I broke my left ankle due to an accident falling off ladder at my home and I had surgery. About 5-6 weeks post surgery I had sever swelling in my left calf and ankle/foot. My Doctor said this was normal. I accepted what the Doctor said, but about 1 week later (1 week before my next appointment follow-up, I called his office complaining once again of severe (even worse) swelling and pain and demanded I be seen ASAP.
I went in to appointment next day and he again said all was normal and to come back in 2 weeks. I waited for 2 weeks as the calf and foot/ankle swelled up even more and was more painful. I went in to my appointment and told him something wasn't right and asked what was wrong etc., and I was not leaving until he did something. He became argumentative and angry at me and said he could not talk to me and was going to go get another Doctor to talk to me with him.
After about 15 minutes he came back in (this time with his nurse) and said we both had been very upset and he had now calmed down and he was going to send me to have a venous sonogram the next day to see if I had a blood clot and we would go from there. I went and was diagnosed with severe blood clot from groin area to knee in the Femoral vein. I was immediately hospitalized, started in Heparin injections in my stomach and released next day. i was put on Coumadin etc., etc.,
The blood clot is said to be hard as concrete and will never go away. The valves are destroyed and my foot is constantly swollen and painful and I am limited to any activities and time on my feet. My life has been changed forever because of this Doctors negligence in a situation I later find out that the one thing they should be cautious of is the huge possibility of a blood clot in this type of injury/surgery. I remain very physically limited due to this and now have PTS (Post Thrombotic Syndrome) and will have for the remainder of my life with it getting even worse as time passes.
My quesion is do I have any rights to file a medical malpractice lawsuit due to the doctors failure to diagnose the blood clot? If it were diagnosed early on I would not have this permanent disability now. Is this a case of medical negligence?
Answer:
A failure to diagnose a blood clot post-op can be medical negligence if there we symptoms that would suggest the doctor order testing. In this case, it appears that the swelling and pain should have warranted testing for both potential blood clot and infection. The doctors insistence that nothing is wrong may be considered medical negligence in that the standard of care would be to investigate the symptoms further.
If medical negligence can be shown, then you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit for the pain and suffering as well as lost income and future lost earnings due to your permanent disability.
Talk to a medical malpractice lawyer to find out if you have a good case. Most medical malpractice attorneys have a medical doctor on staff or readily available to investigate the case and determine if negligence did in fact take place.
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Posted by Staff Writer on 29 Jan 2010