Medical Malpractice Legal Questions

Medical Malpractice cases in Wisconsin are exceedingly difficult to pursue and win. I wrote a blog on the difficulties at our law firm's web site last year under personal injury issues. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel did an excellent series on medical malpractice difficulties in Wisconsin as well, and you can google to read. I would say contacting your prior doctor and complaining is not the right step. Instead, if you feel that there was negligence on the part of the prior doctor, obtain copies of all of your medical and hospital records dealing with your case. Once you have those records, you should sit down with an experienced personal injury lawyer who has handled medical malpractice cases. They will review your records and if they feel there is some merit to the claim, will consult an outside medical expert to review your records to determine if you have a viable claim. The statute of limitations in Wisconsin for suing for medical malpractice is three years. Failure to file a lawsuit within three years from the date of the occurrence, would forever bar your claim.... Read More

You have a work comp claim which I would suggest you have counsel for.  Also, there is a possible medical malpractice claim as well.  The work comp carrier should pay for any additional surgery/treatment required because of the stitches.  In Indiana you have a two year statute of limitations on the medical malpractice claim.  Using the wrong stitiches would be negligence the question would be the amount of damages.   I would suggest speaking with an attorney asap. ... Read More

Not inherently no. You were there for a mental health evaluation under some serious allegations associated with Baker Act criteria. Unfortunately, your credibility is not going to be very good in relation to the factual issues, and the clinical issues are in large part addressed by the medical/psychiatric staff within the Baker Act procedures. Unless you have lots of money to invest on a investigation to examine whether there were some documentable improprieties, this simply won't go very far absent some other compelling facts.... Read More

Possibly a case. All will depend on the long term results of the surgery and whether there is some indication of negligence. You will need to gather your medical records and bring them to a lawyer ASAP for review. You may also need to hire a medical expert to address whether there was negligence vs. an expected complication. ... Read More

You definitely might have a case for medical malpractice. Your medical records need to be reviewed by another anesthesiologist and probably a neurologist to determine if a mistake was made and whether that mistake caused your condition. That's the only way to tell if you have a case. Keep in mind the statute of limitations to file an action for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years from the date of the injury. ... Read More

You don't need that particular surgeon to do so, but in order to file an action for medical malpractice, a certificate of merit must be submitted together with the summons and complaint. This certificate states that you consulted with a medical professional who was able to tell you with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, after review of your records, that but for the action/inaction of the doctor in question, you would not have sustained the injury at issue. Keep in mind that the statute of limitations to file an action for medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years from the date of injury. ... Read More

Generally, yes - its a clinical decision. As you know "pain management" through pharmacotherapy is HUGE controversy especially when opiates are involved you have a 5yr+ regimen of pain medication. This is an issue you should be FIRST discussing with your treating physician. That it seems you opted to seek "legal" advice first, is disconcerting as it suggests you are more concerned with arbitrarily keeping the pain meds flowing, by confrontation if needed,  rather than discussing your concerns with your doctor and addressing the issue. ... Read More

As this has the backdrop of complaints about "giving you something for your pain" in the ER, before ANYTHING is done you will need to hire a lawyer at some expense to review medical records and history to eliminate any "drug seeking behavior" issue. The nature of the post and the complained of response by the nursing staff suggest that this may be the driving force behind the "disrespect" issue and need to be confirmed or eliminated before you make a big mess of things feeding into that issue. ... Read More

The law requires that a medical malpractice lawsuit be initiated within two years from the date when the injury is first sustained or discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered. The law also requires that it be initiated within three years from the date of the act or omission complained of (CGS § 52-584). There may still be time, but we need more information to determine this. ... Read More

Many personal injury lawyers handled nursing home negligence. You would need to request all of the records from the nursing home as a starting point to have reviewed by a personal injury lawyer to determine if you might have a case. The statute of limitations for personal injury in Wisconsin is three years. Failure to file a lawsuit within three years of the occurrence, would forever bar the claim.... Read More

 Do I have a case?  Not unless or until a doctor says the surgery failure was "ridiculous" in writing and defines it as malpractice. Until then its simply a failed surgery effort. You may want to discuss this with the secondary doctor and if he'll put that opinion in writing bring it to a peronsal injury lawyer for review ASAP. ... Read More

Typically because they make terrible clients on a contingent fee for a variety of reasons, ranging from lack of credibiilty to lessened sympathy with juries. Remember, unless you are paying your legal fees out of pocket, you are asking lawyers to risk often tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and expenses to pursue an injury case - and as such they will be VERY picky on when and where that happens. ... Read More