San Francisco, California Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Lawyers
Helping Victims' Families Since 1959
For more than 45 years, the Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, California medical malpractice wrongful death lawyers, have helped families deal with the legal and financial realities that surround the death of a loved one. When the death comes at the hands of health professionals, it is especially difficult for survivors to understand.
Call Now so We Can Take Action on Your Behalf
Our San Francisco medical malpractice wrongful death attorneys have a full-time highly trained doctor-lawyer on our staff and decades of experience pursuing medical malpractice wrongful death cases. We know how to obtain and review medical records, where to find experts and how to effectively deal with the attorneys and insurance companies that represent doctors and hospitals. Our experienced California medical malpractice attorneys have spent years developing a network of medical experts we can rely on to verify standards of treatment.
If you suspect a family member has died because of medical or hospital neglect, physician mistake, or malpractice, talk to our legal staff, tell us what happened and why you feel medical malpractice was involved. We will evaluate and investigate the case and help you determine what actions to take.
If your medical negligence wrongful death case involves Kaiser Permanente, talk to the San Francisco, California lawyers who have handled more Kaiser Permanente arbitration claims than any similar law firm.
In California, wrongful death cases that arise from medical malpractice are subject to specialized rules, called MICRA (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act). The relevant provisions of this statute are found in California Civil Code §§3333.1 and 3333.2. This statutory scheme gives doctors and hospitals an advantage against wrongful death survivors, and limits their recovery to $250,000. Because recovery for medical malpractice wrongful death is limited in California, it is critical that you select wrongful death attorneys who have worked with the MICRA rules in the past, and know how to maximize the elements of damage above and beyond the $250,000 general damage limit.
The San Francisco, California medical malpractice wrongful death lawyers at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger have represented the families of medical malpractice victims against hospitals, doctors, nurses, HMO's and others. Examples of our success in the medical malpractice wrongful death area include the following cases:
Examples of Our Success
Failure to Diagnose Emergent Head Injury- $3,000,000 Jury Verdict
Our medical malpractice wrongful death trial lawyers prevailed in a case brought on behalf of the parents of a 29-year-old man who died of an undiagnosed head injury. The young man presented to the defendant Emergency Room physician with a head laceration after being struck with a surfboard. Ignoring the possibility of a head injury, the defendant doctor neglected to order a CT scan or palpate the wound, and merely sutured the laceration and discharged the patient with a prescription for Vicodin. Shortly after being discharged, the patient fell unconscious in his living room and was emergently taken to San Francisco General Hospital. There, CT scanning demonstrated a depressed skull fracture, which lacerated the middle meningeal artery. Extensive intracranial bleeding resulted in brain death. At trial, Walkup wrongful death lawyers demonstrated that palpating the wound would have resulted in discovery of the skull fracture, and the institution of timely life saving care. The jury agreed, awarding plaintiffs a total of $3,000,000 in damages for the loss of their son. The judgment was later reduced pursuant to the provisions of California's 32-year-old MICRA law, which limits general damages to $250,000.
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. The doctors who saw the patient failed to recognize that he needed an emergency evaluation to rule out aortic dissection. A cardiology consultation and echocardiogram would have made the diagnosis, but were never ordered. Instead, the doctors continued to prescribe nitroglycerine and intravenous morphine for ongoing chest pain. The decedent died shortly after a stress treadmill test, which worsened the tearing of the aorta.
Failure to Diagnose Deadly Cervical Cancer - Wrongful Death
Our medical malpractice lawyers successfully concluded a case on behalf of the two surviving daughters of a 35-year-old woman who died of cervical cancer. Our attorneys proved that both the woman's primary care physician, and a laboratory which failed to follow up properly on biopsy slides, were responsible for the failure to diagnose and treat cervical cancer in its early stages. Through the testimony of experts in pathology, our attorneys demonstrated that pap smears were under-reported. Experts in cytology testified that the laboratory should have brought these abnormalities to the attention of the primary care physician. The confidential settlement included an initial cash payment and future installment payments to cover the surviving children's educational and other maintenance expenses through age 23.
Uterine Rupture - Infant Death
Our medical malpractice wrongful death lawyers resolved a birth injury case, in a confidential amount, on behalf of the parents of a 2-day-old infant who died after his mother's uterus ruptured during labor. The mother was admitted to the hospital with contractions, but was sent home several hours later because the nurses felt she was not progressing. Once home, she began to experience severe abdominal pain. By the time doctors realized that the infant was outside the uterus in the abdominal cavity, an emergency cesarean section was unsuccessful in delivering the baby before it suffered severe compromise. The infant died two days later. Our attorneys demonstrated that the mother should never have been sent home from the hospital, and that, had she been monitored properly, her impending uterine rupture would have been recognized, and a timely cesarean section would have been performed, and the baby's life was saved.
Failure to Diagnose Pelvic Fractures - Wrongful Death
Our medical malpractice wrongful death specialists successfully represented the wife and adult child of a 48-year-old junior high school principal who died of complications from undiagnosed pelvic fractures after a fall. Our attorneys demonstrated that x-rays taken at the time of his initial treatment were misinterpreted and that, as a result, he developed pulmonary emboli which ultimately caused cardiac arrest. The defendant hospital and its physicians claimed that the original injuries from the fall were by themselves sufficient to produce death, and that the failure to correctly interpret the x-rays was not negligent. The amount of the settlement, confidential in nature, included the maximum amount available for general damages representing loss of care, comfort, society and love, as well as an amount equal to the present cash value of the decedent's lost future wages, earnings, support and benefits.
Death of Husband - Confidential Wrongful Death Settlement
Our Kaiser wrongful death specialists brought a Kaiser Permanente Arbitration claim under the terms of the Kaiser Arbitration agreement on behalf of the surviving husband and two adult children of a 58-year-old Permanente member who died from an untreated pulmonary embolism. The deceased Kaiser member had visited a South Bay Kaiser Emergency room complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. A blood test which is typically elevated when the heart muscle is under strain from heart disease or pulmonary embolism was elevated. After referral from the emergency department to the cardiology department, a Permanente Group cardiologist performed a left heart catheterization that ruled out coronary artery disease but failed to perform the right heart catheterization which would have been diagnostic for pulmonary embolism. As a result, the patient's pulmonary embolism was not diagnosed. Blood thinning medications would have prevented death, but were not given.
If your loved one died because of a misdiagnosis, a failure to diagnose, a surgical error, an emergency room mistake, a hospital-caused infection, a birth injury, an infected tissue transplant, a prescription error, or any other medical mistake, Contact our California medical negligence lawyers today. Make an appointment for a free consultation. 1.888.732.8897 or 1.415.981.7210.
