Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

A physician declared under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that my mother had severe dementia and did not have the capacity to give informed consent to any form of medical treatment. The physician did not have at least two year's experience in diagnosing dementia and could not provide information about when and how the assessment was performed. I have proof and witnesses that my mother did not have dementia and could answer questions by writing such as when, what, why, who and where, while the assessment by the physician was through improper translation requiring only nod or shake of head.

My mother was repeated transferred between their general ward and ICU for suctions of secretions and intubations due to their malpractice and neglects which resulted in my mother's long stay in the hospital for 5 months including ICU for almost three months. The hospital even revised my mother's medical records on 02/11/2011 when my mother was brought to their ER from a nursing home for a prescription of stomach pain relief to read as "she has a very complicated history of severe dementia, -----------" which was totally untrue and I have no idea at all where they got the information from. The ER doctor also stated that his assessment included dementia but the fact was that no body there even talked to my mother before or after the intubation (my mother does not speak English and she was still unconscious when she was transferred to the ICU in the evening). The only purpose for the hospital to get the Office of Public Guardian involved was to obtain a court order to perform a Tracheotomy, a G-Tube and then discharge my mother, no matter she would be dead or alive, to avoid further incurring expensive medical expenses which they could no longer get reimbursed from my mother�s Medi-Cal Insurance. It was later proven that my mother's medical bills ended up over 2.8 million dollars of which only a very small fraction the hospital could get reimbursed from my mother�s Medi-Cal insurance.

The Notice of Hearing � Guardianship or conservatorship was not personally delivered to my mother, and the capacity of declaration resulted in unrecoverable damage to my mother and her families. I had my mother�s health advance directive and power of attorney signed and notarized and my mother was forced to have procedures which she objected to in writing. It has been one year and three months after the procedures but my mother is sill staying at the sub-acute of a nursing home with her Trach and G-Tube. My mother is lying in bed all day long without proper medical care and her health conditions are significantly deteriorating but we lost our right to know what happened to her.

I know that I do not have a case against the hospital for malpractice because the statute of limitations but I am wondering if I have a case against the physician.


Asked on 8/27/12, 5:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

The same statute of limitations applies to all medical professionals and facilities.

Even if not too late, before pursuing a malpractice suit you must have a doctor who is a 'qualified expert' in that field of medicine, who is prepared to say the treatment fell below the acceptable standard of care, and that she suffered legally recognized damage.

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Answered on 8/27/12, 2:31 pm


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