The unexpected death of a loved one can be a truly tragic event. A family can be left with traumatic emotional damage that can affect them for a lifetime. As well as the emotional damages, the loved ones of a deceased individual can be left with financial damages as well as a result of the possible medical expenses as well as the monetary funds to hold a proper service. Urgent Cares, much like any other medical facility, is responsible for providing their patients with a reasonable level of care. When medical mistakes happen due to a breach of that level of care, and a patient is killed because of it, that patient’s loved ones have every right to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the urgent care responsible. At Normandie Law Firm, one of the top firms in Los Angeles, our skilled attorneys with experience in wrongful death cases can guide you through the often complicated process of building your case and filing your claim against the party responsible for your damages. If you have any questions after reading this article, please feel free to reach out to our top-rated law offices for a free consultation with a qualified attorney with expertise in wrongful death injury lawsuits.
Urgent Cares
Urgent cares are purposed to provide care for patients with illnesses or injuries that do not seem to be presently life-threatening. If an urgent care doctor realizes that the condition to be something more serious, they will more than likely recommend you seek more suitable medical assistance through a primary care physician. Urgent care may be used for their short lines and quick service. However, it is not a replacement for emergency care services. While they can treat minor injuries and assist in diagnosing conditions, they are also not a suitable replacement for a hospital doctor or physician. Some conditions that need emergency medical care, rather than urgent care are listed as follows:
- Compound Fracture (bone breaks through skin)
- Convulsions, seizures, or a loss of consciousness
- Deep knife wounds
- Gunshot wounds
- Fever in newborn (less than three months old)
- Heavy, uncontrolled bleeding
- Moderate to severe burns
- Poisoning
- Pregnancy-related problems
- Severe head, neck, or back injuries
- Severe abdominal pain
- Severe chest pain or difficulty breathing
- The signs of a heart attack or a heart attack itself
- The signs of a stroke or a stroke itself
- Suicidal or homicidal feelings
Urgent Cares are used to treat patients who may need medical attention but don’t want to make an appointment with their primary care physician, or their primary care physician is unavailable. Some examples of medical conditions that can be treated at an urgent care center include:
- Accidents and falls
- Bleeding/cuts: not bleeding a lot but requires stitches
- Breathing difficulties (i.e., mild to moderate asthma)
- Diagnostic services, including X-Rays and Lab tests
- Eye irritation and redness
- Fever or flu
- Minor broken bones and fractures (i.e., fingers, toes)
- Moderate back problems
- A severe sore throat or a cough
- Skin rashes and infections
- Sprains and strains
- Urinary tract infections
- Vomiting, diarrhea, or dehydration
For any other more life-threatening medical problems, it is highly recommended that you dial 911 to seek more appropriate medical attention. Urgent Care Centers are not equipped to treat severe medical emergencies but will do their best to assist in transferring their patients to hospital emergency rooms for further treatment. However, urgent cares can be held just as liable if a mistake made in a patient’s care leads to a wrongful death. If an urgent care patient is killed as a result of medical malpractice, the patient’s loved ones have every right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit and sue the urgent care for their negligence. An accomplished attorney who has experience in wrongful death claims can be a valuable asset to have.
Medical Malpractice at Urgent Cares
Medical malpractice is considered to be any medical mistake made by a trained and licensed health care professional while providing care for a patient. When a patient is injured as a result of a treatment and sent home in a worse condition, that patient can file a lawsuit against the health care professional for their mistake. Regarding wrongful death, if your loved one was killed as a result of the medical malpractice of an urgent care physician you have every right to file a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit. While wrongful death is not always the case in medical malpractice, any medical error can cause the wrongful death of a patient. Listed below are some health care mistakes that can be linked to wrongful death:
- Misdiagnosis
- A failure to diagnose
- Wrong Medication
- Failure to treat
- Understaffing
- Inadequate training of personnel
- Surgery errors
- Unsanitary conditions
- Inadequate diagnostic tools
- Patient “dumping.”
