Bringing a Medical Malpractice Claim Against a Hospital

Attorney Answer

A hospital can be held responsible for the negligence of the staff it employs — but a California malpractice case turns on two things that are harder than most people expect, and one deadline that is shorter than most people expect.

The two things are the standard of care and causation. It is not enough that the treatment went badly or that a different doctor would have done something else. A claim needs proof that the care fell below what a reasonably careful provider would have done, and that the shortfall is what caused the harm. In practice that proof comes from another qualified medical professional reviewing the records, which is why nothing meaningful can be assessed before the complete records are in hand.

Whether the hospital itself is answerable depends on who treated you. A hospital is responsible for negligence by its own employed staff. The Court of Appeal applied that principle to a hospital's nursing staff in Czubinsky v. Doctors Hospital, 139 Cal. App. 3d 361 (1983). Many physicians who work at a hospital, however, are not its employees, and when that is so the claim runs against the doctor and the doctor's own insurer instead. Sorting out who employed whom is one of the first things a lawyer does.

The deadline is the part that quietly ends cases. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5 gives three years from the date of injury or one year from when the patient discovered, or with reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury — whichever occurs first. A patient who learns of a problem late still faces the three-year outer limit. Different rules apply to minors. Under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 364, California also requires a specific written notice to the provider before a malpractice suit is filed, which is a step to raise with a lawyer rather than handle alone.

On damages, Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.2 caps noneconomic damages — pain and suffering — against health care providers. The cap starts from a statutory base and increases by a fixed amount each January 1 under the 2022 amendments, keyed to the year of judgment, so the applicable number depends on when a case resolves. Economic losses such as medical bills and lost income are not capped by that section.

What you can do

1. Request your complete records from the hospital in writing, including nursing notes, medication records and imaging, and keep the dated request.

2. Using the records rather than memory, list the dates, the providers, and what happened at each point.

3. Keep every bill and every explanation of benefits from your health insurer.

4. Do not sign a release and do not accept a payment from the hospital or its insurer before the records have been reviewed.

5. File a complaint with the state agency that licenses hospitals if you believe the care was unsafe. That is separate from any claim for compensation.

6. Take the records to a local medical malpractice attorney promptly, so the timing question can be answered before anything else is decided.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A California medical malpractice claim is governed by Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5, which sets three years from the date of injury or one year from discovery, whichever occurs first, with separate rules for minors. Which of those periods governs, and when it started running, depends entirely on your dates. Have a local attorney review them now rather than later.