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Asked 5 months ago - Calexico, CA
FlagI was in a car accident (head on collision) and transported via ambulance to emergency room, after approx. 5 hrs was sent home with discharge papers stating "musculoskeletal pain". 1 week later when i was able to move a bit better went to other doctor and was found to have a 3inch fracture of right arm, fractured right and left ribs, contusion right chest, contusion left chest. I had to have surgery done on right arm.
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I'm sorry to hear about your accident and associated injuries.
You should consult a personal injury attorney to discuss the facts relating to your accident in addition to the injuries that you suffered. Depending on how the accident occurred, you may have a right to recover compensation against the at fault driver, assuming you were not at fault.
Regarding the emergency room department's failure to properly diagnose your injuries, you may have a case for medical malpractice IF the misdiagnosis caused your injuries to be worse than they would have been had they made the proper diagnosis when you first presented to the ER department.
Usually, ER department's perform comprehensive imaging studies when you present for auto accident trauma and complain of serious pain and limited range of movement to your body parts. Your case is a little bit out of the ordinary, because if your injuries really are as bad as you describe, and they were caused in the auto accident, it's difficult to understand how the ER department missed the diagnoses.
You can contact a medical malpractice attorney for a consultation. But, in order to determine whether you have a case, your medical records will need to be reviewed by a medical expert, probably an orthopedist and/or a medical professional with emergency room experience.
I would think if you had a case, it would depend on whether the ER dept. performed x-rays and/or CT scans but missed the fractures. Then, if you had subsequent imaging studies and your fractures increased in size, which is probably unlikely, you may be able to show that your condition was made worse due to the negligent oversight.
Call an attorney so they can review the facts and provide a more detailed analysis.
Missing a diagnosis that should have been made (meaning would have been made by a similarly trained physician in the community practicing the standard of care) is just one of the necessary elements needed for a successful medical malpractice case. Another requirement is damages resulting from the error (and that would not have occurred otherwise). A one week delay in treating a fracture is something that should absolutely be looked into if the delay necessitated a surgery (meaning that had the fracture been treated a week earlier no surgery would have been needed), Many medical malpractice attorneys offer free initial consultations, so contacting a local one should be done as soon as possible.
- Paul
Paul J. Molinaro, M.D., J.D.
Attorney at Law, Physician, Broker
Fransen & Molinaro, LLP
980 Montecito Drive, Suite 206
Corona, CA 92879
(951)520-9684
www.fransenandmolinaro.com / www.888MDJDLAW.com
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** Fransen & Molinaro, LLP practices in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, and real estate law.
