Legal advice - medical malpractice

[molten_dragon]

In May last year my wife had an ectopic pregnancy and got a methotrexate shot to end it. After she got the shot, she had some pain around the injection site for a few weeks. She called the hospital about it and they told her that was normal and it should go away in a few weeks. It did eventually go away, but since then, every couple of months it will hurt a little bit again, but nothing serious enough to really worry about until recently.

Starting Monday this week, she's been having pain and cramping in her leg, badly enough that it's keeping her up at night. She finally went to the doctor about it yesterday, and after an X-ray, they told her it's a pinched nerve. Her doctor that did the X-ray said it looks like it's from the methotrexate shot, because he can see where they gave it to her, and it's right where one of the nerves in her leg is. The doctor thinks that when they gave her the shot, they hit that nerve and that's what's causing it.

He said that the pain should probably go away in a week or two, but that it might come back from time to time. He also said that in rare cases it can get worse, eventually requiring surgery to correct or she'll basically lose the use of that leg.

We discussed a little bit last night whether we should talk to a lawyer about it. We're both pretty torn on the issue. Neither of us is a big fan of the "sue everything" mentality of the American public. However, this seems like it might be legitimate malpractice that's putting my wife in pain and costing us money. We discussed just waiting to see if it would get worse, and then considering a lawsuit, but I did some looking, and the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Michigan is 2 years, so if we did want to do something, it would need to happen fairly soon.

Does anyone have any advice? Does it sound like legitimate malpractice, or are we just being petty? Is it worth talking to a lawyer about?

 

[X Factor]

Sounds a little petty to me, but then I am being sued over a car wreck that happened two years ago and I feel the claims are ridiculous, so I'm a little sensitive to frivolous lawsuits. By any chance, did your wife happen to lose any psychic ability as a result of the shot?

 

[minnie616]

I don't know if you can sue the Doctor or hospital but in Michigan you cannot sue the drug company if the drug was FDA approved even if later it was found to be a" bad drug".

 

[Fisher]

Sounds a little petty to me, but then I am being sued over a car wreck that happened two years ago and I feel the claims are ridiculous, so I'm a little sensitive to frivolous lawsuits. By any chance, did your wife happen to lose any psychic ability as a result of the shot?

Depends on where you live, but sounds like they ran up against a statute of limitations, your insurance had not settled, and they were leaving their door open. I am inclined to ask, "So are you insured by GEICO or Allstate?" LOL Those two almost always make you sue their insured before they will settle a claim with a lawyer.

........

It is up to you. In my state, medical malpractice is a very expensive undertaking, it is hard to maintain the suit, and if you lose, you could have some huge out of pocket expenses even on a contingency case. I suppose if it is not as cumbersome in your state, you could get the lawyer to at least preserve the claim before the statute runs.

 

[Captain Adverse]

In May last year my wife had an ectopic pregnancy and got a methotrexate shot to end it. After she got the shot, she had some pain around the injection site for a few weeks. She called the hospital about it and they told her that was normal and it should go away in a few weeks. It did eventually go away, but since then, every couple of months it will hurt a little bit again, but nothing serious enough to really worry about until recently.

Starting Monday this week, she's been having pain and cramping in her leg, badly enough that it's keeping her up at night. She finally went to the doctor about it yesterday, and after an X-ray, they told her it's a pinched nerve. Her doctor that did the X-ray said it looks like it's from the methotrexate shot, because he can see where they gave it to her, and it's right where one of the nerves in her leg is. The doctor thinks that when they gave her the shot, they hit that nerve and that's what's causing it.

He said that the pain should probably go away in a week or two, but that it might come back from time to time. He also said that in rare cases it can get worse, eventually requiring surgery to correct or she'll basically lose the use of that leg.

We discussed a little bit last night whether we should talk to a lawyer about it. We're both pretty torn on the issue. Neither of us is a big fan of the "sue everything" mentality of the American public. However, this seems like it might be legitimate malpractice that's putting my wife in pain and costing us money. We discussed just waiting to see if it would get worse, and then considering a lawsuit, but I did some looking, and the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Michigan is 2 years, so if we did want to do something, it would need to happen fairly soon.

Does anyone have any advice? Does it sound like legitimate malpractice, or are we just being petty? Is it worth talking to a lawyer about?

If you really think that you have been harmed by the Hospital it won't hurt to get seek a free consult with a few lawyers who specialize in medical malpractice. Here's where you find out if you REALLY have a case...do the attorneys offer to take the case on a contingency basis? That means they are willing to pursue the case and only get paid from the award amount if you win. If you lose, the lawyer gets nothing for his labor.

