Home > Research Legal Advice > Medical Malpractice > Do I have a potential medical malpractice/personal injury case?
Asked 3 months ago - Linden, NJ
FlagI had hip surgery March 2 2011 for hip dyspepsia . I was supposed to have one surgery on each hip and that was it . A month after the first surgery and while on crutches , I broke both of my titanium screws that were in my hip . I did not fall to cause this . I fell after the fact that both screws broke and ended up breaking my hip . I needed emergency surgery May 2 2011 and they replaced both screws with even larger ones . The pain was extreme and I couldn't work and disability cut me off after the surgery in March . In June 2012 I had the screws in the same hip removed again because they started rejecting due to their size . I asked the rd for the screws after the surgery and I never got them . They also never gave me a valid reason to why they broke . I don't know if they were defective or what .
Sorry to learn. The problem is that you only have two years from the date of the malpractice or from the date you knew or should have known thee was malpractice. You need to gather each and every record and prepare a timeline outlined every important date and then see an attorney who specializes in these cases. Good luck.
New Jersey Medical Malpractice - Post-Surgical Hip Hardware Failure. By Patrick Amoresano The 2yr. statute of limitations in your case most likely started running on the day you learned the screws broke, so you have very little time left to file a lawsuit. If you don't already have your medical records, there may not be enough time to get them and have them reviewed by an appropriate medical expert. You should immediately contact a New Jersey Certified Civil Trial Attorney with medical malpractice trial experience to see what can be done about protecting your rights before its too late.
Medical implants such as screws, rods and plates used to anchor damaged or abnormal bones are not at all uncommon. What is thankfully less common, however, is when these implants become broken or otherwise damaged, further injuring the patient. This can be caused by an assortment of reasons such as an error on the part of the medical professionals, a manufacturing defect, or even just plain bad luck. However, self speculation is generally a waste of valuable time, which is why I would highly recommend people who may have befallen similar circumstances to consult with an attorney as soon as possible.
In your case the statute of limitations is first obstacle that must be addressed. More than likely, the VERY LATEST a suit could be filed on your behalf against any party would be April of this year. As such, an attorney would need to begin working your case immediately to prevent any action you may have from becoming forever barred.
Secondly, your attorney would need to show by a preponderance of evidence that someone screwed up somewhere along the lines. Perhaps the surgeon failed to follow acceptable protocol. Maybe the type of screw the doctor chose to use was substandard or improperly designed. These are questions that can most likely be answered during the discovery period provided that a suit is filed in a timely manner.
Finally, a showing must be made that the mistake caused you some type of harm. This could be financial and/or physical. You mentioned you were in extreme pain and this caused you to miss work. This constitutes both financial and physical harm.
Again, I would recommend contacting an attorney as soon as possible. Like most reputable law firms, my firm happily provides free consultations. Good luck.
Don't speak legalese? We define thousands of terms in plain English.
Browse our legal dictionary
