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger to schedule a free initial consultation about your 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.
