Let me preface this by saying that I'm not entirely well-versed on the situation I'm about to describe, as I've gotten all the details second-hand from my parents. But here's the situation as I understand it: An old family friend had been dealing with severe lower back pain for some time, and last year underwent back surgery that was supposed to alleviate some of his pain. Apparently the surgery was botched and his spinal cord was nicked, and as a result he can now barely walk, has little-to-no bowel control, is in even worse pain than before, and probably has a host of other maladies I'm not aware of (he's also a recovering addict, so narcotic pain relievers are out). After consulting with a second orthopedic specialist, he was immediately advised to consult with a lawyer (and considering this advice came from another physician, and said physician essentially said, "You didn't sign up for this" when agreeing to the procedure, it seems to suggest to me that someone screwed up). So upon meeting with a lawyer, our friend was told to gather all of his medical records from his procedure. Upon reviewing these records, he discovered that some of the imaging taken last year revealed a inoperable growth in his lung. At no point had he been informed of this. According to the specialist who ordered the scan, his office had sent the report to our friend's PCP. The office of his PCP meanwhile is claiming that they never received it. A scan taken this week has revealed that the growth has grown by 2 cm since the last imaging taken last year. With a biopsy is scheduled for next week, I guess we'll learn more then. Obviously we'll be bringing this up in our next appointment with his lawyer, but I was wondering if anyone on the BBS had any advice as to how to pursue this. I mean if the biopsy brings back bad news, I imagine there's a chance that he could be in the ground before a lawsuit even came close to being settled, and the guy doesn't have much in the way of immediate family, so you can't help but wonder if it would even be worth it. And I guess my biggest question is who's at fault here, if we're essentially talking about a clerical error that prevented him from catching this earlier? I appreciate anyone who can offer some insight.
First, I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Dharocks. From what you posted, the only parties that would be liable for the clerical error would either be the specialist's office or the PCP. If this was an isolated incident of one party failing to send the scan, or another party misplacing the report, the legal basis for finding any one party at fault would probably be very difficult to prove unless you could show for example, the PCP's office having a history of misplacing files or lax filing/reporting standards. Further, even if fault could be shown, the growth was (at least in one scan) inoperable. Were it to have been discovered earlier, could anything be done from a medical standpoint? If no, then your friend would also be in a difficult position of proving damages suffered, stemming from the clerical error. However, this information could possibly be helpful for your friend's first claim regarding the botched surgery - if your friend had been informed of the growth, would your friend have gone through with the back surgery? Did the growth pose any risks to the surgery that your friend should have known about? etc. All that being said, the most important question is probably what your friend's goal is in all of this. Regardless of whether these claims are actionable or not, a med mal suit can be physically/emotionally taxing, time consuming, and potentially expensive. Therefore the process itself may do more harm than good. All things to consider before making a decision. Again, sorry to hear about your friend. Hoping he pulls through.
