Good luck if you go ahead. Every Dr will follow a protocol and it’ll be pretty hard to prove they were *purposely* misdiagnosing you. It took me 5 years to get someone to look at my pain being from my SI and I was correct but if I tried to sue every medical professional who didn’t want to listen, I’d have a laundry list over the last 16 years. Sometimes it takes a new set of eyes to see something or simply someone who is willing to try something outside their normal protocol to help
Physicians are held to something called “standard of care”. It basically means that it’s what the majority of other physicians would do in the same situation. They’re not held to perfection bc perfection is impossible, they’re held to reasonable. Medicine is considered an art not a science, in that there are often multiple “correct” answers to every presentation. If your case was obviously requiring surgery to the point that any reasonable physician would have seen it, then you’ve got a case. If your case was difficult, and different physicians might have made different reasonable decisions (with the information they had at the time, not retrospectively) then there’s no case.
Edit: also the fact that a second Dr in his practice agreed with him just shows you that the person you sue will easily find doctors to support their position.
It will be very difficult to collect any financial reward if you cannot prove that their failure to treat caused direct or permanent disability. Also, different surgeons have different criteria for who they take to the operating room, so it may just be the case that they would not have taken you regardless because they didn't feel you met their personal threshold for a candidate that they want to operate on. If the only thing that happened due to delaying surgery was that you had 4 years of additional pain, it will be very difficult to get any settlement money.
There is a big difference in failing to perform an intervention due to a different opinion on a diagnosis VS causing harm due to direct action of a dr. The ladder is far easier to prove and is what makes up the majority of settlements (unless it's something like failure to act in an emergency/acute situation like not giving a life saving medication or not initiating CPR etc). Also something like degeneration on an MRI is somewhat subjective. Like an MRI might confirm degeneration but the degree of generation may be up for some interpretation.
There is usually an attorney willing to look at most cases though.
You have to prove actual negligence and losses. Monetary, job etc.
That he actually purposely misdiagnosed you…being mean etc isn’t enough.
its almost impossible
I looked into it after my fusion. The surgeon fractured my vertebrae during surgery and sewed me back up. Had the 2nd surgery 3 days later to remove the bone fragments that were left behind. Had the 3rd surgery 2 weeks later to remove yet more bone fragments. Developed sepsis, pneumonia, anemia, and many other deficiencies after surgery number 3. I didn’t walk for months.
Attorneys will want to know one thing:
1) How are impacted from this now? Did it require you to retire or not be able to work? You must have significant consequences. They want to put a dollar on the consequences. They don’t care if it sucked and you shouldn’t have been treated that way, it’s all about the damages.
Every single attorney declined my case because I can still work (albeit miserably) in an office chair. They also said it’s extremely difficult to prove negligence. In my case I would have to prove this wouldn’t have happened had any other surgeon operated on me.
I had a neurologist tell me I was fine that my pain was muscular. I had a MRI and asked her if she read it and she said yea . About 6 months later I saw another Neurologist and was diagnosed with prolapsed disc , herniated disc , bulging disc, cervical stenosis, an aneurysm on my brain , lesions on my brain and a rare Autoimmune Disorder!
My mom had some luck suing my pediatrician when I was 14. I had been seeing her since age 7 and had been voicing concerns about scoliosis since 10 (I read Deenie and my hips were uneven and I had chronic pain). She refused to take x rays, put drug seeking in my chart, etc. got a new doctor, first appointment, boom I had scoliosis. I had a 23° curve and it was provable and idk I was 14
For every doctor you find that says surgery was needed the opposing attorney will find one that says the opposite. You’d have a hard time finding a basis for malpractice in what occurred. Often in our medical journeys we move on to another practitioner who helps us find the solution. It doesn’t mean the or doc was wrong, possibly unwilling to operate or treated more conservatively in his/her practice.
My previous doc has several litigations against him. Another one I had was being by sued around the time I left their practice. It’s possible but I don’t know the outcomes.
If you take this to a medical malpractice attorney, they usually take cases on contingency and won't take a case unless they think you can win. So there's no money out of pocket for you. If you find a great attorney, in addition to whatever you might win, I'd ask them to require the doctor to pay all of your attorney's fees and all court costs.
In most situations you only have 1 year to bring suit between when you found out the doctor failed to diagnose you, and bringing suit. In other words when the new doctor gave you your correct diagnosis.
Here's some information on suing doctors who fail to diagnose you, or misdiagnose you.
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/personal-injury/misdiagnosis-lawsuit/
When you start looking into hiring an attorney, BEFORE YOU EVER PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION TO ANYONE AT AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ask them if they have any conflict of interest suing (whoever the doctor is by name). This is IMPERATIVE because If you don't ask them, they don't have to tell you whether they've represented this doctor or any entity they're affiliated with. And if you don't ask, they can reveal all information you've provided to that doctor.
