QUESTION
Would my mom have grounds for medical neglect due to her neurosurgeons neglect to correct a mistake made during back surgery?
Asked on Jul 15th, 2011 on Medical Malpractice - Mississippi
More details to this question:
My mom had a spinal fusion repair when she fell and damaged the initial fusion. When she woke up after the surgery she had no movement in her left leg. The doctor sent her for xrays. After being in surgery since early that morning he took her back into surgery around 10:00 pm. Diagnosis was a blood clot near the nerve. She came out of surgery round 2:00 am the following morning. After months of mri's, xrays and rehab do to continued pain in her leg, she still had no movement. After receiving a second opinion and surgery the new doctor found after one xray that one of the screws had punctured the nerve ending, thus damaging the nerve and causing the loss of muscle tissue. Till this day she still has no movement in the area and continues to have nerve pain. She needs a knee replacement but due to the loss of muscle tissue that is not an option now. My belief is that if the original doctor had removed the screw immediately that her nerve would have heeled and she would have use of leg.
1 ANSWER
What you will need to do is collect the medical records for all of the surgeries and treatment related to this incident. You can request them from the hospitals and medical care providers. You should also go ahead and request the itemized medical bills. In addition, you should go and get another opinion. Essentially what you will need is a doctor to agree with what you have stated above -- that had the original doctor removed the screw immediately, her nerve would have healed and she would have use of her leg. If you can find a doctor to agree to that, you may have a malpractice case and it would be time to see a lawyer. If you still believe you have a case without getting that opinion, feel free to contact some local attorneys who specialize in malpractice after you get the existing medical records and bills. Most attorneys will meet with you and/or your mother for free and discuss the potential matter and review the records. If you are still interested in meeting with an attorney to discuss this, its best that you do it sooner rather than later as there are time restrictions (statutes of limitations) on malpractice cases. Keep in mind that malpractice cases are very hard to prove, take a long time to pursue and can be very expensive. Good luck!
NOTE: This response is general in nature and should not be considered legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information.
Answered on Nov 28th, 2011 at 5:17 PM