Do I have a worthwhile case? (Medical Malpractice)

[John S. Johnson]

I live in Idaho, the problem occurred in Washington State.

I went to a community hospital ER after suffering a bad fall...face down onto a sidewalk after being stabbed in the foot by a sharp wooden dowel. The hospital found an obvious dislocation in a finger that had bent backward 90 degrees, at it's center joint. After several hours and two attempts the finger was straightened an put into a cast. I was sent home to recover and to see my personal physician.

When I returned home, the problems began with the smells of known foods that were causing nausea...I blamed the chicken noodle soup. As time pasted I found that my sense of smell had changed after the fall...chicken noodle soup and and the smell of a dirty public bathroom smelled the same! (Not the smell of either from memory, but more like heavy garlic.) Five months have past and my smell has not improved or changed...its like my brain was rewired and then short circuited. I now believe that I suffered a concussion...the changes slowly took place after the accident, 4 to 7 days days. The ER cleaned the blood from my face but failed to check for a concussion. The force of the fall drove my glasses into my face, heavily bending my glasses metal frame.

My hand remained swollen for nearly four and a half months, twice it's usual size and very painful. At first I assumed that I was going through normal healing...never having any dis-location, in my entire life. Becoming concerned, I made an appointment with a local hand physician to find out how my "healing" was progressing. I nearly went into shock...my hand wasn't going to get better!!!! The hospital had missed a second badly dislocated bone in my little finger...the bone between the wrist and the first knuckle was driven backward about 3/4 of an inch. (on the back of my hand) The hand doctor said that I have three options at this point: 1. Pin the bone via surgery, the finger will stay stiff and unuseable...about $10,000.00. 2. Remove the finger to the wrist for better mobility and use of the hand...a cost of about $5,000.00 3. Do nothing and get along as able...we don't have insurance nor money for surgery.

I've worked with my hands my entire life...even hand-writting is awful not to mention painful. The impact on our income has been extreme...I'm slowly adapting by using my left hand...and finding less painful methods with my right hand to use tools. Am I being reasonable, in considering Malractice in this instance? Thank you...I appreciate your reply.

 

[You Are Guilty]

You're going to need to speak to a local malpractice attorney who can review your hospital chart to see what was diagnosed from the original xrays and what, if anything, was not.

Offhand, (no pun intended, sorry), it sounds like you may have a claim if the hospital truly missed an obvious second dislocation.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Without being able to review your medical records it is impossible to say whether you have a cause of aciton for a lawsuit for mal practice.

You were treated in the ER and referred back to your personal physician, did you do this and when? Dislocations can take a long time to heal and swelling affect the accuracy of diagnostic imaging.

The changes in olfactory sensations and nausea commonly occur is such falls because the olfactory nerve scrapes across the boney skull base. I had a similar injury myself only it was from a fall where I landed on my left occipt. The ER smelled like flowers rather than anticeptic, so did chlorine bleach, roasted garlic salsa that tasted wonderful the day of the accident suddenly tasted burnt the next day, as did roasted garlic in almost anything, other things tasted like mildew or rotten if ripe and I couldn't tolerate blue cheese dressing, I could taste bread going moldy before, spring rolls tasted like garbage smelled, etc. Eventualy you get used to it and avoid the worst offenders, at least you didn't lose all sense of smell. There is really nothing the ER could have done to change this nerve damage, you can only wait for it to heal.

Who stabbed you in the foot, an accident or a hazzard?

The other option is

 

[John S. Johnson]

I was stabbed in the foot by a short (1.5 to 2" above grade in the lawn/10" below the dirts surface) wooden dowel driven into the ground with a sharp upper edge. The wooden dowel was used to mark the boundry of several 10 x 10' spaces used in a arts and craft show...the dowel in question was located outside of our appointed space in a lawn. While walking to our truck for supplies I stubbed my left toe breaking the toe nail...the toe rolled under and the sharp upper edge of the dowel stabbed the top of my toe...I couldn't get away from the from the dowel puncturing my foot and fell face down into a sidewalk. The show promoter or employee pounded the sticks (several in the area) into the ground and no we didn't sign a "No Harm" release...the lawn was city property...and the claim has been processed by the City to date. I have an attorney for the original injury but things are going poorly...he says that he's going to file for a court date but then forgets and gives me excuses...I may need to find someone that is blunt and to the point. I'd much rather be told "I was busy and forgot" then being put off. My current attorney wasn't interested in the Medical Malpractice problem...I will find another attorney and review the case as suggested. I understand busy...I'm a ex-business owner. This injury 5 months old and all I have is $3,000.00 in medical bills...nothing else on the horizon. I do know that my attorney just lost a case and it was expensive for him...its unknown if he's now gun shy or what?

