Wellness

[Valesq]

I am a medical negligence attorney. Any attorney who takes on your case will do it on contingency. No fees or expenses up front from you. All such fees are deducted from any recovery. However, depending on the case, the fees can be hefty. Therefore, most attorneys will only take on cases where the potential recovery is substantial. Serious permanent injury or death. Each state has its own statute of limitations so be mindful of that. It won't cost you anything to go talk to one or two. Go to a firm that concentrates in this area of practice rather than a firm that takes on lots of different matters. Good luck.

[Gooday]

Lots of luck.

[4Kicks]

One more thing I want to add. A bad RESULT with any medical procedure or treatment does NOT equal malpractice. You can always come out with a bad result, even with the very, very BEST treatment. Malpractice is when the treatment you have received is OUTSIDE the standard of care and has resulted in a very, very bad result.

PROVING this is another problem. Experts in this field have to be found who will review the care given and then will give their opinion as to the care given. If they do not feel it was OUTSIDE the standard of care, REGARDLESS of how your procedure turned out, you have no cause for any kind of action against the physician who treated you.

I hope I have explained this so that you can understand how the legal system operates with any possible case of medical malpractice. It is very important to understand that a bad result with any kind of procedure does not and never will equal malpractice. I go into any kind of medical procedure understanding there are three possible outcomes: (1) Your condition can be improved (2) You can stay the same or be no better after no surgery; or, (3) You can be worse after your surgery; or even die during or after your surgery. This may sound harsh, but if you take the time to read the paperwork you are given prior to any surgical procedure, you will see that it includes pretty much this same wording.

[happycat]

I did not read all the replies, so if someone has pointed this out, sorry.

Yes, I have and got nowhere. Then someone told me that you have to go out of the area where the dr. is practicing medicine as the lawyers do not necessarily want to sue people they go to the country club with....And someone a family member knows was injured by a surgeon as well, they went to lawyers in the town where they all lived- could not get a lawyer to take the case, then the injured person got smart, went to a lawyer in a large town on the other side of the state- BAM they took his case, he won and got a settlement!!! Its too late for me to try to sue the nutcase dr. that I had, but I am depending on God and Karma....

[hckynut]

On 12/8/2014 sfnative said:

I'd really appreciate knowing whether it was worth it.

I sustained nerve damage, which is not debilitating, but has caused my left foot to be numb. I'm due to have left foot surgery for a dropped metatarsal (bad) in February and my surgeon for this procedure said that due to the numbness, he will not be able to approach from the bottom of the foot, but rather the top of the foot. This is somewhat unsettling.

Am aware that medical mal is difficult to prove, but I've got that one down pat.

Any input you could provide would interest me greatly, as I'd like to hear encounters before I spend a great deal of money on an attorney. Thank you in advance.

sfnative

I have not but my late sister did go to trial. Because her OBGYN(he was a specialist) thought she was having pains that were none existent she ended up with advanced breast cancer. By then it had spread to her lymph nodes and what could have been isolated to her breast if he would have followed through on the tests, all my family believes this would have been prevented, or at the very least, not spread to the lymph nodes.

She ended up with cancer of the liver with which she lived for 9 years. This was back in the 1970's and not much was known about liver cancer, but she found an oncologist that was able to keep her alive for many years, when others had her all but dead in a few months.

She took this doctor to Civil Court and had several doctors testify in her behalf against her OBGYN and the trial lasted for 5 days. The verdict came back not guilty and I have no idea what this jury was listening to during this trial. My sisters attorney decided to take this to our State Supreme Court and they accepted the case.

It took a long time before they viewed the case and her attorney was in our State Capital for 3 days presenting everything to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately her case was once again lost and that was the end of it. She ended up dying at age 52 of complications of the liver cancer once it spread to her brain. She died in the hospital in 1989.

I have sat on 9 jury panels and not a single one of them were made up of only people that knew "night from day". On every single panel there was at least 1 person that could not have cared less about the trial and their only concern was getting it done. One of the trials on which I was the Foreperson, the trial lasted for 3 days. Now as far as I was concerned we should have come back Monday and continued deliberating on the trial, but I was over ruled by numbers.

