You trusted a medical professional with your health, maybe your life. What happened next should never have happened.
A surgical error, a missed diagnosis, an anesthesia failure during what was supposed to be a routine procedure: the damage from a preventable medical mistake reaches into every part of your daily life. The medical professionals responsible carry legal accountability for that harm.
At Hodes Milman, our Costa Mesa medical malpractice attorneys have recovered over $200 million for patients and families whose lives were changed by errors that should not have occurred. With over 30 years of experience and a contingency fee structure, you pay nothing unless we win.
Call us at (949) 640-8222 or contact us online for a free, confidential case review with a Costa Mesa medical malpractice lawyer.
Client Testimonial: Jeff
Jeff C. underwent a spinal stenosis procedure on his L3-L4 vertebrae and woke from surgery with a new and devastating neurological difficulty. After a second neurosurgeon reviewed his case and believed a lawsuit had merit, Jeff contacted Daniel Hodes for a consultation. He shares his story here.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the standard of care their profession requires, and a patient suffers real harm as a result.
That standard is defined by what a reasonably skilled provider in the same specialty would have done under the same circumstances.
The law draws a line between an unavoidable complication and a preventable error. Malpractice lives on the preventable side of that line. A Hodes Milman attorney will investigate whether your injury crossed it.
Different Types of Cases Our Costa Mesa Medical Malpractice Lawyers Handle
Hodes Milman handles medical malpractice cases across every area of medicine, including:
Surgical Errors
Wrong-site surgeries, accidental damage to surrounding blood vessels or tissue, retained surgical instruments, and failures during post-operative monitoring all constitute surgical malpractice. The consequences can be permanent.
Anesthesia Errors
Premature extubation, improper dosing, and airway monitoring failures are among the most dangerous errors in medicine. Minutes without adequate oxygen can cause permanent brain damage or death.
Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis
A cancer caught at Stage 1 and a cancer caught at Stage 4 represent two entirely different prognoses. When a physician misreads imaging, dismisses symptoms, or fails to order appropriate tests, patients lose critical treatment windows they cannot get back.
Medication and Prescription Errors
Prescribing the wrong drug, dispensing the wrong dose, or failing to account for a known drug interaction can trigger organ failure, overdose, or long-term complications.
Birth Injuries
Errors during labor and delivery, including failure to respond to signs of fetal distress or improper use of delivery instruments, can cause lifelong conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Failure to Treat
A correct diagnosis paired with an inadequate treatment plan still constitutes negligence. Discharging a patient too early, failing to refer to a specialist, or missing a follow-up that would have caught a worsening condition are all actionable failures.
DID YOU KNOW? Surgical mistakes account for over 25% of all medical malpractice claims in the United States. Annual malpractice payouts across the country exceed $3.8 billion. Nearly 50% of anesthesia incidents resulting in death or permanent injury are linked to monitoring or airway failures.
Where Do Medical Errors Happen in Costa Mesa?
Malpractice can occur at any healthcare facility, from a major hospital to an outpatient clinic. Hodes Milman has represented clients injured at facilities throughout Orange County, including those in and around Costa Mesa.
- Hoag Health Center provides a range of outpatient services for Costa Mesa residents, including imaging, specialty care, and surgical procedures.
- MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center is a full-service hospital serving much of the Costa Mesa area, recognized for cardiac and surgical care. Complex procedures at high-volume facilities carry real risk when proper protocols are not followed.
- College Hospital Costa Mesa provides psychiatric and medical-surgical services. Errors in psychiatric medication management and inpatient care are serious and actionable.
- Kaiser Permanente operates outpatient facilities and a network of providers serving Costa Mesa members. Hodes Milman has extensive experience representing clients in Kaiser arbitration proceedings, which follow a different legal process than standard civil litigation.
Costa Mesa residents also receive care at UCI Health-Fountain Valley, Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, and numerous specialty clinics and ambulatory surgery centers throughout the area. Wherever your care took place, our Costa Mesa medical malpractice lawyers will evaluate whether malpractice occurred.
Causes of Medical Malpractice
Most malpractice cases stem from failures in process. Common contributing factors include:
- Understaffing and provider fatigue during overnight or high-volume shifts;
- Communication breakdowns between surgical teams, nursing staff, and attending physicians;
- Inadequate training on new equipment or updated procedures;
- Failure to review a patient’s full medical history before ordering treatment or performing a procedure; and
- Insufficient post-operative monitoring during the critical hours after surgery.
When a provider or facility knew the risk and the harm occurred anyway, that is what a Costa Mesa medical malpractice lawyer will investigate, build a case around, and pursue aggressively.
Hurt by a Medical Error in Costa Mesa?
Hodes Milman has recovered over $200 million for patients and families harmed by preventable medical mistakes. Your consultation is free, private, and handled directly by an experienced Costa Mesa medical malpractice attorney. Call (949) 640-8222 or contact us online.
How Do You Prove a Medical Malpractice Case in Costa Mesa?
Four legal elements must be established for a medical malpractice claim to succeed.
A Doctor-Patient Relationship Existed
The provider must have formally owed you a duty of care. This is typically established through medical records confirming the provider treated you and accepted responsibility for your care.
The Standard of Care Was Breached
Your attorney must show that the provider’s actions fell below what a competent professional in the same specialty would have done under the same circumstances. Expert witness testimony from a qualified physician in the relevant field is central to establishing this. Hodes Milman works with respected medical experts who review records, identify failures, and testify credibly on your behalf.
The Breach Caused Your Injury
There must be a direct, documented connection between the provider’s failure and the harm you suffered. An injury that would have occurred regardless of the error does not meet this threshold. Causation is often the most contested element in a malpractice case, and it is where experienced legal and medical strategy makes the difference.