The problem with that is, you will still be liable for any expenses in pursuing the case. These include expert medical witnesses and medical exams, plus filing fees, document production, copying, etc. In which case you must make certain that your contingency contract gives you a lions share in the award PLUS reimbursement for all such expenses you had to pay for.

If you decide to proceed don't just sign the agreement, read it carefully and make sure you are clearly going to come out on top. Otherwise 2/3 will go to the lawyer and his medical support, plus expenses.

 

[molten_dragon]

Sounds a little petty to me, but then I am being sued over a car wreck that happened two years ago and I feel the claims are ridiculous, so I'm a little sensitive to frivolous lawsuits. By any chance, did your wife happen to lose any psychic ability as a result of the shot?

No, I'm pretty sure she never had any psychic abilities in the first place (though sometimes she seems to think I do).

I agree, it does seem a little petty to me, but what worries me is that if we do nothing, and it does become a serious issue, the statute of limitations will have passed and there will be nothing we can do.

Michigan does have a clause in the malpractice laws that allows you to file suit within 6 months of learning about the problem, out to a maximum of 6 years, but I don't know if a minor problem turning into a serious one would count under that.

 

[molten_dragon]

I don't know if you can sue the Doctor or hospital but in Michigan you cannot sue the drug company if the drug was FDA approved even if later it was found to be a" bad drug".

It's not the drug in particular that did it, so we wouldn't be suing the drug company if we decided to file a suit. What her doctor believes happened is that when the doctor gave her the shot, he hit the nerve (or the protective coating around the nerve) with the needle. So it would be a lawsuit against the doctor or hospital.

 

[lizzie]

In May last year my wife had an ectopic pregnancy and got a methotrexate shot to end it. After she got the shot, she had some pain around the injection site for a few weeks. She called the hospital about it and they told her that was normal and it should go away in a few weeks. It did eventually go away, but since then, every couple of months it will hurt a little bit again, but nothing serious enough to really worry about until recently.

Does anyone have any advice? Does it sound like legitimate malpractice, or are we just being petty? Is it worth talking to a lawyer about?

It's really hard to say, without having first hand knowledge of where and how the shot was given. There's a sciatic nerve that runs essentially down the middle of the buttcheek, and down into the leg, and if it is injured or pinched, it can cause what is called "sciatica". An intramuscular injection should be given in the upper outer quadrant of the buttock in order to stay away from the sciatic nerve, so a nurse giving the injection in the wrong place would be my blind guess as to what happened in your wife's case. It's not common, but it does happen. In fact, many years ago, I went to a doctor for a sinus infection, and his nurse was going to give me a steroid injection in the butt for it, and I had to specifically instruct her not to give it where she had planned to, for this very reason. Is it a case for a lawsuit? I'm not sure, but it is something that I would check into further, because it is not typical to have recurrent chronic pain from a simple injection, unless maybe it was the drug itself which caused it.

 

[justabubba]

did the physician you and your wife recently met with indicate that this was a preventable outcome?
did he indicate that the administration of the injection was in anyway inconsistent with the accepted protocol for that procedure?

 

[X Factor]

Depends on where you live, but sounds like they ran up against a statute of limitations, your insurance had not settled, and they were leaving their door open. I am inclined to ask, "So are you insured by GEICO or Allstate?" LOL Those two almost always make you sue their insured before they will settle a claim with a lawyer.

No, it's neither of those and you're right, it is a two year statute. I do know my insurance offered more than 3 grand to settle it (which would be more than enough to cover the damage to the vehicle). It was a very low speed impact but the petition makes it sound like it was the crash of the century. I really feel they're just trying to shake down my insurance company.

 

[Fisher]

No, it's neither of those and you're right, it is a two year statute. I do know my insurance offered more than 3 grand to settle it (which would be more than enough to cover the damage to the vehicle). It was a very low speed impact but the petition makes it sound like it was the crash of the century. I really feel they're just trying to shake down my insurance company.

Well if they went to the ER, $3K might would cover the bill, but might not. Either way, they will probably settle it at some point.

 

[davidtaylorjr]

In May last year my wife had an ectopic pregnancy and got a methotrexate shot to end it. After she got the shot, she had some pain around the injection site for a few weeks. She called the hospital about it and they told her that was normal and it should go away in a few weeks. It did eventually go away, but since then, every couple of months it will hurt a little bit again, but nothing serious enough to really worry about until recently.

Starting Monday this week, she's been having pain and cramping in her leg, badly enough that it's keeping her up at night. She finally went to the doctor about it yesterday, and after an X-ray, they told her it's a pinched nerve. Her doctor that did the X-ray said it looks like it's from the methotrexate shot, because he can see where they gave it to her, and it's right where one of the nerves in her leg is. The doctor thinks that when they gave her the shot, they hit that nerve and that's what's causing it.