It was a Civil Trial so nothing needed to be unanimous, including the voting of the Jury Panel on ending the case. This particular Jury was more interested in making sure they had their full "3 day weekend" than if justice was served on this particular trial. If you think this is not a fact? So be it. I am telling you exactly what happened on that panel because they wanted their 2 Week Jury Duty to end on that Friday and did not want to have to come back again on Monday. My sisters trial left the Jury deliberating on a Friday.

There was about 300 pieces of evidence to go through and the expertise of 3 doctors that were on the side of my sister, and this jury manage to get to a verdict in less than 2 hours. I will end on that note about my sisters trial.

As for what I would do? I think you know me well enough from my posts to know I would not let anything go where I thought something was done wrong, regardless of it is my body or my property. If it is wrong enough to really effect my life or lively hood, there is no way I would let it slide.

I have been 2 court twice. Once for Civil Suit against a Police Officer in front of a Jury, and another in front of a Judge fighting a State Highway Patrol Officers version of what happened on a stop in which he pulled me over. I ended up going to County Jail because I refused to sign the ticket and also told him I wanted to have a Judge make the decision on this matter.

I do not know you well enough to offer a suggestion and I told the story of my sister because I haven't forgotten it to this day and still believe that Jury wanted "out of there" because it was a Friday. The cases on which I sat on Jury Panels there was no way jury could have gotten through all the evidence and testimony of doctors over a week long trial in less than 2 hours.

[sfnative]

Hello Everyone,

Since I completed my project this afternoon, it's clear I've been blessed by a number of replies and want ALL of you to know that everything you've said is very much appreciated.

Yes, I realize the realities of my situation, but honestly cannot blame it on the device. My surgeon admitted that he injured the nerve. Believe me, if I thought for one second that it was device-related, I would have seen an attorney before this. To complicate matters on that front, I know many reps employed by the device company that made my replacement knee and actually asked for a referral from the company, as I had moved to a new state and knew absolutely no one.

That said, many thanks, again.

~R

[sfnative]

On 12/8/2014 hckynut said:

On 12/8/2014 sfnative said:

I'd really appreciate knowing whether it was worth it.

I sustained nerve damage, which is not debilitating, but has caused my left foot to be numb. I'm due to have left foot surgery for a dropped metatarsal (bad) in February and my surgeon for this procedure said that due to the numbness, he will not be able to approach from the bottom of the foot, but rather the top of the foot. This is somewhat unsettling.

Am aware that medical mal is difficult to prove, but I've got that one down pat.

Any input you could provide would interest me greatly, as I'd like to hear encounters before I spend a great deal of money on an attorney. Thank you in advance.

sfnative

I have not but my late sister did go to trial. Because her OBGYN(he was a specialist) thought she was having pains that were none existent she ended up with advanced breast cancer. By then it had spread to her lymph nodes and what could have been isolated to her breast if he would have followed through on the tests, all my family believes this would have been prevented, or at the very least, not spread to the lymph nodes.

She ended up with cancer of the liver with which she lived for 9 years. This was back in the 1970's and not much was known about liver cancer, but she found an oncologist that was able to keep her alive for many years, when others had her all but dead in a few months.

She took this doctor to Civil Court and had several doctors testify in her behalf against her OBGYN and the trial lasted for 5 days. The verdict came back not guilty and I have no idea what this jury was listening to during this trial. My sisters attorney decided to take this to our State Supreme Court and they accepted the case.

It took a long time before they viewed the case and her attorney was in our State Capital for 3 days presenting everything to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately her case was once again lost and that was the end of it. She ended up dying at age 52 of complications of the liver cancer once it spread to her brain. She died in the hospital in 1989.

I have sat on 9 jury panels and not a single one of them were made up of only people that knew "night from day". On every single panel there was at least 1 person that could not have cared less about the trial and their only concern was getting it done. One of the trials on which I was the Foreperson, the trial lasted for 3 days. Now as far as I was concerned we should have come back Monday and continued deliberating on the trial, but I was over ruled by numbers.

