What Are the Four C’s of Medical Malpractice in California?

Any one of the four Cs of medical malpractice (compassion, communication, competence, and charting), which are outlined below, violates a doctor’s fiduciary duty of care. The law imposes this special responsibility if two parties in a contract, which in this case is a treatment agreement, have unequal bargaining power. Most patients depend entirely on their doctors for most or all of their healthcare information. Doctors must use this power responsibly.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Since the duty of care is so lofty in these matters, Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Los Angeles can normally obtain substantial compensation in these cases. These damages include money for economic and noneconomic losses. Additional punitive damages are usually available as well. A large punitive damages award hits doctors and hospitals in the wallet, where it hurts most. This impact usually convinces them to change the way they do business and not take shortcuts, especially in the four Cs of medical malpractice.

Compassion

When a customer orders a hamburger, that person is order number 101. When a person goes to the doctor, the patient is a person, not a number. Many doctors don’t fully understand that concept. This misunderstanding, which is negligence in this context, sets the stage for further malpractice later in the relationship.

Significantly, doctors who get off on the wrong foot still have a chance to make things right. Usually, a lack of compassion doesn’t cause physical injury, which is one component of a negligence case. However, as mentioned, if doctors booths the first C, they’ll probably botch at least one other C.

Communication

A lack of communication is very common in these situations. Most doctors listen to patients describe their illness symptoms for about eleven seconds. Then, the doctor politely, or perhaps rudely, interrupts the patient and redirects the conversation.

Doctors cannot obtain meaningful information after such a brief interaction, so they over-rely on diagnostic tests. Compounding this error, many doctors over-rely on nurses or other non-doctors to interpret these test results. Nurses are highly educated medical professionals, but they have no business interpreting MRI and other diagnostic tests.

On a related note, in criminal court, nurses, patient care technicians, and other medical professionals are individually responsible if they make a mistake that hurts people. In civil court, the doctor, as the leader of the healthcare team, is responsible for all such errors. The doctor cannot throw someone else under the bus and elude responsibility.

Competence

Initially, all doctors are competent. Second-tier medical schools aren’t substantially different from first-tier schools. Furthermore, all doctors pass state competency exams.

However, after initial patient interactions, the doctor may or may not be competent. A general practice doctor should refer a head injury patient to a neurologist, and so on. Unfortunately, many doctors take an overconfident “I’ve got this” approach. They don’t refer to such cases or even consult with other, more experienced professionals about them.

Money is the root of all kinds of evil, and it is usually the root of this problem. To many doctors, losing a patient means losing money, an attitude that goes back to compassion, which was discussed above. Furthermore, most doctors would rather spend time on revenue-producing activities (treating patients) than non-revenue-producing activities (speaking with colleagues).

Charting

This last area may be the most challenging for a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer. To many doctors, comprehensive charting means leaving a paper trail. So, they chart sparingly because they know the victim has the burden of proof in a medical malpractice or other personal injury claim. 

This expert must be familiar with the standard of care in that area. The standard of care varies slightly. It is usually higher at urban hospitals, and rural hospitals don’t have the same resources.

Next, this expert must explain how the doctor failed to meet the standard of care. A broken arm, a seemingly routine injury, is a good example.

The standard of care usually requires the doctor to physically examine the patient, examine the X-rays, set the bone, monitor the patient, and prepare the patient for physical therapy once the bone heals. However, because the injury is “routine,” Dr. X doesn’t adequately monitor the patient, and infection sets in.

An expert shows where the doctor failed to meet the standard of care and explains how that lack of care caused injury. So, a sound expert is highly credentialed, yet also knows how to connect with jurors without mansplaining things.

Consult Our Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorneys Today!

The four Cs of medical malpractice are designed to protect patients. Contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim for a free consultation with an experienced California personal injury attorney. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can start working for you.