Not horses, for legal buffs please, is this a case of medical negligence?

pip6

pip6

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1999, injured shoulder one evening during judo training session. Still hurt like hell with no improvement 2 months later so went to gp, referred to hospital 'X' shoulder clinic.

Waited months for appointment, went, saw junior doctor (JD), no sign of consultant. No diagnosis, told to come back if not improved 3 months later. Went back, saw another JD, injected shoulder, asked to wait in lobby. Heard JD talking to consultant who suggested I was fine just had low pain threshold. JD did not agree as I hadn't even flinched in joint injection, MRI arranged, told to come back in 3 months. This was repeated several more times, each time told nothing wrong with shoulder as scan was clear. After about 18 months from injury, told would do joint decompression as joint showed signs of wear, put on waiting list. Was finally done 2 years post injury.

During op found bicep tearing through, needing repair. Put on waiting list, done year later (now 3 years post injury). Due to delay wasnhad to reattach it to another part of bone. In the anaesthetic room met consultant for FIRST time! He said something along lines of 'remember me?@, when I said no, never met you before he got very embarressed & to be frank rude blaming my memory. This is a tall foreign guy, I know I never met him before & I have sheet from first op which shows he wasn't present for it.

Anyway, shoulder starts to heal, but gets to a point & doesn't improve. Very painful, lots of sensationn issues in hand, which also goes very cold & numb when arm moved. Year of physio later, no improvement, in constant pain, very limited movement in arm. Was left handed, now had to learn to be right handed. Can't use fork in hand (still can't), can't wear normal underwear as strap falls straight off deformed shoulder. Hospital say just live with it. Got second opinion from hospital 'Y', lots of prodding, final opiinion 'you can't sue 'X', just one of those things that sometimes happens'. Hadn't ever mentioned sueing, just wanted to know what was wrong.

Ten years on, start to react to painkillers, live in new county so new gp suggests seeing specialist to see if can do anything. Find excellent consultant, am shocked at his clinic when I see him & not a JD as was always the case at 'X'. Thing is he thinks he has found problem, going to do key hole to confirm in next couple of months. If so, should be fixable. This damage isn't new, it's been there all the time.

So I've lived with the pain, deformed joint, can't eat with knife/fork etc for 13 years. My question is were 'X' negligent in their examinations (by JD's) in not finding damage that this consultant has found straight away? My life has been screwed the past 13 years, I have lost my music (not enough use of left hand), my sport (I was a, over 30's world judo champion but pain stopped me training) & given me a pretty miserable time. I have been accussed of lieing, having Parkinsons, being depressed, when in reality I was just in pain from an injury. Did I receive an appropriate level of care by only ever seeing JD's in a consultants clinic? New consultant stated in last consultation how good the clinic at 'X' is, why would he say that? Again I have never made any indications about following a legal case. His readyness to protect a colleagues back makes me suspicious.

Thoughts appreciated.
 
Definitely sounds like you may have a case. It's many years since I studied medical law but I do recall that they are notoriously difficult to win as doctors do tend to stick together. As far as I remember you have to look at whether the standard of care given fell below that of the average doctor in that field and whether the procedures followed were standard medical practice in that incidence.

Don't want to put you off too much though as many claims are succesful and it certainly sounds like you have endured a fair bit over the years! There is a time limit of 3 (?) years (I know it's 3 for PI may be 5 for med neg but just can't remember) but this can start to run either from the negligence itself or from you becoming aware of the negligence, which you could argue is when you received your diagnosis from your new Consultant.

I would consult a specialist med. neg. solicitor and ask his opinion. It does sound like you should have some kind of case though - good luck!
 
You will definately need to see a solicitor specialising in this area of law. Med neg claims are notoriously difficult to prove as Minesadouble says. Given the advances of medical science, you would need to show that the diagnosis could have been given all those years ago and that treatment would have actually made any difference. You would also need to show that the standard of care fell below that of a reasonably competent doctor.

You have three years from the date of knowledge with which to issue proceedings. Your injuries sound severe and will be worth a significant amount if proven to be the fault of the doctor so its definately worth a phone call. I would recommend Stewarts Law as they are leaders in this type of litigation.
 
I *think* the time bar is 5 years from the effects of the negligence becoming known.
The test is whether or not the standard fell below that of a competent practitioner in that field.

As someone else said - speak to a medical negligence specialist, they'll be able to give you better advice. Hope you can get something sorted, it sounds like you've been through a lot x
 
Thanks for advice. Hands may be tied on who I can see as I can't afford a solicitor. Will contact CAB & see if any legal aid a possibility. If diagnosis is confirmed, then it will have been damage that was there all the time, & should have been diagnosable. I don't blame the JD's, they were working to their training level, & as this wasn't what they were usually presented with, they didn't have the skills to investigate the issue appropriately. I do, however question only ever seeing the consultant who's name is on the clinic door as in charge on my way into theatre once.

It was very frustrating to be told for years that I must be making it up or potentially had Parkinsons (because of the limb shaking) or just had a low pain threshold (about 10 years before I had dislocated a shoulder & had it relocated on the mat with no anaesthetic, I've also broken ribs/fingers/toes & carried on fighting so actually tolerate pain pretty well - which I think added to the problem, because I wasn't screaming in agony with the shoulder) because the scan was clear (before they did the decompresion & found the bicep issue). It would have meant a lot to have been believed, after all, how could I choose to deform a shoulder?