It was a Civil Trial so nothing needed to be unanimous, including the voting of the Jury Panel on ending the case. This particular Jury was more interested in making sure they had their full "3 day weekend" than if justice was served on this particular trial. If you think this is not a fact? So be it. I am telling you exactly what happened on that panel because they wanted their 2 Week Jury Duty to end on that Friday and did not want to have to come back again on Monday. My sisters trial left the Jury deliberating on a Friday.

There was about 300 pieces of evidence to go through and the expertise of 3 doctors that were on the side of my sister, and this jury manage to get to a verdict in less than 2 hours. I will end on that note about my sisters trial.

As for what I would do? I think you know me well enough from my posts to know I would not let anything go where I thought something was done wrong, regardless of it is my body or my property. If it is wrong enough to really effect my life or lively hood, there is no way I would let it slide.

I have been 2 court twice. Once for Civil Suit against a Police Officer in front of a Jury, and another in front of a Judge fighting a State Highway Patrol Officers version of what happened on a stop in which he pulled me over. I ended up going to County Jail because I refused to sign the ticket and also told him I wanted to have a Judge make the decision on this matter.

I do not know you well enough to offer a suggestion and I told the story of my sister because I haven't forgotten it to this day and still believe that Jury wanted "out of there" because it was a Friday. The cases on which I sat on Jury Panels there was no way jury could have gotten through all the evidence and testimony of doctors over a week long trial in less than 2 hours.

John,

First of all I need to tell you that I am so very sorry that you lost your sister in the manner that you did. It brought tears to my eyes.

Second, there is no accounting for human nature, especially on a jury. How they arrived at that verdict in 2 hours is known only to them. They will have to carry that burden for the rest of their lives. And yet that physician continues to practice...

Believe me, you are fortunate to have served on juries. No jury will have me because of my medical background, work for the military, friendships with female police officers within an organization I belonged to, and, friendships with many attorneys, one of whom was a state official. Ha! The prosecution always wanted me, but the defense always very curtly excused me right off the bat.

John, thank you for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. I agree: it's not right for someone to get away with a wrong. However, I have not lost a limb, am not confined to bed, and am alive enough to write this piece. This makes me wonder whether I should even consult with an attorney. Will take some more consideration.

Rebecca

[151949]

In order to win a malpractice suit you have to be able to prove either neglect or incompetence on the part of the practitioner. Just getting a less than desirable result from the surgery or procedure won't be enough. For instance - I had back surgery for spinal stenosis but the growth had actually reached the point of digging into the nerve so I have neuropathy in my rt leg. While that is a less than desirable result - it was not the surgeon's fault it happened.You have to PROVE the doctor is at fault.

When some people are sitting in the admitting office they are already looking for who they are going to sue so it has become necessary to make it very difficult to sue a provider to offer them some protection from unscrupulous people.There are many people out there looking to get a buck they don't deserve. That is why it is so difficult to sue medical providers.

[4Kicks]

sfnative: Just so you know, you may, despite what you have listed, end up serving on a jury some day. The last time I was called for jury duty, I was talking with one of the prospective jurors and she actually retired as the Assistant Chief of Police of a rather large department. The case we were being looked at for jurors was Extreme DUI. She said to me, "I will never be chosen for this jury."

Believe it or not, she was!

[chickenbutt]

I went through a thing with a 'dentist' who completely messed up my mouth. But it never got to the point of litigation. To make a semi-long story short, I requested my records and he said it would be x-number of weeks and I had to pay a large fee to get a copy of my records.

Meanwhile, I paid and waited. When I got the records I saw that he had removed the information as to what actually happened and falsified them to change everything to his advantage. At that point I figured I was skrewed.

I ended up going to a good dentist and got all the bad work fixed. I still sometimes have problems with my jaws but it's nothing like what he did to me.

FF to many years later when I started going to another dentist and I told him about the problems. He said 'oh yeah, I know him. Well, he was going through a divorce and - blah blah blah'. Seriously? So that gave him license to mess up my mouth and jaw, not fix it when I went back in with the new problems, and then falsify my records to keep himself out of trouble? Well, I guess it did because he got away with it.