QUESTION:

Does California State law state that medications for children can be given one hour before or after the stated time before it is considered negligent?

ANSWER:

The California State Law does not provide for a specific period of giving medication for children. Where a negligence action is predicated on defendant’s violation of a statute, ordinance or public entity safety regulation, plaintiffs may be entitled to the benefit of the “negligence per se” doctrine in establishing their prima facie case. This doctrine presumes defendant’s duty and breach (failure to exercise due care); and the only issue left for plaintiff to prove is whether the violation proximately caused the injury or death, the “negligence per se” doctrine as a presumption affecting the burden of proof: i.e., defendant’s failure to exercise due care is presumed if: defendant violated a statute, ordinance or safety regulation of a public entity; the violation legally caused injury or death; the occurrence resulting in the injury or death was of a nature that the statute, ordinance or regulation was designed to prevent; and the victim was among the class of persons for whose protection the statute, ordinance or regulation wasadopted. The burden is on the proponent of the doctrine to demonstrate that all four of the above conditions are met. The first two conditions which are defendant’s violation and causation normally are fact questions for the jury, but may be decided by the court as a matter of law where reasonable minds could not differ. The last two conditions are always legal issues for the trial court. [Hoff v. Vacaville Unified School Dist. (1998)]. It would be best to seek personal assistance from a lawyer in order to guide you with personal injury cases.

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