If the suspected damage is confirmed, it would have been fixable all those years ago. From where I sit the person who had the potential to find it (the consultant), never saw me in the clinic. If I do take this up, it wont be for money. It would be to make that arrogant consultant sit up & start to listen to his patients (after he actually meets them) when they say something is wrong.
 
I too injured my shoulder 13 years ago - a dislocation. I did it in Africa, and went to hospital there. on returning to England, was refered to my local hospital, who told me it couldn't possibly have been dislocated. Had a bit of physio. Got referred to the shoulder clinic. Had x rays. Saw juniors at the shoulder clinic, who again said it couldn't possibly have dislocated as there was no evidence. Burst into tears, as by this point it had dislocated several times, and I'd had to put it back myself (been abroad most times!). A nurse took pity on me and called the consultant, who said of course it dislocated, lets send you for an MRI scan. That showed that the shoulder was crap due to various dislocations. They said I could either have an op, which would take months to recover from, or do physio to deal with it. At that time I was on a low salary, so needed flying allowances from work, so chose physio. A few years later (I'd moved back up North by then) it started happening again, so I started physio where I was living agin. They didn't think I'd need an op. Three years later it started again - by this time I'd moved again, to where I am now. Went to see a consultant, who said they'd have to investigate by operating. I said there was an MRI scan, and he said he preferred to look himself. I got the feeling that each area likes to outdo the other, rather than working with the previous area's findings. A friend of mine died of cancer last year, when it could have possibly been caught if different depts had actually communicated. Anyway, I had an op to fix it - the consultant/surgeon said the MRI had been lost anyway. touch wood all was well for 3yrs, then this year I had an accident with a horse rearing up and kicking my shoulder. Went to A&E who said it wasn't dislocated (x ray showed it was). Returned to shoulder clinic who didn't believe it had fully dislocated (x ray showed it had) - again a junior. Surgeon came in and said of course it had dislocated. I said it felt like the pins in my arm had moved. Surgeon said it wasn't possible. an operation with camera later showed that they had! So am now on waiting list for another complete operation!

Long waffle, and don't know how the legal side would be, but just wanted to say that I sympathise with you, and that all the shoulder depts I've dealt with have been awful, with juniors that shouldn't have been consulting. In some visits I met juniors that were specialising in backs etc! You're not in the North West are you! My consultant is not British and very arrogant too. I often feel like complaining, but don't want to offend the man who will be cutting me open soon!

Hope it all gets fixed.xx
 
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I think Twiglet's post is a perfect example of the fact most posters in NL don't have a clue about the law ;)

I also think that far too much time has past for your claim to be a success :(
 
Sorry, I have absolutely no idea but that is rubbish and I just wanted to express some sympathy. I hope your new consultant manages to significantly improve the situation for you :)
 
I am Solicitor and work in this area of law but will not give advice on an open forum.

Legal Aid is being pulled for this area of law but there may be an opportunity to bring an no win no fee claim if prospects are good enough, so I would seek a Solicitor local to you and ask to have an initial meeting or conversation to discuss the prospects of sucess and whether they would be willing to run it for you.

What I will say is limitation to bring a claim is 3 years for personal injury (which covers med neg) and this can be from the date of knowledge. Limitation can not be extended.

If you wish to claim, I would get a move on
 
Check if any of your general insurances like house insurance if you have it has legal cover included in it, in many policies this cover isnt restricted to stuff related to house and can be used to get advice free at the very least on such matters. Timescales are all important tho, unless theres very very good reason its very hard to get a case accepted once the time limit is up.
 
i knew someone who had shoulder pain for 18 months, fobbed off etc and it turned out in the end it was dislocated somehow, but happily it did recover, its not good enough to leave people to suffer like that, a good case of jumping up and down, arm permitting of course, and a sharp vocal blast, followed by being a total nuisance usually works to shake such insensitive twits into action.
 
They were unbelievable. On one visit they suggested a specialist physio at the hospital, then arranged another appointment for 3 motnhs time. Well 2 months & 3 weeks later no word from physio, so I rang clinic & explained I didn't think they would want to see me until seen physio. Oh no, must keep your appointment anyway. Fine. Turned up, signed in, sat inwaiting area for 2 hours (this was usual for them to run up to 2 hours late). After another 30mins, & seeing loads of peopple who had arrived after me going in, I asked receptionist why I was still waiting. Will look into it. 30 mins later a JD called me through. Apparently they had lost my notes (so were going to leave me sitting there until when????) why hadn't called me through. JD asked why I was back as I hadn't seen physio yet.....Safe to say I absolutely hit the roof.

What gets me is do they think you enjoy seeing them or waiting around for hours? Can't go to loo or get drink in case you miss your name being called?? Do they think you like being prodded & pocked, usually exacerbating the pain you are already in? A wierd though as it may be, I have a life, a job (who got annoyed about the times I had to go), & just happen to have an injury I am asking for help in getting sorted. This clinic was an absolute joke, & they market themselves (NHS & private) as being a high class specialist centre.
 
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