AboutGlenn A. Dorfman Expertise Twenty-four years experience in personal injury, medical malpractice and medical product liability law. Practice currently concentrated on the diet drug (fen-phen) litigation. Qualified to answer all questions regarding injuries and the law, except for worker`s compensation.
Question QUESTION: My mother is an 83yr old woman who has had hbp, diabetes, back pains, thyroid issues over the years. Last year in August 16th, 2008 she had experience some chest and leg pain and I took her to the ER to see what was going on with her. My sister and I were told that she need an angioplastic procedure done to look at her heart. That there was a possiblilty that she will need a stent put in or heart surgery may be required. My mother was admitted to the hospital and the procedure was done. The Dr's ended up putting a stent in one artery. Now during the time she stayed in the hospital for observation from the procedure she had an reaction. I cannot exactly say what caused it an suppositories was inserted in her but, because she need to have an bowl movement. Her pressure number went up, develops a chill that lead her uncontrollable shaking. I got the doctor and they came in and started working on her to get her hbp down and so forth. The Dr could not explain why this happen. So on Aug 19th, 2008 my mother was released from the hospital and came home. She was able to go to the bathroom a few times and late that night I was called down stairs by sister(who sleeps with my mother)saying moma cannot stand up on her right leg to go to bathroom. I called over to the floor of the hospital she was at early before released and explained to the charge nurse on duty that night about moma( severe groin and knee pains in the right leg, cannot walk on it)and she told me to bring my mother back to ER right away. We called 911 and an ambulance came and transported her back to the ER where she had the procedure done putting the stent in. They did tests on her and to no prevail could not find anything and put the pain she was experiencing on her back pain and that is was probably due to arthritis. At one point I guess he was the attending Dr on the floor at the time and he thought maybe a blood clot, but the tests done did not show. An orthero came and just look at her leg and agreed with the others putting it on Old Arthritis. To make a long story short for now this went on from Aug 16th, 2008 to Oct 26th 2008 and a whole lot of pushing and stepping on Dr and nurse toes( AT 2 DIFF HOSPITALS), because we wanted to know why my mother was still in severe pain and that we did not think this was from arthritis, pushing for tests they did not want to do, my mother in and out of nursing home and hospital's, developing sepsis, in ICU dealing with a life threaten disease to finally find out that my mother had septic joint in the right hip groin area( I looked up septic joint and it was the exact symptoms my mother had when she was admitted in Aug 20th, 2008 early morning)and was not caught from the first hospital stay. Where they sent her to a rehab center to do walking therapy and she could not be moved becaused it hurt so bad( luckly she could not go through with the therapy because she could have caused more damage to her right leg according to the research done on septic joint). My mother ended up within 9 days going back to hospital (that is another story in it self, what had happen at the rehab center)and stayed till Oct 2008 suffering through this hold ordeal to find out this could have been avoided if some one had took the time and look into the symptons that was being expressed to the hospital and rehab center from day one. Is this worth looking into for a medical malpractice suit?
ANSWER: It is heartwarming to see how dedicated your and your sister are to your elderly mother. What you left out was the most important: Did she get antibiotics and the sepsis cured so that she is much better now? If so, then no, there is no medical malpractice case. Yes, there may have been malpractice committed but unless the damages are very high, the case would not be economically viable. With an 83 year old woman with multiple medical issues, a correct diangosis can be difficult and if it did not actually kill her or permanently disable her, the case is not workable. Sorry to be so blunt about this but those are the facts of life.
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QUESTION: thank you for the response, but I have no problem about a person being blunt with me. I prefer the bottom line. But, as you pointed out my mother did get antibiotics and cured the sepsis, but by accident it cure the septic joint issue TO WHICH THEY OVER LOOKED AND SHE SUFFER way before the sepsis came into play to only discover that it was septic joint and not arthritis..
Answer Again, even if we presume there was malpractice, the case has to be worth well into the 6 figures to make it workable. I understand that she went through a lot of pain, fear, suffering and maybe even a shortening of her life because of it, but since she did survive the malpractice, no lawyer would touch it. If she sued, her lawyer would have to spend tons of money to get experts to testify that malpractice was committed. It would take a huge amount of time, the defense attorneys would fight it all the way with doctors saying she was in bad shape anyhow, that the ER did everything within the standard of care, and that even if they didn't, and did commit malpractice, her only damages were those weeks of pain. How much is that worth? $25,000, $50,000 more, less. Even in that range, it simply isn't worth it. Just be glad she is better now.