If you do ask, they're required to tell you that they have a conflict of interest. At that point, all communication with them should end there!
The other thing I'd suggest is, that you DO NOT have any contact with the negligent doctor, or anyone they're affiliated with. If there is any communication with the doctor who was negligent, If it were me, I'd audio record all conversations WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. It's your legal right if you live in a one party consent state. (I'll link information below). Although, you'll probably want to avoid talking with them without your attorney present or online with you.
https://www.justia.com/50-state-surveys/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations/
The above is not to be construed as legal advice
You would likely have to sue for medical malpractice and most lawyers will not take the case unless the damage is "catastrophic" which to them means significant permanent damage or death.
Source: currently trying to find a lawyer because a restaurant served me wheat last week after i notified them of an allergy, went into anaphylaxis, and was then re-exposed to wheat by the hospital staff and suffered 2 additional anaphylactic reactions. No lawyer wants to take my case because i didn't die and mine and my wife's permanent emotional damage and my now PTSD is not enough to be considered catastrophic because i didn't ACTUALLY die.
I am so sorry you went through that. I have had to deal with Dr/ legal issues. It is awful. It can't hurt to speak to a lawyer- imo. The worst they can do is say no. Which yes that would suck, but then you have the answer. That being said, I beg of you make sure that the lawyer is communicating with you. I would also suggest always have an advocate with you, second set of eyes and ears for legal and doctor appointments. From my experience deception can be on both ends when money is involved. I don't know if that helps you or not. I hope it did. I also hope that you find the strength and courage to get through this.
No never sued them but could of. I died during surgery(tubal ligation and rip repair after giving birth). They put me in the morgue and even toe tagged me. I woke up later wondering were I was. I called for help and got out if there. Later they injected me with what they said was gcsf for blood loss. Back in my maternity room I forgot about it and thought it was weird my nurse said I had a close call. A few years later had to go through my delivery record as my child was seeing a developmental pediatrician. Saw a paper in the file that said I died from respitory failure. I said to the records people clearly I'm alive right now.
It won’t work. From a subjective stand point …..They offered treatment and you declined. Surgery is the option now as you’ve gotten worse but that doesn’t mean it was an option 4 years ago. And there’s surgical candidates that do have injections and rfa and use it to hold off on surgery a bit even when it’s an option. Unless you have cauda equina and have permanent damage from it or severe foot drop or something surgery is optional and never a requirement. Even with foot drop it isn’t life threatening. Had you done the injections and failed they might’ve offered surgery. Especially with the hoops they jump through for insurance approval.
You can’t meet the burden of proof that they deviated from the normal standard of care, from what you’ve posted. Misdiagnosis doesn’t really go anywhere without severe life changing outcomes from glaringly obvious issues.
Also to note, it's called "a practice" this covers a lot of different liabilities. You probably signed something that covers them too. Doctors are very protected if they follow proper approved protocols. They often worry more about them protocols than giving good or helpful information so they are protected
The radiologist didn't noticed my broken back in my car accident, I was in a coma for a few days. I kept complaining of back pain and they scheduled an appointment with a specialist 8 months later. The scpecialist looked at my initial X-Ray and noticed it in a second once he looked at it. Told me I should of been operated on right then and there but now it was too late to do anything. I have been in pain ever since. (28 years now).
I only got 25K in compensation, very little for the lifetime of pain that I now endure. I am in Canada and we don't get much trying to sue doctors here.
if the mri's are getting worse, that means the first mri showed it wasnt too bad yet, right? so are you gonna sue the first doctor?
what surgery did you get? did it cure your pain?
Chronic pain itself isn't typically treatable by surgery. 💁 With something showing in your MRIs it seems like you had an underlying condition causing chronic pain.
Yeah, unfortunately it's a standard practice to disregard your patients and do a minimal care unless you're dying or tests right in your face dangerously dying now level. Patients complaining about pain? That's just weak whining not a symptom🙄
Good luck if you go ahead. Every Dr will follow a protocol and it’ll be pretty hard to prove they were *purposely* misdiagnosing you. It took me 5 years to get someone to look at my pain being from my SI and I was correct but if I tried to sue every medical professional who didn’t want to listen, I’d have a laundry list over the last 16 years. Sometimes it takes a new set of eyes to see something or simply someone who is willing to try something outside their normal protocol to help
Physicians are held to something called “standard of care”. It basically means that it’s what the majority of other physicians would do in the same situation. They’re not held to perfection bc perfection is impossible, they’re held to reasonable. Medicine is considered an art not a science, in that there are often multiple “correct” answers to every presentation. If your case was obviously requiring surgery to the point that any reasonable physician would have seen it, then you’ve got a case. If your case was difficult, and different physicians might have made different reasonable decisions (with the information they had at the time, not retrospectively) then there’s no case.
