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Santa Rosa Medical Laws

Recent Changes Impact Santa Rosa Medical Malpractice And Sacramento Medical Malpractice

Are you keeping up with Santa Rosa Medical Laws in California? As with other types of litigation, medical laws change over the years and attempt to adapt to the varying needs of consumers. Laws also try to help consumers and healthcare providers avoid medical malpractice and the suits that come with it. Do these California medical laws affect you? Contact us today, Santa Rosa office, call 707-525-1212 or for Sacramento, call 916-448-1010.

Cap on non-economic damages

In California, including Santa Rosa and Sacramento, medical malpractice law limits the amount of money a medical malpractice victim can claim for non-economic damages at $250,000. A study by RAND Corporation established that this law minimizes payouts by 30 percent. The study also found that payments in wrongful death lawsuits involving medical malpractice suffer the most.

Cultural and linguistic competency

In 2005, an amendment to California’s Medical Practice Act was passed, which requires “all continuing medical education courses shall contain curriculum that includes cultural and linguistic competency in the practice of medicine.” This amendment has an impact on medical practitioners and should attempt to lessen the frequency of doctors failing to inform a patient of risks associated with certain procedures or uses of alternative medicine when communication is impeded by cultural and language barriers.

Throughout California, including Sacramento and Santa Rosa, medical malpractice legislation adapts with the needs of the consumer community. At Teal & Montgomery, we keep up to date on the laws so we are able to address your medical malpractice case with the sureness necessary to win you the utmost recovery.

Practice of alternative medicine

In 2002, the California Senate passed a bill (SB 577), which makes alternative medicine practitioners available to consumers. The bill does indicate some admonitions, though. The practitioner has broken the law if he or she –

  • Conducts surgery or any other procedure on another individual that pierces the skin or riskily enters the body
  • Administers or prescribes X-ray radiation to another person
  • Prescribes or administers medicines or controlled substances to another individual
  • Recommends the person stop using drugs or controlled substances prescribed by an properly licensed healthcare provider
  • Intentionally diagnoses and treats a physical or mental condition of any individual under circumstances or conditions that lead to a risk of great bodily injury, serious physical or mental illness, or death
  • Sets bone breaks
  • Treats lacerations or abrasions by using electrotherapy
  • Holds out, states, indicates, advertises, or implies to a client or prospective client that he or she is a physician or surgeon

In Santa Rosa, medical malpractice laws—including this amendment—protect the consumer from unsuitable therapies and misdiagnoses.

Pain management and end of life care

The California Senate passed a bill (AB 487) addressing pain management and end of life care in 2001. This law assures the competent review in cases that deal with the management, undertreatment, undermedication or overmedication of a patient’s pain. The bill initiated standards by mid-2002 for the investigation of complaints regarding the management, including, but not limited to, undertreatment, undermedication, and medication of pain and to include in its annual report to the Legislature a description of actions relating to that practice. Also, it obliges physicians and surgeons to fulfill mandatory continuing education in the subjects of pain management and the treatment of terminally ill and dying patients by December 31, 2006.

In Santa Rosa, medical malpractice laws—including this amendment to the Medical Practices Act—exist to minimize the frequency of medical malpractice. If a healthcare practitioner does not adhere to a Santa Rosa medical malpractice law, their license to practice medicine can be revoked. If your healthcare provider has been breaking the law, and you have been harmed as a result, you need to contact a professional and experienced medical malpractice attorney to review your case.

Free Consultations For Victims Of Medical Malpractice Errors

At Teal and Montgomery, we have a lawyer who is also a doctor on staff, and we offer a free telephone, online, or in-person consultation. Our Santa Rosa and Sacramento medical malpractice attorneys listen to you, consider the facts, and give you our best advice. For the Santa Rosa office, call 707-525-1212 or for Sacramento, call 916-448-1010.