Back in November I had a spinal tap done for possible meningitis. It took 4 attempts to get it done and ever since I have had horrible back pain.
I have been on various medications both for pain and to try to solve the problem and been sent to specialists. Nobody seems to know what is wrong and therefore nothing is really helping.
I have had to quit my job because I can't stand on the hard floors for an extended length of time. Traveling has become unbearable and something I no longer enjoy.
I have had to miss classes and activities with friends because I'm either too tired from the pain meds or in alot of pain.
I am considering talking to a lawyer as before the spinal taps I did not have these problems but would like some outside opinions first. Would I have even a shot at winning a case?
I have had spinal taps before with no detrimental effects and I have also had meningitis before but it turned out I had a bad virus but because of my history they were being cautious.
Patrick G
Medical malpractice is very difficult to prove.
You have to be able to convince a judge or jury that the physician or medical practitioner acted in negligence or outside of the standard of care.
A defense attorney could easily... very easily explain that your symptoms of back pain are a result of the suspected meningitis, an unfortunate side effect of whatever was ailing you.... not the spinal taps.
UNfortunately, people throw the term "malpractice" around quite caviler without understanding what it truly means.
Your best bet is to sit down with a REPUTABLE attorney who handles malpractice and ask them.
Rodney
I think you have a chance of winning the case. My advice would be to get a copy of your medical records before and after the operation to compare and contrast. In this way, a medical malpractice attorney could assess your case.
Volks
I doubt you'd be able to prove this case for several reasons.
Just like an IV, the doctor can't always hit the exact spot every time when doing a tap. Sometimes they get it on their first try, sometimes they can try 20 times and not get it. That isn't malpractice, it's just the way it is. It's a very precise spot and they won't always get it on their first try.
Besides, you could get the back pain from a spinal tap even if they got it on their first try. Good luck proving that it was the subsequent ones that actually caused your pain.
And you couldn't win by saying you didn't need the tap, because when meningitis is suspected, they MUST do a tap to make sure it's not bacterial meningitis (which could kill you in a matter of hours).
And in addition to all that, the residual pain could be from the meningitis. You can have residual issues for the rest of your life due to one case of meningitis.
And if that isn't enough, you (or your guardian) signed a consent form before the did the tap stating the risks involved.
As much as it sucks for you to have to live with this, I really don't see how you have any case at all.
Orignal From: Possible Medical Malpractice?
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