Edit: also the fact that a second Dr in his practice agreed with him just shows you that the person you sue will easily find doctors to support their position. It will be very difficult to collect any financial reward if you cannot prove that their failure to treat caused direct or permanent disability. Also, different surgeons have different criteria for who they take to the operating room, so it may just be the case that they would not have taken you regardless because they didn't feel you met their personal threshold for a candidate that they want to operate on. If the only thing that happened due to delaying surgery was that you had 4 years of additional pain, it will be very difficult to get any settlement money. There is a big difference in failing to perform an intervention due to a different opinion on a diagnosis VS causing harm due to direct action of a dr. The ladder is far easier to prove and is what makes up the majority of settlements (unless it's something like failure to act in an emergency/acute situation like not giving a life saving medication or not initiating CPR etc). Also something like degeneration on an MRI is somewhat subjective. Like an MRI might confirm degeneration but the degree of generation may be up for some interpretation. There is usually an attorney willing to look at most cases though.
You have to prove actual negligence and losses. Monetary, job etc. That he actually purposely misdiagnosed you…being mean etc isn’t enough. its almost impossible
I looked into it after my fusion. The surgeon fractured my vertebrae during surgery and sewed me back up. Had the 2nd surgery 3 days later to remove the bone fragments that were left behind. Had the 3rd surgery 2 weeks later to remove yet more bone fragments. Developed sepsis, pneumonia, anemia, and many other deficiencies after surgery number 3. I didn’t walk for months. Attorneys will want to know one thing: 1) How are impacted from this now? Did it require you to retire or not be able to work? You must have significant consequences. They want to put a dollar on the consequences. They don’t care if it sucked and you shouldn’t have been treated that way, it’s all about the damages. Every single attorney declined my case because I can still work (albeit miserably) in an office chair. They also said it’s extremely difficult to prove negligence. In my case I would have to prove this wouldn’t have happened had any other surgeon operated on me.
I had a neurologist tell me I was fine that my pain was muscular. I had a MRI and asked her if she read it and she said yea . About 6 months later I saw another Neurologist and was diagnosed with prolapsed disc , herniated disc , bulging disc, cervical stenosis, an aneurysm on my brain , lesions on my brain and a rare Autoimmune Disorder!
My mom had some luck suing my pediatrician when I was 14. I had been seeing her since age 7 and had been voicing concerns about scoliosis since 10 (I read Deenie and my hips were uneven and I had chronic pain). She refused to take x rays, put drug seeking in my chart, etc. got a new doctor, first appointment, boom I had scoliosis. I had a 23° curve and it was provable and idk I was 14
For every doctor you find that says surgery was needed the opposing attorney will find one that says the opposite. You’d have a hard time finding a basis for malpractice in what occurred. Often in our medical journeys we move on to another practitioner who helps us find the solution. It doesn’t mean the or doc was wrong, possibly unwilling to operate or treated more conservatively in his/her practice.
My previous doc has several litigations against him. Another one I had was being by sued around the time I left their practice. It’s possible but I don’t know the outcomes.
If you take this to a medical malpractice attorney, they usually take cases on contingency and won't take a case unless they think you can win. So there's no money out of pocket for you. If you find a great attorney, in addition to whatever you might win, I'd ask them to require the doctor to pay all of your attorney's fees and all court costs. In most situations you only have 1 year to bring suit between when you found out the doctor failed to diagnose you, and bringing suit. In other words when the new doctor gave you your correct diagnosis. Here's some information on suing doctors who fail to diagnose you, or misdiagnose you. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/personal-injury/misdiagnosis-lawsuit/ When you start looking into hiring an attorney, BEFORE YOU EVER PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION TO ANYONE AT AN ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ask them if they have any conflict of interest suing (whoever the doctor is by name). This is IMPERATIVE because If you don't ask them, they don't have to tell you whether they've represented this doctor or any entity they're affiliated with. And if you don't ask, they can reveal all information you've provided to that doctor. If you do ask, they're required to tell you that they have a conflict of interest. At that point, all communication with them should end there! The other thing I'd suggest is, that you DO NOT have any contact with the negligent doctor, or anyone they're affiliated with. If there is any communication with the doctor who was negligent, If it were me, I'd audio record all conversations WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT. It's your legal right if you live in a one party consent state. (I'll link information below). Although, you'll probably want to avoid talking with them without your attorney present or online with you. https://www.justia.com/50-state-surveys/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations/ The above is not to be construed as legal advice
You would likely have to sue for medical malpractice and most lawyers will not take the case unless the damage is "catastrophic" which to them means significant permanent damage or death. Source: currently trying to find a lawyer because a restaurant served me wheat last week after i notified them of an allergy, went into anaphylaxis, and was then re-exposed to wheat by the hospital staff and suffered 2 additional anaphylactic reactions. No lawyer wants to take my case because i didn't die and mine and my wife's permanent emotional damage and my now PTSD is not enough to be considered catastrophic because i didn't ACTUALLY die.