I sincerely appreciate the feedback gentlemen...and honesty. The information on the nerve injury really sounds like whats happened to me...I wasn't the only one in the world after all!

Now lets talk about that "off hand" comment...I'm still smiling.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

I was stabbed in the foot by a short (1.5 to 2" above grade in the lawn/10" below the dirts surface) wooden dowel driven into the ground with a sharp upper edge. The wooden dowel was used to mark the boundry of several 10 x 10' spaces used in a arts and craft show...the dowel in question was located outside of our appointed space in a lawn. While walking to our truck for supplies I stubbed my left toe breaking the toe nail...the toe rolled under and the sharp upper edge of the dowel stabbed the top of my toe...I couldn't get away from the from the dowel puncturing my foot and fell face down into a sidewalk. The show promoter or employee pounded the sticks (several in the area) into the ground and no we didn't sign a "No Harm" release...the lawn was city property...and the claim has been processed by the City to date. I have an attorney for the original injury but things are going poorly...he says that he's going to file for a court date but then forgets and gives me excuses...I may need to find someone that is blunt and to the point. I'd much rather be told "I was busy and forgot" then being put off. My current attorney wasn't interested in the Medical Malpractice problem...I will find another attorney and review the case as suggested. I understand busy...I'm a ex-business owner. This injury 5 months old and all I have is $3,000.00 in medical bills...nothing else on the horizon. I do know that my attorney just lost a case and it was expensive for him...its unknown if he's now gun shy or what?

I sincerely appreciate the feedback gentlemen...and honesty. The information on the nerve injury really sounds like whats happened to me...I wasn't the only one in the world after all!

Now lets talk about that "off hand" comment...I'm still smiling.

Forget about the mal practice lawsuit, these are your injuries from the accident so you need to see a neurologist as well re the olfactory nerve damage, all your damages are related to that lawsuit so make sure your atorney includes all your injuries.

 

[loveumms]

You are going to have a hard time proving that the "second" dislocation was not diagnosed properly. You say that they found one dislocation and properly fixed it but, didn't even diagnose the other one? This is possible, since an X-ray isn't an infallible test and it might not have even shown up or it might not have been present at the time of the X-ray. Don't you think the ER doc would have realigned the other finger if it was visibly dislocated on X-ray?

Then you say your hand still wasn't healed four months after your ER visit, at which time you decided to go see a specialist. That is a very long time to wait for something that is so vital to your money earning potential (you state that you can't write or work b/c the hand is injured). It doesn't make any sense that you would wait four months after the injury to find out if its "healed properly". Didn't you know before that time that it wasn't healed - since you still had the pain and were not able to use it?

Did you follow up with your primary care doc within a reasonable time frame after the accident, like the ER suggested? I'm sure they told you to follow up within a few weeks since a follow up X-ray would be needed to ensure that you were healing. Look at your discharge paper work - it usually states the time frame suggested for follow up.

Another thought - if you did wait four months to get follow up, I would pose the question ... can you be sure that you didn't do anything to re-injure the hand? If so, can you PROVE this? I am sure any attorned worth two cents would pose this question (not that I think you even have a case). You could save yourself a lot of time and effort and contact the ER and have them give you a copy of the original X-rays taken in the ER. Take those to a radiologist and pay them to read it - then you will at least know if you even have a case.

Here is a good article:
http://www.emedicine.com/plastic/topic512.htm

As far as the concussion - there is no diagnostic test that will say, yes this person has one or no they don't. Clinical judgement and neurological testing are used to determine if neuro imaging is warranted (only 13% of patients with a perfect GCS score have any abnormality).