- Object left inside patient
This is just a handful of the errors a physician can make during a patient’s treatment. While some are less likely to occur at an urgent care center, the medical staff there are still responsible for any mistake they may make while providing care. The wrongful death of a loved one as a result of medical malpractice can lead to severe damages for the surviving family. Not only are medical expenses a factor, but so are the emotional pain and suffering that these individuals have to endure as a result of their lost loved one. Through the pursuit of a wrongful death urgent care malpractice lawsuit, these individuals can sue for injury compensation with the assistance of an experienced attorney.
You and Your Case
When clients come into our law firm seeking representation for their wrongful death urgent care malpractice lawsuit, they often ask a broad series of questions that often come up quite regularly. Some of these frequently asked questions include:
- “Can I file a lawsuit against an Urgent Care for the death of a family member?”
- “How can I sue an Urgent Care for wrongful death?”
- “How do I file a wrongful death lawsuit against an Urgent Care?”
To answer the first question, yes, you can file a lawsuit against an Urgent Care for the wrongful death of a family member. While you may not have experienced direct physical harm, the emotional and financial damages can be just as severe. The process of filing a wrongful death urgent care case can often time be incredibly tricky as there are some factors involved that play into the success of your case. For this reason, it is in your best interest to seek out an attorney to help you sue the Urgent Care for negligence. An urgent care wrongful death lawyer can walk you through the process of filing your claim, and pursue monetary compensation for your damages.
One major step in pursuing an urgent care wrongful death lawsuit is to prove the negligence of the medical professional. A successful claim of negligence requires that you provide evidence for the following:
- The existence of a doctor-patient relationship: Patients who think they have experienced medical malpractice in an urgent care must be able to prove to that there was a physician-patient relationship. This relationship essentially means that there was an agreement wherein the patient agreed to be treated, and the physician agreed to treat said patient.
- The physician’s negligence: The patient must be able to prove that the doctor or physician’s negligence caused the damages endured. The physician’s care is not expected to be perfect; however, it must at least be reasonably skillful and careful. Almost all states across the U.S require that the patient present a medical expert in court as to discuss what the appropriate medical standard of care should have been, and how the defendant breached that standard
- The physician’s negligence caused the injury: The patient must be able to show that it is ‘more likely than not’ that the physician’s specific actions directly caused the injury the patient is suffering from. To do this, a patient must retain a medical expert to testify that the physician’s negligence caused the injury
- The injury led to specific damages: The patient must be able to prove that they have suffered from specific damages caused by the injury. Some of these specific damages include: physical pain, mental anguish, medical expenses, lost work, or lost earning capacity.
There are also some specific details that must be made a note of while filing your lawsuit. The best way to interpret and follow these complex rules is to retain the representation of an urgent care wrongful death lawyer. These rules are as follows:
- Special Notice Requirements: In some states, patients are required to give the physician a notice of the malpractice claim in the form of a basic description. This is done before a patient can file anything.
- Expert Testimony: In medical malpractice cases, expert opinions are crucial to the success of a case. State rules vary in determining what makes an individual qualified to provide this testimony, but in most cases, it is someone who has experience in the same field of medicine that involved the patient’s injuries.
- Limits on damage awards: Some states establish a limit on the amount of money that a patient can be awarded for their damages. Seeking legal assistance can help in determining if this award cap applies to you and your case
Suing an urgent care for the death of a loved one is no easy task. Urgent cares often have the resources to employ a whole host of legal experts to dispute any claim that you might try to make. For this reason, it is incredibly important to retain an expert lawyer with experience handling hospital wrongful death claims to assist you in fighting and winning your case.
About Normandie Law Firm
If you or a loved one has experienced wrongful death as a result of the negligence of an Urgent Care or Urgent Care staff, you may be entitled to collect significant monetary compensation. At Normandie Law Firm, our experienced lawyers and skilled Los Angeles urgent care wrongful death malpractice attorneys can guide you through the often arduous process of filing a lawsuit against the party responsible for your damages. While our attorneys are based out of Los Angeles, we also practice in San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego, Orange County, Stockton, Bakersfield, and throughout the entire state of California.
FREE CONSULTATION AVAILABLE: As a show this commitment to you and your case we offer our clients the benefits of a zero fee guarantee policy. Under our zero fee policy, all clients don’t pay for our services until their case is won. If you feel in need of a second opinion, second opinion case reviews are also free under this policy. Call now for a free consultation with a lawyer experienced in wrongful death cases.
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