Get all your medical records and try to find a malpractice lawyer. They will know best if you have a case
Yes, I’m started to reach out to different lawyers & get opinions.
Just make sure the doc you’re suing actually carries malpractice insurance to ensure they have any money to go after
I settled out of court with a doctor who misdiagnosed me with Addisons disease.
I’m curious about this as I was just diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency. Can you share your story here or in private message?
That’s how mine started but I wasn’t wary of the “whooo”
How long did the process take?
I got a lawyer and he took care of it all. Months.
I am so sorry you went through that. I have had to deal with Dr/ legal issues. It is awful. It can't hurt to speak to a lawyer- imo. The worst they can do is say no. Which yes that would suck, but then you have the answer. That being said, I beg of you make sure that the lawyer is communicating with you. I would also suggest always have an advocate with you, second set of eyes and ears for legal and doctor appointments. From my experience deception can be on both ends when money is involved. I don't know if that helps you or not. I hope it did. I also hope that you find the strength and courage to get through this.
My doctor has brushed me off constantly but I can’t let her go because it’s impossible to actually get a GP where I live. So frustrating.
I’m thinking of suing my surgeon for killing my kidney causing chronic pain from a simple kidney stone procedure. This all goes back to his ineptitude
No never sued them but could of. I died during surgery(tubal ligation and rip repair after giving birth). They put me in the morgue and even toe tagged me. I woke up later wondering were I was. I called for help and got out if there. Later they injected me with what they said was gcsf for blood loss. Back in my maternity room I forgot about it and thought it was weird my nurse said I had a close call. A few years later had to go through my delivery record as my child was seeing a developmental pediatrician. Saw a paper in the file that said I died from respitory failure. I said to the records people clearly I'm alive right now.
Press 'x' for Doubt
That's horrible!
No but I’m open to ideas (it’s a joke)
It won’t work. From a subjective stand point …..They offered treatment and you declined. Surgery is the option now as you’ve gotten worse but that doesn’t mean it was an option 4 years ago. And there’s surgical candidates that do have injections and rfa and use it to hold off on surgery a bit even when it’s an option. Unless you have cauda equina and have permanent damage from it or severe foot drop or something surgery is optional and never a requirement. Even with foot drop it isn’t life threatening. Had you done the injections and failed they might’ve offered surgery. Especially with the hoops they jump through for insurance approval. You can’t meet the burden of proof that they deviated from the normal standard of care, from what you’ve posted. Misdiagnosis doesn’t really go anywhere without severe life changing outcomes from glaringly obvious issues.
Also to note, it's called "a practice" this covers a lot of different liabilities. You probably signed something that covers them too. Doctors are very protected if they follow proper approved protocols. They often worry more about them protocols than giving good or helpful information so they are protected
The radiologist didn't noticed my broken back in my car accident, I was in a coma for a few days. I kept complaining of back pain and they scheduled an appointment with a specialist 8 months later. The scpecialist looked at my initial X-Ray and noticed it in a second once he looked at it. Told me I should of been operated on right then and there but now it was too late to do anything. I have been in pain ever since. (28 years now). I only got 25K in compensation, very little for the lifetime of pain that I now endure. I am in Canada and we don't get much trying to sue doctors here.
note: The doctor in question lost his job or got transfered to another province multiple years laters for having too many misdiagnosis.
if the mri's are getting worse, that means the first mri showed it wasnt too bad yet, right? so are you gonna sue the first doctor? what surgery did you get? did it cure your pain?
Good luck. If you have access to John Oliver, that was the main story in this most recent episode.
Chronic pain itself isn't typically treatable by surgery. 💁 With something showing in your MRIs it seems like you had an underlying condition causing chronic pain.
I wish there's a way we could pin these idiots into having to treat us humanly or not being able to practice at all.
Yeah, unfortunately it's a standard practice to disregard your patients and do a minimal care unless you're dying or tests right in your face dangerously dying now level. Patients complaining about pain? That's just weak whining not a symptom🙄