QUESTION
Went hospital for hurt ankle, ER checked for blood clots and Xray chest, said had sprain better few weeks. 4 weeks later doctor xray ankle shattered.
Asked on Mar 16th, 2012 on Medical Malpractice - Illinois
More details to this question:
Around feb 10 my left ankle locked up in bed while i was stretching, and i could only walk on my heel. I went to E.R. on feb 16, my foot was really swollen. They checked for blood clot in ankle and x-rayed my chest for water/blood in it, i guess.
After x-ray doctor was leaving and i say hey what about my ankle? and he said it only a sprain, and i was like can i get a splint or cast or something, and he was like yea and gave me and air cast. he said i could walk on it. so after a couple days it started hurting some more so i borrowed some crutches and stayed off my foot, so i went to a doctor on 3/16/2012 and he took x-rays and said my ankle is "shattered¿ i need surgery as soon as i could, time and walking on damaging it more and stuff was already healing wrong, ligaments and tendons are all messed up, he said i''m going to need screws and pins, etc......i need MRI then surgery. also i have no insurance.
So should have the hospital xrayed my foot?
1 ANSWER
Michael Clancy
The short answer to your question is that the hospital probably should have x-rayed your foot, but your case has some potential challenges. The biggest will be proving whether and how walking on it for four weeks made it worse. In a med mal case, you're only entitled to damages which result from the mistake. In your case, the mistake didn't cause you to have a broken ankle, it delayed your treatment. Without an earlier x-ray, it may be hard for an expert to differentiate the damage you did initially from the damage you may have done walking around on it.
In any event, the only way to know for sure is to gather you records (both from the ER and the new doctor after your MRI and surgery) and take them to a med mal lawyer to have them reviewed. You'll need copies of the MRI and x-ray too, so you might ask the MRI place to make you an extra while you're there-- most places will do it for free. I wish the best for a speedy recovery.
Answered on Mar 17th, 2012 at 12:14 PM