Medical misdiagnosis?

What is the name of your state? Florida...My granddaughters, one who is now 2 and one 14 months were seen by the same physician. The 2 year old was born with congenital tightening of the achiles tendon. She was unable to flex her feet or legs from birth. She was seen regularly by the physician, and my daughter asked about this at 8 months, and 13 months. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. At the same time, the 14 month old was seen at 2 weeks old. She had bilateral inguinal hernias. The doctor was going to give my daughter a referal for surgery. She waited 4 months, and was told that medicaid was holding the referal up. My daughter called the medicaid office and found out that they had never gotten a request from the doctor. During that phone call my daughter requested that the primary care physician be changed. This took a month. The new doctor immediately referred the baby to a specialist, and she was operated on within a week. The 2 year old also saw the doctor at the same time. The new doctor asked what the previous doctor was recommending for her, my daughter told her physical therapy. She laughed and said it wouldn't have helped. She said that this type of birth defect should have been taken care of at birth, with corrective shoes. My daughter knew a member of Shriner's who gave her a referal to the Shriner's hospital. The doctor there said he rarely did this surgery on a child as old as my granddaughter. She had the surgery done, but still has more problems caused by trying to walk, which has separated the bones connecting her toes. She may have to have several more surgeries, and a lot of pain before this problem is corrected. There are no guarantees that she will be able to fully get the functions back. My question is can the first doctor be held responsible for not diagnosising these problems and failing to make proper referals?

pjaystevens47
Your daughter should ask the currently treating physician if the problems the older child is having were avoidable problems. If the problems were totally or most likely avoidable, then your daughter may want to consult with a medmal attorney, for the older child only. It is possible that the child would not have required additional surgeries for bone realignment or healing of fractures if the treatment had been started at the appropriate time, which is by the age of 12 months.

Since the older child is receiving care via the Shriner's hospital, I suggest the child receive a thorough neurological and orthopedic evaluation, not just treatment for her foot problems. Sometimes, the achilles tendon condition that you described is indicative of other problems and the presence of yet undetected conditions could be impacting the child's recovery. If there is to be a medmal claim, this thorough evaluation would be of value in assigning liability.

The younger child did not suffer any damages; therefore, no medmal claim exists.

Best wishes,
EC

reply to advice I was given

I have taken your advice I was given about a neurological exam which was performed. The results of this was told to me as my daughter possibly having Cerebal Palsy. she had an M.R.I. performed yesterday to see which level she may have. I have yet to recieve the results of the test but do, however, trust the neurologist as she sees children with this condition all the time. Would I still have a case against the doctor who misdiagnosed her in the first place or would this be a fault of the hospital where she was born? I did have compications during labor as far as the lack of oxygen may be concerned. She was also 4 weeks early. When I initially went to the hospital due to bleeding I was told to go home(this was 11A.M.) Upon returning at 11 P.M. I was admitted but was told the midwife( which I had had a doctor due to the fact I would rather have a doctor instead of a midwife but the two had merged and the doctor sent the midwife to deliver me instead of him doing it himself) didn't want to see me because from what the nurses said she didn't want to get out of bed. I was in labor from 11 P.M. until 4 A.M. which isn't a long time but during this time lapse I was told to lay on my side for 2 hours as the cord was wrapped around my daughters neck and as I said the midwife didn't want to see me. ( and as I was also told she said...Oh,she's back again?) When my daughter was born she was very purple and they had to "hit" her a few times to get her to normal color. Would this possibly be the reason behind her medical condition?

Shriners has access to all your child's medical records and should be able to answer your quesitons as to the cause of your daughter's problems and in turn if there is enough evidence to support a lawsuit, then consult a med-mal attorney who can determine more exactly the merits of your case.

Hello again. I recieved news that thankfully my daughter doesn't have Cerebal Palsy but now I have a nother dilemma. Shriners isn't exactly sure what is wrong with her and I'm worried about the time lapse and still being able to contact a med-mal attorney. Is there a certain amount of time that I have to file if I do not know what is exactly wrong with her...even though initially it was the pediatrician at fault for not properly diagnosing her? Should I wait to contact someone or should I at least get it started now and can you change the lawsuit after it is already in the process of being filed if there is something seriously wrong with her? She doesn't return to Shriners until June.

Consult with a med-mal attorney now with the facts and records you have now, they can advise you of the statute of limitations as they apply in a child where the diagnosis is not yet firm and thus isolating the cause, difficult.

Think about it, if Shriners still hasn't a firm diagnosis, how could the first doctor? Many times, signs and symptoms may be within the normal range in the begining and later develop. In the case of CP, a child may be several years old before a diagnosis is made. In your case, the fact that it was a traumatic birth may suggest some responsibility by the hospital, but all of these things a med-mal attorney should be able to assess and give you more specific advice on how to move forward.