Your Injuries Resulted in Measurable Damages
Medical records, billing statements, employment records, and expert testimony are used to calculate and document what you lost, both financially and personally. Future care costs, lost earning capacity, and long-term rehabilitation needs all factor into the full damages picture.
Hodes Milman builds this case for you. We subpoena records, retain qualified experts, and organize every element of proof required for a successful claim. Our clients focus on healing. We handle everything else.
How Long Do I Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in California?
California law sets a strict deadline for medical malpractice claims.
A patient has three years from the date of injury or one year from the date they discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury, whichever comes first. For most people, that means a one-year window from the moment they connected their harm to a medical error.
California law does recognize exceptions in specific circumstances, including cases involving minors and situations where a foreign object was left inside a patient’s body. The sooner you speak with a Costa Mesa medical malpractice attorney, the more time exists to gather records, retain experts, and build the strongest possible case before any deadline closes.
How Is Compensation Calculated in a Medical Malpractice Case?
A successful medical malpractice claim can recover both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages cover the financial losses tied to your injury: past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity if your injury prevents you from returning to your prior work.
Noneconomic damages cover what cannot be measured by a bill or a pay stub: pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium for spouses and partners.
Wrongful death damages are available to surviving family members when a loved one dies as a result of malpractice. These include funeral and burial expenses, the income the deceased would have contributed, and compensation for the loss of their companionship and guidance.
A Martindale-Nolo survey found that people who hired an attorney for medical malpractice claims recovered nearly three times what those without representation received. Over 90% of those with legal counsel obtained a settlement or award.
Does California Cap Medical Malpractice Damages?
California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) historically capped non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases at $250,000. Assembly Bill 35, signed into law in 2022, changed that.
Starting in 2023, the cap for injured patients rose from $250,000 to $350,000, with incremental annual increases over 10 years until it reaches $750,000. The wrongful death cap doubled immediately from $250,000 to $500,000, with increases over 10 years until it reaches $1,000,000.
Economic damages remain uncapped. There is no legal ceiling on what you can recover for medical bills, lost income, or future care costs.
What Has Hodes Milman Recovered for Medical Malpractice Clients?
$2,000,000 Settlement: Newlywed Left in Permanent Vegetative State After Appendix Removal
A newlywed man with hypertension and sleep apnea underwent an emergency appendectomy. The attending physician was instructed to maintain airway support for 24 hours post-surgery.
The patient was improperly extubated before the anesthesia had worn off, causing a catastrophic brain injury. He remains in an irreversible vegetative state.
$1,000,000 Settlement: 68-Year-Old Man Dies During Spinal Revision Surgery
Hodes Milman represented the family of a 68-year-old man who underwent a surgical revision of a spinal fusion. The operating orthopedist transected a vein during the revision, and the patient bled to death in the operating room. The case was resolved for $1 million.
Listen to Attorney Dan Hodes on the Cases for Causes Podcast
Attorney Dan Hodes sits down on the Cases for Causes podcast to discuss his approach to complex medical malpractice litigation. He covers how victims can pursue accountability for preventable medical mistakes and what separates cases that settle from those that go to verdict.
Episode 9: Complex Medical Malpractice Litigation with Dan Hodes
Speak with a Costa Mesa Malpractice Lawyer Today
Medical malpractice cases demand a specific kind of attorney: one who understands the medicine, commands the courtroom, and has the resources to take on hospitals and their insurers.
Hodes Milman has all three.
Our Costa Mesa medical malpractice law firm has over 30 years of experience in medical negligence litigation. We handle every aspect of the legal process while our clients focus on recovery.
Contact Hodes Milman online or call (949) 640-8222 for a free, confidential case review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be held liable for medical malpractice in California?
Liability can extend well beyond the treating physician. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, pharmacists, radiologists, and hospitalists are all individually accountable for their own conduct. Hospitals and medical groups can be held liable when systemic failures, credentialing errors, or inadequate supervision contributed to the harm. At Hodes Milman, we identify every responsible party and pursue full accountability across all of them.
What if the doctor says the outcome was just a known risk of the procedure?
Informed consent requires that a provider disclose the material risks of a procedure before a patient agrees to it. A known risk is not a legal shield when the injury resulted from an error during the procedure itself. The question is whether the complication was caused by substandard care, not whether complications were possible. That distinction is what our Costa Mesa medical malpractice attorneys and medical experts investigate.
What if I signed a waiver or arbitration agreement before treatment?
Signing paperwork before a procedure does not waive your right to pursue a malpractice claim. Kaiser Permanente patients, for example, are bound to arbitration rather than civil court, but arbitration is a legal proceeding where real compensation can be won. Hodes Milman has extensive experience representing clients in Kaiser arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes.
How long does a medical malpractice case take to resolve?
The timeline depends on the complexity of the case, the number of defendants, and whether the matter settles or goes to trial. Straightforward cases with cooperative defendants can resolve in 12 to 18 months. Complex cases involving multiple providers, disputed causation, or significant damages often take two to four years. Hodes Milman moves cases forward with urgency while building the strongest possible record for resolution.
ABOUT HODES MILMAN
Hodes Milman has won $200 million and has over 30 years of experience securing justice for victims of negligence. We are proud to call our clients family and offer them the resourceful, committed and accessible legal advocacy they deserve.
HONORS & AWARDS
MEET THE ATTORNEYS
When you work with us, you’ll see the difference. A lot of firms are quick to show you numbers, and it is absolutely true that your lawyer should have experience and a strong track record in the area that you require. However, we’ll take it one step further. We also believe that your attorney should put your needs, cares and desires first. Because you deserve more than just compensation for your losses - you deserve a true advocate.