Yes, you can sue a hospital in California if its negligence, or the negligence of its employees, caused you or a loved one harm. Proving this negligence, however, requires demonstrating that the hospital breached its “standard of care” and that this breach directly resulted in your injuries.
Hospitals have extensive procedures and legal teams in place to manage these situations. Thankfully, California law, recently updated by Assembly Bill 35, provides powerful protections for patients who have been harmed.
As lawyers who handle medical injury claims in Bakersfield, our team at the Law Offices of Mickey Fine understands the complexities of these cases. As a trusted personal injury lawyer in Bakersfield, California, we know how to gather evidence and build a case to hold negligent institutions accountable.
If a hospital’s mistake has injured you or a family member, contact us for a free, confidential review of your case at (661) 333-3333.
What Does It Mean to Hold a Hospital Liable in California?
When you are admitted to a hospital, you place your trust in the institution and its staff. Legally, this creates a formal responsibility. Holding a hospital liable means proving it failed to meet this responsibility, resulting in harm.
Understanding the Foundation: Medical Negligence
In simple terms, medical negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to act with the level of skill and care that a reasonably careful provider would have used in a similar situation, causing harm. This is not simply about a bad outcome, which could have occurred despite all reasonable efforts to prevent it.
The Four Elements We Must Prove
To succeed in a claim against a hospital, we must establish four key points:
- Duty: The hospital owed you a duty of care, which is established the moment you are accepted as a patient.
- Breach: The hospital, through its staff or its policies, breached that duty by acting or failing to act in a certain way.
- Causation: This breach was the direct cause of your injury.
- Damages: You suffered actual harm, which can include economic and non-economic losses.
A Hospital’s Responsibility for Its Staff: The Concept of Vicarious Liability
Vicarious liability is a legal principle that means an employer can be held responsible for the negligent actions of its employees while they are acting within the scope of their job.
Who It Covers
This typically applies to nurses, medical technicians, and other staff who are directly employed by the hospital. If a nurse administers the wrong medication or a technician makes an error during a test, the hospital itself can be held liable for the resulting damage.
The Independent Contractor Distinction
Many doctors who work in hospitals are not employees but independent contractors. Suing an independent contractor doctor is different from suing the hospital, though in some situations, the hospital may still bear some responsibility.
For example, a hospital could be liable under a theory of “ostensible agency,” which applies if the hospital’s actions would cause a reasonable person to believe the doctor was the hospital’s agent. We can determine the employment status of the at-fault parties and explore all avenues of liability.
Common Reasons You Can Sue a Hospital
Hospital negligence can manifest in many devastating ways. While any deviation from the standard of care can be grounds for a lawsuit, certain types of errors are more frequently the basis for legal action.
Surgical and Anesthesia Errors
Mistakes made during surgery are some of the most serious forms of negligence. These errors can happen in an instant but lead to a lifetime of pain, disability, or loss. The operating room should be a place of precision and care, and any failure in that controlled environment is unacceptable.
Examples: Common surgical errors include operating on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, or anesthesia errors that lead to brain damage or death.
Birth Injuries
Negligence during labor and delivery can have lifelong consequences for a child and their family. A preventable birth injury can mean a future of medical treatments, therapy, and immense personal and financial strain.
Examples: These tragedies can result from a failure to monitor fetal distress, delaying a necessary C-section, improper use of forceps or vacuum extractors, or causing conditions like cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy.
Medication Errors
Hospitals have a fundamental duty to administer medication correctly. This involves the right drug, for the right patient, in the right dose, at the right time. A failure at any point in this chain can be catastrophic.
Examples: Providing the wrong drug, administering an incorrect dosage, or giving a medication to the wrong patient are all forms of negligence.
Failure to Diagnose or Misdiagnosis
An emergency room or hospital staff’s failure to recognize clear symptoms can lead to preventable tragedies. When a patient presents with a serious condition, a timely and accurate diagnosis is the first and most important step toward recovery.
Examples: Sending a patient home who is having a heart attack, misinterpreting test results for cancer, or failing to diagnose a stroke in a timely manner are all situations that can lead to a valid lawsuit.
Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs)
Patients can sue a hospital if an infection was caused by unsanitary conditions or a failure to follow safety protocols. While some infections are an unavoidable risk, many are preventable through proper hygiene and sterilization procedures.
In fact, Let’s Get Healthy California reports that hospital-acquired infections cost the state over $3 billion annually. This highlights the widespread nature of a problem that can have severe, and sometimes fatal, consequences for patients.
Patient Falls and Neglect
Hospitals must provide a safe environment, especially for patients who are elderly, medicated, or otherwise vulnerable. Failures in basic care and supervision can lead to serious injuries from falls or the development of other preventable conditions.
Examples: Negligence in this area can include the failure to have bed rails up, not responding to call lights in a timely manner, or allowing a patient to develop preventable bedsores (pressure ulcers) from lack of movement.
California Law on Hospital Lawsuits: MICRA and the New AB 35
For decades, California law placed significant restrictions on a patient’s ability to recover fair compensation in medical injury cases. However, recent changes have dramatically shifted the landscape, offering new hope for those harmed by negligence.
