Hope your day has been going very well! This week, I thought it would be a great idea to inform you about a Torts case, specifically a medical negligence case. Personally, I love torts and found this to be a very interesting and engaging read. Get ready for a good read!
Plaintiff, who was a sheet metal grader and fabricator, suffered a work-related injury back in 2002 and became a patient of the Defendant Spine Clinic. Since then, he had been treated for his lower back pain. In 2008, an orthopedic surgeon, who was also a named Defendant, performed a discectomy and hemilaminectomy on the Plaintiff’s lumbar spine (lower back). The patient continued to receive narcotics, physical therapy, and spinal injections to treat his lower back condition.
Starting the summer of 2013, the Plaintiff’s condition worsened. He started to trip and fall and his overall ability to navigate himself was greatly restricted. At around this same time, the Plaintiff started to see a physician’s assistant at the Spine Clinic, who was being supervised by a physician, on a monthly basis. On all visits, the Plaintiff alleges he mentioned his worsening condition, specifically his ability to walk, function, and his gait dysfunction. Due to such conditions, the Plaintiff was caused to miss many days of work.
Around Mid-September, the Plaintiff’s condition became so bad, he started using a cane and was unable to exit/enter his car without assistance. On November 7, 2013, the Plaintiff told the physician at the Spine Clinic that he is unable to work due to his condition.
On December 11, 2013, the Plaintiff was seen by the same surgeon who operated on him back in 2008. At this time, the Plaintiff underwent a neurological examination. The findings of the exam were indicative of an, “upper motor neuron pathology and cannot be caused by a spinal condition in the lower back.”
Due to this, the surgeon ordered an MRI; however, the MRI was never taken until February 18, 2014. The MRI revealed a large lesion at the T4-T5 level (around the chest level) of the spinal cord. Thereafter, the surgeon referred the Plaintiff to a neurosurgeon in Boston.
On March 5, 2014, the Plaintiff was admitted in the ER department at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital as his symptoms were advancing. Surgery was performed the very next day and unfortunately, was unsuccessful.
Plaintiff was caused to be paralyzed from the level of T-1 down (right around where the shoulders are) of the spinal cord. Plaintiff was 54 when he became paralyzed.
In the Plaintiff’s case against the Spine Clinic, he alleged that, “The standard of care required the Defendant Spine Clinic and the supervising physician to order appropriate diagnostic testing, including thoracic MRI, in light of the Plaintiff’s clinical presentation beginning in the summer of 2013.” The Plaintiff also alleged that, “An earlier MRI and surgical intervention would have led to a much better outcome.” As well as that, “The standard of care required the Defendant orthopedic surgeon to take measures to further work up the Plaintiff and to expedite an emergency surgery as soon as he exhibited serious neurological symptoms that were inconsistent with his lumbar pathology on Dec. 11, 2013.”
The Defendants claimed that, “The Plaintiff’s clinical presentation in the summer and fall of 2013 was perfectly consistent with his longstanding lower back condition.” The Defendants also claimed that they, “Did order a thoracic MRI right away” and that the delay was due to trying to fix issues with the Plaintiff’s insurance carrier.
The case was settled at mediation, shortly before trial, for $1.5 million.
(Referenced MA Lawyers Weekly, V. 49, No. 27)
Comment Down Below Whether You Believe a Settlement of $1.5 Million Was Enough. What Field of Law Are You Interested In?
(I can find cases related to those fields and post about them.)
