Do I have a medical malpractice case?
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Do I have a medical malpractice case?
About 2 1/2 years ago, I had a labral repair surgery in my left hip; my arthrogram had positive signs of a labral tear and the numbing agent with the dye helped relieve my pain so we proceeded with surgery. My surgeon was in San Francisco and I live in San Diego where I did my recovery, slowly, per doctor’s orders. When I started being more active, the pain returned. I went to see him for a 9 month post-op visit. He said that I had a flared up hip flexor being active and I had tendinitis/bursitis blaming me for not doing the proper therapy. I did acupuncture and more therapy with no relief, so I looked into PRP with other orthopedic surgeons. I saw 3 separate surgeons who all suggested that I might have instability hip dysplasia that could be addressed with
Asked on February 5, 2019 under Malpractice Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, a delayed diagnosis or failure to disclose a possible diagnosis can be the basis for a malpractice claim, assuming that the delay or failure was negligent or unreasonably careless (e.g. that a reasonable, well-trained doctor would not have done this). Any unreasonable careless medical care, including at the diagnosis stage, can be malpractice. However, bear in mind that malpractice cases can be expensive to bring, since you have to hire a medical expert witness to testify about how and why what your doctor did was malpractice--and, of course, you really should hire a lawyer for such a complex case. Therefore, it is not a given that it would economically worthwhile assuming you do not suffer permanent disability or life impairment due to the delay, since 2 or 2 1/2 years of unnecesssary pain, etc. might not provide enough compensation as to really justify such a suit.
Many medical malpractice attorneys provide a free initiai consultation to evaluate a case; a good idea would be to meet with a lawyer offering a free consultation to get a sense for what your case might be worth and what it might cost to bring it.
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