If you had a loss of consciousness this would make a physician more suspicious to perform imaging however, this is still not absolute.

You are not going to get any reimbursement pertaining to your claim that the ER doc didn't diagnose your concussion properly leaving you with an olfactory disturbance. Its not the ERs fault that you fell and that is what caused your smelling difficulty.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/concussion/DS00320/DSECTION=1

 

[John S. Johnson]

I must be at fault because I didn't have the money for endless care...or even basic care with insurance?

Please don't misunderstand, I appreciate your view point...but you couldn't be more in error. You need to be on your hands an knees, hoping for honesty and justice...then you might understand through your thoughtlessness sir. I'm sure that you work for an insurance company...defending yourself from the masses!! You need to stand up and take responsiblitiy for those you supposedly protect...I do not lie and I am not being unfair to anyone. You are heavily biased within your own mind.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Let me make myself clear, I thought you understood before. You have a personal injury case for the fall and all the consequences of the fall. Your attorney should be including all your injuries, all your damages in that lawsuit. You don't appear to have a med-mal lawsuit against the ER physicians even though you may have injuries resulting from undiagnosed injuries, but you should discuss this with your attorney.

Due to swelling, X-Rays may not immediately show all injuries, that is why you were referred to see your personal physician ASAP following the injury. The ER's duty was to make sure you were stable, not to make sure you followed up with aftercare. Head injuries and the consequenses thereof are often not immediately apparent or of less significance in the ER setting than other Traumatic injuries, it is a sad fact but true. Thus many people with head injuries are treated and released, the injuries and consequences left undiagnosed and untreated and still falls within the standard of care for reasons too complex to go into right now.

Unfortunately, for you as the injured party, you do have some responsibility to mitigate your damages, that is why it is important that you followed up with after care. That will be an issue that the defense will bring up and why it is important to use an attorney competent and experienced in personal injury law to litigate your case, a part of that is to assist you in receiving appropriate diagnosis and treatment. How long before you sought an attorney? Did you make any attempt to make an insurance claim for your injuries so your could receive treatment?

Normally, if you fail to mitigate your losses, that will diminish the potential for settlement in your case, HOWEVER, since your suffered a head injury, it is possible that the Post Consussive injuries may not have been preceived by you due to impaired cognition common to such injuries, thus it is important to have evaluation by both Neurologist and neuropsychologist, this also means that you will likely face an IME as well.

You really need to have a heart to heart with your attorney.

 

[John S. Johnson]

Rmet4...my reply was to Loveumms posting only...I should have addressed my comment to avoid confusion. As I said, I understand and appreciate the time that you have spent to help me. I'm not trying to work any kind of an angle, for my own gain...I just want to be made whole by the people responsible for my injury. Without input from people like yourself...the world would be a far worse place to live...a very heart felt thank you.

As for my attorney, he made yet another promise and didn't follow through...the third breakdown of communication since Christmas. I'm going to look for a new attorney, I've lost all confidence in my representation...are you licensed in Washington state?

 

[John S. Johnson]

Rmet4...in reply to your questions:

How long before you sought an attorney?
It was abut 30 days after the my injury...we returned to Idaho and the bills started piling up in the mailbox. I was told that the bills would be taken care of through the City in question. I called to ask about payment of my medical bills and was referred to an adjustment company in Seattle. The adjustment company told me that the bills were mine and I should pay MY bills! My attorney search began soon after. (Oct/Nov. 2005)

Did you make any attempt to make an insurance claim for your injuries so your could receive treatment?

Yes, with the City and finally with a claims adjustment company. I was more or less told to go away, it was my problem. My attorney has not helped with any medical needs...nor has he addressed that need. (Other then telling me not to run up any bills for my medical treatment.) A hand surgeon suggested removing a finger for full mobility of the hand...my current attorney advised against that procedure. We aren't rich...just trying to get by....insurance is so expensive that we don't have coverage...its a choice of our food/medications or insurance unfortuantly. My wife has high blood pressure and a heart condition...my main concern is taking care of my wife. I really don't know where turn, this web site has given me hope. Thanks for your reply and any comments that you might have...

