Do I have a case

At face value, you have reason to be suspicious that you received negligent care if you underwent spinal surgery, complained for a month about nerve pain and now have permanent nerve damage even after a revision surgery occurred.  I think it is safe to assume that if the screws were eventually taken out then they were probably malpositioned. The two questions that have to be figured out are (a) why was the screw malpositioned in the first place and (b) was the outcome avoidable. Screws can be malpositioned even if everything is done correctly in the surgery. That doesn't mean your surgeon didn't do anything wrong, it just means that whoever investigates the case cannot assume that the outcome is the functional equivalent of negligence.    Medicine is always evolving, but it seems that the specific issue of pedicle screw placement safety changes pretty frequently. Click here for a good discussion of the history of developments related to how to prevent misplacement of pedicle screws.   An attorney will have to get the records and the pertinent radiographic films to come to a conclusion about why your surgeon misplaced the screws. Perhaps his technique was wrong, perhaps he should have employed somatosensory evoked potentials to monitor the nerves, perhaps the intraoperative radiographic studies were not diagnostic. Two more questions are why it took so long to take the screws out and whether the delay resulted in permanent problems.   You should contact a NJ medical malpractice lawyer who has experience with these cases.  Below are some articles you may find helpful.  Click here, here  and here for more information about me. Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability. Click here for an article that explains what you can and should expect when pursuing a medical malpractice case. Click here for an article that explains how and what clients are charged when they hire an attorney to pursue a medical malpractice case. Click here for an article about damages and how we come to conclusions about what a medical malpractice case is worth. Click here for summaries of some of the cases that I have litigated. Click here to review articles that I have published. Please understand that by answering your question in this informal forum I am not acting as your attorney. I am not doing anything to protect any legal rights that you have.  Medical malpractice cases need to be thoroughly investigated and to know whether you have a viable case, an attorney usually has to obtain and review all of the pertinent medical records and consult an expert.  John Ratkowitz, Esq. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com.  Click here for my website.