What is MICRA?
The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) is a set of laws that has governed medical malpractice cases in California since 1975. It placed certain restrictions on these lawsuits, most notably a cap on non-economic damages. For nearly 50 years, this cap was stuck at a level that did not account for inflation or the true cost of human suffering.
The Game-Changer: How AB 35 Modernized California Law
In 2022, Governor Newsom signed AB 35 into law, representing a major reform to MICRA. This law, effective January 1, 2023, significantly benefits patients harmed by medical negligence.
Old Rule: For decades, the cap on non-economic damages (like pain and suffering) was fixed at $250,000, regardless of the severity of the injury.
New Rule (Effective January 1, 2023):
- For non-death cases: The cap increased to $350,000 and will rise by $40,000 each year until it reaches $750,000 in 2033.
- For wrongful death cases: The cap increased to $500,000 and will rise by $50,000 each year until it reaches $1 million in 2033.
What Kind of Compensation Can You Pursue?
When you sue a hospital for negligence, you can pursue compensation for the full scope of your losses. The law divides these losses into two main categories.
Economic Damages: These are tangible financial losses with a clear dollar value. MICRA has never placed a cap on these damages.
- Medical bills (past and future)
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Rehabilitation and therapy costs
Non-Economic Damages: These compensate for intangible, personal losses that do not have a specific price tag. These are the damages limited by the AB 35 caps.
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Critical Deadlines: The Statute of Limitations in California
If you suspect you have been harmed by hospital negligence, time is not on your side. California law imposes strict deadlines for filing a lawsuit, and missing them can permanently bar you from seeking justice. Not sure if this applies to you? Don’t guess. It’s always best to confirm with a lawyer whether you are still within the legal time limits.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?
California Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 sets a strict time limit. You must file a lawsuit within:
- Three years from the date the injury occurred, OR
- One year from the date you discovered the injury, or reasonably should have discovered it.
Whichever of these two deadlines comes first is the one that applies to your case. This is a complex calculation that can be one of the most contentious issues in a medical negligence case.
The “Discovery Rule” Explained
The law recognizes that you might not know you were injured right away. For example, a surgical sponge left inside a patient might not cause pain or be discovered for months or even years. The “discovery rule” means the one-year clock starts ticking from the moment you know, or a reasonable person would suspect, that your injury was caused by a medical mistake.
Why You Cannot Afford to Wait
This is one of the most unforgiving deadlines in California law. If you miss it, you may lose your right to pursue compensation forever, no matter how strong your case is. Evidence can be lost, memories can fade, and the hospital’s legal team will use any delay against you. Taking swift action is the best way to protect your rights.
How to Protect Your Rights If You Suspect Negligence
- Step 1: Seek a Second Medical Opinion. Your health is the priority. Get care from an independent doctor or hospital to address your injuries and get an unbiased assessment of your condition.
- Step 2: Start a Documentation Trail. Keep every bill, email, prescription bottle, and discharge paper. Write down a detailed timeline of events, including dates, times, and the names of the staff you interacted with. This information can be invaluable later.
- Step 3: Do Not Give a Recorded Statement. The hospital’s risk management department or insurance adjuster may contact you. Their job is to minimize the hospital’s financial liability. You should not speak to them or sign any documents without legal guidance.
- Step 4: Obtain Your Medical Records. You have a legal right to a complete copy of your medical records. These documents contain the primary evidence of your treatment. Our firm can handle this formal request on your behalf to ensure nothing is missed.
- Step 5: Contact a Lawyer Who Handles These Cases. The sooner you involve a legal professional, the better. We can immediately take steps to preserve evidence, consult with medical professionals, and ensure all legal deadlines are met. All of this is to say the law is complicated and confusing, which is why we always recommend consulting an attorney for advice tailored to your unique situation.
FAQ for Suing a Hospital in California
Can I still sue if I signed a consent form before treatment?
Yes. A consent form acknowledges that you are aware of the known risks of a procedure. It is not a waiver that protects a hospital or doctor from acts of negligence. You never consent to care that falls below the accepted medical standard. If the care provided was negligent, the consent form does not prevent you from bringing a claim.
What if the negligent doctor was an “independent contractor”?
This makes a case more complex, but a hospital may still be liable. For instance, the hospital may be negligent in how it granted privileges to that doctor, or it may have “represented” the doctor as its employee to the public, creating an ostensible agency relationship. We will investigate all potential sources of liability to build the strongest case possible.
Are the rules different for suing a public or county hospital?
Yes. Lawsuits against government-owned hospitals (like county hospitals or UC medical centers) have different requirements, including a much shorter deadline. You must typically file a formal government tort claim within six months of the injury. Failure to meet this short deadline can bar your claim entirely.
Let Us Handle the Legal Burden
Holding a hospital accountable requires a deep understanding of medicine and California law. While you focus on your health and your family, let us handle the complexities of the legal process.
Call us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your case. We are here to help. Contact us at (661) 333-3333.