QUESTION
Do I have a Malpractice Lawsuit?
Asked on Jan 31st, 2013 on Medical Malpractice - North Carolina
More details to this question:
ER 3 different times SEPT8,9 26 complained same systems,Neck &shoulder pain,by the 26th I was begging the ER to watch me bc at this pt I would start running fevers 105 and convulsions & i didnt no why I,was in agongy but ER ran blood work and said I had an extremly high white blood count [which at that time i didnt know what it meant] and said they were again going to release me. My wife didnt understand and begged for them to keep me for the observation .But Er didnt believe it was serious enough to run test or keep me for bc they didnt see any physical damage,.Well on OCT 10th my wife took me to another hosptal bc at this point I was ready to die,,She told them that i needed xrays bc something inside was serious due to fallening off a high area,,which worked bc I had broke my neck &,with non treatment I had a CERVICAL SPINE INFECTION[surgery took C4,C5& disc out and put in hard ware..Suffering the rest of my life no sex,no life,,Inf disease doc&pain doc, both agree 2 testify 4 me
1 ANSWER
You may. Delayed diagnosis accounts for a significant percentage of medical malpractice cases. You would have to prove through expert medical testimony that based on your symptoms and test results the standard of care required the ER doctors to do more than they did. Further, if they had done more to evaluate you it would have led to an earlier diagnosis and would have prevented your damages. If, even with an earlier diagnosis, your outcome would have been similar, it might be difficult to prove significant damages.
Answered on Feb 05th, 2013 at 9:45 AM