San Jose Parents Sue Hospital For Medical Malpractice, Part 1 of 4

The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this medical malpractice case and its proceedings.)

It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, Regional Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, or O’Connor Hospital.

Defendants’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Petition to Compel Binding Arbitration and to Dismiss Defendant David Lee, M.D., without Prejudice
BACKGROUND

This medical malpractice action arises from a fetal demise. On May 27, 2008, plaintiffs Kim Hernandez and William Hernandez (collectively referred to as Plaintiffs ) filed a complaint against defendants National Hospital and Dr. David Lee (“Dr. Lee”) alleging a cause of action for medical malpractice. Mr. Hernandez alleged a cause of action for a loss of consortium. For more information you are welcome to contact San Jose personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

On February 27, 2005, Mrs. Hernandez signed a Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreement. (Color copy of the Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreement is attached as Exhibit A ; a courtesy copy of the Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreement, in English, is attached as Exhibit B. ) Mrs. Hernandez spoke Spanish so the Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreement Mrs. Hernandez signed was written in Spanish. The Physician-Patient Arbitration Agreement stated that all disputes as to medical malpractice will be determined by submission to arbitration and not by a lawsuit.

On September 2, 2008, Dr. Lee’s attorney sent Plaintiffs’ attorney a correspondence that indicated Mrs. Hernandez had agreed to binding arbitration, which covered Plaintiffs’ claims, and requested Plaintiffs stipulate to submit this matter to binding arbitration. On September 29, 2008, Plaintiffs’ attorney advised Plaintiffs would not stipulate to submit this matter to arbitration. Accordingly, Dr. Lee respectfully requests this Court enter an order compelling binding arbitration of all of Plaintiffs’ claims against Dr. Lee and dismissing Dr. Lee from this action without prejudice. (See Part 2 of 4.)

For more information you are welcome to contact San Jose personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.

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