He said that the pain should probably go away in a week or two, but that it might come back from time to time. He also said that in rare cases it can get worse, eventually requiring surgery to correct or she'll basically lose the use of that leg.

We discussed a little bit last night whether we should talk to a lawyer about it. We're both pretty torn on the issue. Neither of us is a big fan of the "sue everything" mentality of the American public. However, this seems like it might be legitimate malpractice that's putting my wife in pain and costing us money. We discussed just waiting to see if it would get worse, and then considering a lawsuit, but I did some looking, and the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Michigan is 2 years, so if we did want to do something, it would need to happen fairly soon.

Does anyone have any advice? Does it sound like legitimate malpractice, or are we just being petty? Is it worth talking to a lawyer about?

Malpractice is a stretch. Nerves are not always 100% in the same place on everyone, and they wouldn't have a way to know they were hitting the nerve. It's unfortunate but I don't see how it is the medical facilities liability.

 

[X Factor]

Well if they went to the ER, $3K might would cover the bill, but might not. Either way, they will probably settle it at some point.

I'm completely supportive of my insurance fighting this as much as possible. The injuries claimed could not have occurred. They're just trying to reach into some deep pockets.

 

[Superfly]

MD - talk to a lawyer. It'll be worth the cash to just talk to him and see.

This happened to me. It's not gross or anything, but just might be TMI for some people.

Spoiler

Many years ago, after my 16 year old was born, I got pregnant. I lost the baby after a week, and had to have a DNC. I went in for what was to be a routine DNC. The Dr told me that I would experience some cramping, and that was normal. That was around 10am. By 11pm, I was hemorrhaging and in what could only be described as full-blown labor. My husband took me to the ER, and the doctor (same one) told me to "man up" and quit crying, because she told me I was going to be in pain. They did an exam and decided to do a second DNC the next morning. This time, I almost bled out. The doctor (same one) had lacerated my cervix and couldn't get the bleeding stopped. At one point, she threw up her hands and said she'd done all she could do. The nurses ran out in the hall and found another doctor (the one who delivered my 16 year old) and he came in and repaired her damage. I was oblivious to it all until I woke up several hours later, and my husband was crying by the hospital bed. We had a couple of nurses come up and say they'd never seen a doctor just quit because she didn't know what else to do, and that they'd be glad to testify as we had a good case against the doctor. A while after I'd gotten out, and felt up to going, we met with a lawyer. He told me the only way we would have a case would be if I had died. The legislators in the state of Alabama were in the pockets of the doctors, so it's nearly impossible to win a medical malpractice suit there. Coincidentally, despite two DNCs, she never got the baby. I passed the baby at work 2 weeks after everything happened.

A lot of it depends on the state. Good luck. I say go after the bastards. Hitting them in their wallet (if you are able to) is the only way to make them sit up and take notice. Bastards usually only see us as a number anyway.

 

[NoC_T]

In May last year my wife had an ectopic pregnancy and got a methotrexate shot to end it. After she got the shot, she had some pain around the injection site for a few weeks. She called the hospital about it and they told her that was normal and it should go away in a few weeks. It did eventually go away, but since then, every couple of months it will hurt a little bit again, but nothing serious enough to really worry about until recently.

Starting Monday this week, she's been having pain and cramping in her leg, badly enough that it's keeping her up at night. She finally went to the doctor about it yesterday, and after an X-ray, they told her it's a pinched nerve. Her doctor that did the X-ray said it looks like it's from the methotrexate shot, because he can see where they gave it to her, and it's right where one of the nerves in her leg is. The doctor thinks that when they gave her the shot, they hit that nerve and that's what's causing it.

He said that the pain should probably go away in a week or two, but that it might come back from time to time. He also said that in rare cases it can get worse, eventually requiring surgery to correct or she'll basically lose the use of that leg.

We discussed a little bit last night whether we should talk to a lawyer about it. We're both pretty torn on the issue. Neither of us is a big fan of the "sue everything" mentality of the American public. However, this seems like it might be legitimate malpractice that's putting my wife in pain and costing us money. We discussed just waiting to see if it would get worse, and then considering a lawsuit, but I did some looking, and the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Michigan is 2 years, so if we did want to do something, it would need to happen fairly soon.

Does anyone have any advice? Does it sound like legitimate malpractice, or are we just being petty? Is it worth talking to a lawyer about?

Sue. They made her suffer. Make them suffer.

Medical malpractice is all too common. The dumb bastards get paid enough not to **** up like this. If they do, there should be consequences.

Failing legal action, find the person who gave the shot and stab him/her in the leg with a needle. I'm serious.