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Malpractice?

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Alynn2

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

My husband went to a Pain Clinic for severe pain in his upper neck. He had MRI's done on his neck and was told he had Degenerative Disk Disease and that he had a back and neck of a 70 year old. My husband is 41. He was given 3 Cortosone shots in his neck which helped. He asked if therapy would be helpful and was told not likely. He was then told that he could not have any more cortosone shots and that his only options left was to try a in office procedure called Radiofrequency or Neck surgery. He told the doctor he didn't want to have surgery. So he had the radiofrequency done. The procedure was very painful and he missed several days of work because of it. In addition, he had no pain relief and now has tingling in his neck and is hypersensitive to hot or cold. Meaning he can no longer put a heating pad or ice on his neck to relieve some of the pain. He also begun to have pain in his elbows and wrists after the procedure. He had none of this before. Two weeks after the procedure he met with a nurse at the clinic who told him he could have more cortosone shots or he could try a muscle stimulator and he was also given some numbing patches called Lidoderm. If we would have know about these options he never would have considered having the Radiofrequecy done.

The clinic also told him he could no longer be prescribed Percaset for the pain and could chose to take Oxycotton or Methadone or 3 other choices. My husbands job requires him to be able to walk up and down steps, along beams and see straight lines, none of which would be possible on these highly addictive medications. He told them he would not take them because of these concerns. They discontined all pain medications for him.

I also found out after some research that the doctor who treated him lists his specialty as Anesteiology. Do we have a legitimate case for Medical malpractice?
 


rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
Alynn2 said:
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

My husband went to a Pain Clinic for severe pain in his upper neck. He had MRI's done on his neck and was told he had Degenerative Disk Disease and that he had a back and neck of a 70 year old. My husband is 41. He was given 3 Cortosone shots in his neck which helped. He asked if therapy would be helpful and was told not likely. He was then told that he could not have any more cortosone shots and that his only options left was to try a in office procedure called Radiofrequency or Neck surgery. He told the doctor he didn't want to have surgery. So he had the radiofrequency done. The procedure was very painful and he missed several days of work because of it. In addition, he had no pain relief and now has tingling in his neck and is hypersensitive to hot or cold. Meaning he can no longer put a heating pad or ice on his neck to relieve some of the pain. He also begun to have pain in his elbows and wrists after the procedure. He had none of this before. Two weeks after the procedure he met with a nurse at the clinic who told him he could have more cortosone shots or he could try a muscle stimulator and he was also given some numbing patches called Lidoderm. If we would have know about these options he never would have considered having the Radiofrequecy done.

The clinic also told him he could no longer be prescribed Percaset for the pain and could chose to take Oxycotton or Methadone or 3 other choices. My husbands job requires him to be able to walk up and down steps, along beams and see straight lines, none of which would be possible on these highly addictive medications. He told them he would not take them because of these concerns. They discontined all pain medications for him.

I also found out after some research that the doctor who treated him lists his specialty as Anesteiology. Do we have a legitimate case for Medical malpractice?
Percocet is the brand name for the combination of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and oxycodone. Percocet is prescribed for moderate to moderately severe pain. It is also addictive.

A nurse he talks to after the proceedure is not an expert opinion when not in a clinical setting. I suggest you husband seek a second opinion for chronic pain management.
 

ellencee

Senior Member
Alynn2 said:
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

My husband went to a Pain Clinic for severe pain in his upper neck. He had MRI's done on his neck and was told he had Degenerative Disk Disease and that he had a back and neck of a 70 year old. My husband is 41. He was given 3 Cortosone shots in his neck which helped. He asked if therapy would be helpful and was told not likely. He was then told that he could not have any more cortosone shots and that his only options left was to try a in office procedure called Radiofrequency or Neck surgery. He told the doctor he didn't want to have surgery. So he had the radiofrequency done. The procedure was very painful and he missed several days of work because of it. In addition, he had no pain relief and now has tingling in his neck and is hypersensitive to hot or cold. Meaning he can no longer put a heating pad or ice on his neck to relieve some of the pain. He also begun to have pain in his elbows and wrists after the procedure. He had none of this before. Two weeks after the procedure he met with a nurse at the clinic who told him he could have more cortosone shots or he could try a muscle stimulator and he was also given some numbing patches called Lidoderm. If we would have know about these options he never would have considered having the Radiofrequecy done.

The clinic also told him he could no longer be prescribed Percaset for the pain and could chose to take Oxycotton or Methadone or 3 other choices. My husbands job requires him to be able to walk up and down steps, along beams and see straight lines, none of which would be possible on these highly addictive medications. He told them he would not take them because of these concerns. They discontined all pain medications for him.

I also found out after some research that the doctor who treated him lists his specialty as Anesteiology. Do we have a legitimate case for Medical malpractice?
No, your husband doesn't have a valid complaint. The only malpractice I see is the nurse practicing medicine without a license unless said nurse functions at higher level of practice in compliance with the state's licensing board's requirements. No damage resulted from the nurse's action, though.

Your husband is a danger to himself and others at work. He should not be performing the duties you described.

If your husband has not been evaluated by a neurosurgeon, he should be.

EC
 

Alynn2

Junior Member
My husband is not a danger to himself nor his co-workers. Not sure where you got that idea from. He can do his job now just fine but with some pain. Also Percaset is considered to be habit forming not addictive. He has been told by his regular doctor that if it works and he is not having any adverse effects than its ok for him to continue its use. When he is out of his medication he doesn't have any withdrawl symtoms or adverse effects. Why would he chose to take a medication that is so addictive that you would need to go through detox to go off of it. After all Methadone is used for heroin addicts. The issue I have is that we were not fully informed about all of our options prior to consenting to a procedure that obviously was not done properly because the nerve that is pinched was not affected. It was suppose to be burned which essentially kills it and therefore not pain.

Also the nurse was the person who consulted you after the procedure to see how you were doing after the procedure. If indeed she shouldn't have been giving advice would that not constitute malpractice in that a nurse was giving medical advice beyond her training. My husband has seen a Nurologist after he went to this clinic. He was given a nerve test which indicated that he indeed has a pinched nerve but there doesn't appear to be any nerve damage.
 

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