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Rmet4...my reply was to Loveumms posting only...I should have addressed my comment to avoid confusion. As I said, I understand and appreciate the time that you have spent to help me. I'm not trying to work any kind of an angle, for my own gain...I just want to be made whole by the people responsible for my injury. Without input from people like yourself...the world would be a far worse place to live...a very heart felt thank you.

As for my attorney, he made yet another promise and didn't follow through...the third breakdown of communication since Christmas. I'm going to look for a new attorney, I've lost all confidence in my representation...are you licensed in Washington state?

I understood that you were responding to luvumms who was saying the same thing as me, that is why I responded as I did. You clearly have some lingering cognitive deficits and it is important for you to understand who is responsible for your condition, it is the party who caused you to trip, not the doctors who treated you, it is important you understand this before you spend a lot of time and energy chasing after something unrealistic. Frustraiton is one of the ramificaitons of your injury.

I'm sorry I can't help you insofar as obtaining other counsel, I'm not an attorney so I can't represent you. You might want to do a search of attorney's in Washington state who have won head injury cases and at least consult one before you burn your bridges. You might try a search with the terms Washington state head injuries lawsuit and call or email some of the firms, be sure to let them know you currently have an attorney but are unhappy and a communicaiton breakdown.

Under Washington law, the person who injured you is responsible for:

* Past, current and future estimated medical expenses
* Time lost from work, including time spent going to medical appointments or therapy
* Any property that was damaged, such as your vehicle
* The cost of hiring someone to do household chores when you could not do them
* Any permanent disfigurement or disability
* Your emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, and any interference with your family relationships
* A change in your future earning ability due to the injury
* Any other costs that were a direct result of your injury

A lawyer will know what type of expert witness to hire to best prove your damages.

In Washington, you have three years to file a lawsuit against the person who injured you. If your lawyer has not been able to come to an agreement with any involved insurance companies, you will definitely want to file a lawsuit before the three-year statute of limitations runs out.

 

[loveumms]

I must be at fault because I didn't have the money for endless care...or even basic care with insurance?

Please don't misunderstand, I appreciate your view point...but you couldn't be more in error. You need to be on your hands an knees, hoping for honesty and justice...then you might understand through your thoughtlessness sir. I'm sure that you work for an insurance company...defending yourself from the masses!! You need to stand up and take responsiblitiy for those you supposedly protect...I do not lie and I am not being unfair to anyone. You are heavily biased within your own mind.

No, I don't work for an insurance company. I stated nothing but the truth and the fact that you don't agree with me really doesn't make me thoughtless ... it makes us have difference of opinions.

I think its funny that you say I need to stand up and take responsibility for those I "supposedly" protect - I am in school to be a health care professional and I think its sad coming onto these forums and hearing people try to sue anyone for their losses (the insurance company, the doctors, the city, ect). I am very sorry that you injured yourself ... but, you are the one who infact tripped and fell. Granted, the city is at fault (or the venue) but they have denied your claim - fight them. Don't try to blame the doctors who took care of you and were not able to get you back to pre-injury condition (you hit your head and caused damage ... they didn't do anything in the ER that would have changed that).

At first you said you were suing the city for your damages then you found out the city wasn't going to pay and want to sue the ER docs for malpractice when they did everything possible to ensure your recovery.

I never once accused you of being a liar - I challenge you to find anything that I said that alluded to you not telling the truth. I asked you to prove that you didn't injure your hand after the ER saw you ... that is not accusing you of anything. Its just bringing up a valid point that will be brought up if you sue.

 

[John S. Johnson]

loveumms...Your right, please accept my appology, I have deleted my post. No excuses, I was wrong.

Your motivation is your own as is your viewpoint...weather I agree or not.

 

[John S. Johnson]

rmet4**************...Thank you...I understand

 

[John S. Johnson]

I wanted to let you know that your posts have helped me, your guidance & experience has led to a new lawyer in Seattle. I now have hope that my medical problems will be addressed...not to mention professional representation in the future. Thank you, Thank you...Thank you.

John