ok so I just had to have surgery done on my ankle in the exact same spot that I had surgery done almost 7 years ago due to a car accident. It turns out that the original surgeon completely missed an extra bone in my foot that had broken off and was floating around in there causing me pain for years, and he left a stitch in there that had to be removed during my surgery... I had originally though eh everyone makes mistakes ya know, but the more i think about it I would have not had to have this second surgery if this had been caught originally and if there wasn't something left in my foot. Would this be considered malpractice? Thanks for any advice from someone who knows what they are talking about. ^_^
toetagme
Yes, it is malpractice. However due to very powerful lobbying by doctors, it may be too late in your state to file a claim. In Florida you can't file after two years regardless. It used to be that the statute started running when you discovered the malpractice, but like I said, a powerful lobby. So, check the statute in your state and if you can, sue.
Joanie
I believe in order to bring a malpractice suit, it must be done within a certain time limit or you forfit any future chance of suing. Since you had pain for years, and did not have it checked for the reason, plus the length of time that has gone by, I would think that your time limit is up for a malpractice suit. But, I'm not an attorney, so you may get an answer from one on here or you might want to consult one.. Most will give free consultations. Sorry about your ankle and hope you're doing much better..
Citizen1984
It sounds like you may have a very good case in terms of liability. You should speak with a lawyer who specializes in plaintiffs medical malpractice. Since this would be a contingency attorney, you would pay no money out front.
Your medical records need to be subpoenaed and reviewed by a doctor who would serve as an expert witness if he concludes there was medical negligence.
As someone who worked as support staff for a medical malpractice attorney, it sounds like you have a good case. Doctors rarely snitch each other off. My suspicion is that the second surgeon does not want to get blamed for the first surgeon's mistakes.
It's important to have your second surgeon deposed and "put on the record" as soon as possible.
The downside to your case is that it appears that you have not suffered a lot of damages (On the whole this is good). Still, only an expert can give an opinion as to how this surgical misadventure may affect you in 10 years.
You have a limited time is which to file your lawsuit so contact an attorney ASAP
Note: I am not an attorney. Only licensed attorneys can give legal advise.
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Joanie is wrong in Med/Mal the statute date usually run from the data of discovery of the injury. Since you did not know the first surgeon messed up until you had theh second operation the data would run from the date of the second surgery when you were told of the injury--still laws vary from State to State. Don't worry, your attoney will ask you about the relevant facts.
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Toetagme is also missing the point. I have reprinted the "Statute of Limitations" for FL-- the critical thing is that the clock starts running when the plaintiff disovered the malpractice and NOT when the malpractice occred! See the explanation of the statute below:
"In Florida the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is two years from when the patient (or sometimes a particular family member or guardian) either knew, or should have known with the exercise of reasonable diligence, that the injury has occurred and there is a reasonable possibility that the injury was caused by medical malpractice. This definition comes from a combination of the actual statute itself, (see 95.11, F.S.) and multiple Florida case decisions which describe what is necessary for one to have knowledge of the "incident", which is the language used in the statute.
Note the text is at the URL below,
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Orignal From: Tips: malpractice???
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