Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

No

No. The relation back doctrine only relates back to the date of the filing of the original complaint. Therefore if you filed your first complaint after the statue limitations has run you can't relate back to again before that. If the statue limitations is run before you filed your original complaint the amendment doesn't reach back behind the date of the original complaint.

Your question presumes that personal injury and medical malpractice are distinct types of claims. They aren't. Medical malpractice cases are a specific type of personal injury case.

What matters is how you explained the facts in your first complaint. If you described a medical error, it shouldn't matter whether you used the word "malpractice" or not.

But if you're talking about two different incidents (for example, if the doctor treated you improperly on one occasion and beat you up on another), then each would have its own limitations period that you would have to meet.

That's the best answer I can give you based on the limited information you've shared. You may want to consult directly with a malpractice lawyer about the specifics of your case.

Good luck.

If your personal injury case was about the medical error then your original complaint has a statute of limitations problem.