Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Ohio

I was 37 weeks pregnant and fell down the stairs. In the ER I was told by the resident Dr that I had 3 breaks, 2 in either side of my ankle and 1 displaced fracture in my fibula. I saw the orthopedic dr on call and was scheduled for surgery 2 days later. I went in for surgery and while waiting I was telling the anesthesiologist that I had 3 breaks, 2 in the ankle and 1 in the fibula, the surgeon looked at the x-ray and said no they are all in the ankle, I�m like ok, the ER dr told me different, but figuring he was the specialist I didn�t say anything else. Went in for surgery which went fine... or so I thought. 2 days later I was out of pain meds and in immense pain, I called the drs office and the secretary told me they could not refill my script because I shouldn�t be in that much pain (I�m crying hysterically) I told her that every time I would move my leg, I would hear a pop, and feel tremendous pain. She told me that the pop was normal. I held off until night, but was in such severe pain I called every dr I could think of including the surgeon that did my surgery. I was told by the dr on call for the surgeons office that if I was in such severe pain I should go to the ER, so I did, the ER doc ordered an ultrasound to check for a clot, he removed the splint and began the ultrasound, I noticed there were only two small incisions in either side of the ankle and the spot where the popping and pain were coming from was indented a bit and now being squeezed by the tech, I yelled every time, and he just kept saying all most finished... I was discharged with a "leg cramp" diagnosis, as for the popping the ER doc told me it was �air� from surgery...???? After 3 more sleepless nights and another bottle of meds, I was in worst pain than ever. I went to a different ER and they took more x-rays. They say the large displaced fracture and did not know why the surgeon did not set and plate it. The next morning I went to another Ortho surgeon and was told that the fracture needed immediate surgery for a plate and the screws the 1st surgeon put in needed to be taken out. I went in the next day for surgery with the 2nd dr. The day of my 2nd surgery was the day the 1st surgeon was to put a hard cast on; needless to say I didn�t show for that appt. I never heard anything back from that 1st surgeon, no call to wonder why I didn�t show for the appt, no checkup call even after the numerous calls I made in the middle of the night to the help line! The second surgery was 10 times worst then the first pain wise. The doc said it was because the fracture had begun to calcify and he had to rebreak the bone and set it. I went on a week later to have a C-section. I was bedridden for the first 6 weeks of my son�s life and suffered the worst pain I�ve ever felt. This was 8 months ago and I am still in pain when walking, swelling every night and have permanent scar tissue and disfigurement of my ankle. The 2nd doc said it would take about a year to heal properly. My question is, do I have any sort of negligence case, seeing as his missed booboo, all though massive on the xray, led to another surgery and insurance was billed for 2 surgeries also the negligence of the er docs?


Asked on 7/17/10, 10:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Howard Mishkind Mishkind Kuwlicki Law Co. L.P.A.

There appears to be a number of unfortunate occurrences but whether your case warrants pursue is questionable. You have limited time to take legal action against the emergency room doctor or doctors, the hospital and the surgeon. Your claim, if pursued must be pursued within 1 year of the negligent acts that caused you injury or discovery of the injury, whichever is later. I suggest using the date of your original surgery as the potential deadline otherwise you could wind up missing a potential defendant. Having to require an additional surgery albeit potentially avoidable if the first surgery had been done properly may not be enough in terms of harms and losses to justify pursuing a claim. Your claim would have to be reviewed by a radiologist to look at the initial x-rays and an orthopaedic doctor to comment on whether the first surgery was done in a substandard manner below what is considered to be acceptable to a reasonable orthopaedic surgeon. Unless the second surgeon is willing to testify that the first surgeon was negligent it may be more costly to pursue the claim then it is ultimately worth. I would suggest you meet with a local malpractice attorney in your area and discuss your options including extending the statute of limitations and assessing the nature of any permanency that you may have as a result of the additional surgery. The cost of the second surgery billed to your insurance company would not warrant pursuing the claim as it would only result in recovering money that would have to be paid back to the insurance company potentially. You may also wish to file a complaint against the doctors involved with the Ohio State Medical Board and this inforamtion and the complaint form is available online at their web site. Good luck and I hope this helps you.

Howard Mishkind

www.mishkindlaw.com

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Answered on 7/18/10, 6:40 am


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