Vocal cord paralysis

[Will_ing]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma
My son had emergency surgery for an aortic aneurysm. In the hospital he was told that the nerve to his vocal cords is directly under the area where the repair was done and the nerve was clipped so the left side is paralyzed. A repair was attempted by implanting a triangle shaped piece of plastic to hold the vocal cord upright but it hasn't helped.
The surgery was done in Texas. When he saw a doctor at home, he was told that the damage was done by intubating him before the surgery.
He can only whisper and cannot be heard on the telephone.
Is there any chance that he could be awarded funds to recover proper function of his vocal cords in order to have a voice that can be heard enough to communicate with others?
How would I prove who did the damage to know who to sue?

 

[ecmst12]

This is a known risk of the procedure. An aortic aneurysm can be fatal, is it not better that he is alive with a damaged voice? You are free to take the records to an attorney for review but you would need to show that the problem was due to actions which were below the standard of care; the thing about a known risk or complication is that it can happen EVEN IF everything goes as planned and no mistakes are made.

 

[Will_ing]

Thank you for your quick reply.
I told him in the beginning that this problem was one of the consequences of having a surgery like this and he would have to live with it and hope it would improve over time.
Many people at his job, customers and co-workers, have been after him to sue someone and it gives him hope that there is a way to resolve this issue.
One of the customers at his job is calling him at home at night to get information to share with a lawyer that she knows and I thought maybe I was wrong about him having to live with his voice the way it is.

 

[xylene]

See a lawyer.

Your son was injured, severely and permanently, in the course of medical treatment.

Of course he should see a lawyer. And do so immediately as time is of the essence.

One of the customers at his job is calling him at home at night to get information to share with a lawyer

And it should not be that lawyer.


----

 

[justalayman]

suing would not resolve the problem. If he won, it would give him some compensation but it would not resolve the problem.

When he saw a doctor at home, he was told that the damage was done by intubating him before the surgery.

How did the doctor determine this? I would tent to believe the doctors that came out and said "we clipped the nerve while doing the surgery". Most doctors are not going to claim responsibility in such a manner if they don't believe it to be true.


Was there any attempt to repair the nerve? Were they aware, at the time, they severed the nerve?

 

[xylene]

suing would not resolve the problem. If he won, it would give him some compensation but it would not resolve the problem.

There are many therapeutic treatments for partial voice paralysis. None are perfect, and none are free.

 

[justalayman]

There are many therapeutic treatments for partial voice paralysis. None are perfect, and none are free.

I don't disagree but a lawsuit in itself will not resolve the problem. It will only provide money.

Is there any chance that he could be awarded funds to recover proper function of his vocal cords in order to have a voice that can be heard enough to communicate with others?

funds do not allow him to recover function. Therapy of some type or repair will. Now, if OP meant he needs the funds to finance those possibilities, that's fine but that isn't what was written.

The fact is; nerves can be repaired, sometimes. Nerves also can heal, sometimes.

That is why I asked if it was known the incident happened at the time it happened and what, if any attempts to repair the damage was taken.

 

[xylene]

Mean Green

funds do not allow him to recover function. Therapy of some type or repair will. Now, if OP meant he needs the funds to finance those possibilities, that's fine but that isn't what was written.

The poster's choices in how to allocate any possible compensation, if such is even warranted, should most likely be their own.

If a damage award is ordered, it will not likely be court ordered treatment.

Making smart decisions with the mighty dollar is up to us all.

 

[justalayman]

The poster's choices in how to allocate any possible compensation, if such is even warranted, should most likely be their own.

If a damage award is ordered, it will not likely be court ordered treatment.

Making smart decisions with the mighty dollar is up to us all.

The question was posed as implying the award would somehow be a curative measure. In fact, depending on the situation, all the money in the world may not lead to a betterment of the problem.

 

[Zigner]

The question was posed as implying the award would somehow be a curative measure.

Gotta disagree:

Is there any chance that he could be awarded funds to recover proper function of his vocal cords in order to have a voice that can be heard enough to communicate with others?

It's apparent that the OP is speaking of getting money to pay for treatment.

In fact, depending on the situation, all the money in the world may not lead to a betterment of the problem.

This is absolutely true.

 

[xylene]

The question was posed as implying the award would somehow be a curative measure. In fact, depending on the situation, all the money in the world may not lead to a betterment of the problem.

An award would seek to restore the OP's son for damages, again if warranted.

If no medical treatment is possible than his injury is that much more severe and his damages that much greater.

 

[justalayman]

what the OP wrote:

Is there any chance that he could be awarded funds to recover proper function of his vocal cords in order to have a voice that can be heard enough to communicate with others?

what the OP would have written if the money was intended for treatment:

Is there any chance that he could be awarded funds that would cover treatment that might (would is a statement of definitive results which is obviously impossible to determin) lead to recovery of his vocal cords...

the statement infers that winning money will allow for a recovery of proper vocal function. The money is not the determining factor.


what the OP wrote:

Many people at his job, customers and co-workers, have been after him to sue someone and it gives him hope that there is a way to resolve this issue.

the statement infers that without suing, there is no way to resolve the lack of the ability to speak issue. There is always a way to attempt to resolve that problem whether they sue or not. The OP never stated that without money recovered through a suit he could not afford any formal treatment.

In reality, depending on the guys situation, he may be able to obtain exactly the same treatment whether he sues or not. Depending on the problem itself, there may simply be no resolution to the problem regardless of how much money he has.

 

[Will_ing]

An Otolaryngologist was called in after the aorta repair and stated that the nerve was nicked which resulted in partial paralysis.
The cardiologist at home insisted that the intubation was the cause of paralysis. I suppose this mistake is made often while intubating so it is an assumption made by the cardiologist.
I am hoping that another surgery to correct this would solve the problem for him. This was done in a teaching hospital and I am prone to believe that they make more mistakes than others.
An attempt was made to repair but the result was only slightly more than a whisper. Everyone asks him if he has laryngitis.
He had an implant but there is another surgery where a teflon material, fat or collagen is injected to support the vocal cord.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Although in any situation involving permanent damages a visit to a med mal attorney may be warranted, a review of the medical literature for TAA's shows that this appears to be not only a known risk, but a relatively common one.

http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/121/6/1911.full.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2113238
http://rwjms1.umdnj.edu/shindler/ortner.html

Good luck.