Medical Malpractice

A 1999 study estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year in hospitals from medical errors. This does not include the tens of thousands who do not die but whose medical conditions are substantially worsened due to medical negligence in both hospitals and doctor’s offices.

With these kinds of numbers you would think that it would be easy to win a medical malpractice suit, yet about 85% of medical malpractice cases tried in Southern California are won by the defense. This is because the law favors the doctors, the insurance industry has biased jurors in favor of the medical profession by falsely creating a medical malpractice crisis, the insurance companies have good lawyers defending the doctors, and the insurance industry has no trouble getting good doctors to testify on the defendant doctor’s behalf.

To have a reasonable chance at winning a medical malpractice case in a system stacked against you, you need attorneys who regularly handle, settle, and try medical malpractice cases. The Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton regularly handles, settles, and tries medical malpractice lawsuits and has done so for more than 15 years, and Doug Easton has done so for more than 30 years.

Medical malpractice takes many forms, and we have represented injured plaintiffs in all kinds of cases. It can sometimes be as simple and obvious as leaving a surgical retractor blade inside the abdomen during a gall bladder surgery (see attached photo) or as complicated as failing to properly monitor the calcium levels in a newborn with a heart defect that caused a heart arrest, anoxia, and brain damage. It can be due to erroneously injecting chemotherapy agents to treat cancer into the breast tissue with accompanying breast necrosis instead of into the vein through a port-a-cath, or it can be due to failing to timely recognize and treat a drug reaction. It can be due to failing to timely diagnose a fracture or failing to properly reduce and set a fracture after it was diagnosed. It can be due to a nurse failing to observe appropriate fall precautions or a laboratory computer failing to properly count and interpret blood platlets.

Whatever the cause of the medical malpractice, the Law Office of W. Douglas Easton is prepared and ready to advise you about the merits of your claim.

We understand the tricks, stratagems, and defenses the insurance companies and their attorneys use to defeat or minimize a medical malpractice claim, and at the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton we utilize our experience, skill, and dedication to make certain our clients do not fall victim to the insurance companies’ tricks and strategies.

1. Obtain a copy of all of your medical records - records can be changed, and it is essential to get a copy as soon as possible. Call the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton, and we will tell you how to do it.

2. Write out a narrative of what happened in as much detail as you can. Call the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton, and we will tell you how to go about it.

3. Call the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton as soon as possible so we can advise you what to do next.

Please call us at (714) 850-4590 for a free initial consultation. If we do not take your case, there is no charge.

We can help, but only if you call.