Had to go to a urgent care after I injured my shoulder climbing. I
went to a urgent care for treatment of the injury. I told the doctor
I had experienced pain and inflamation in my shoulder under the
deltoid muscle while doing a particular move on a climbing route. The
Doctor had a x-ray taken of the shoulder. The x-ray tech had the x-ray
machine set to high so the 1st x-ray was to over exsposed, the 2nd
x-ray was still a little over exposed but they used it to evaluate the
injury. The doctor determined I had 1. "cystic lesion mid shaft
humerus" 2. possible rotator cuff sprain. I went to the Orthopedic
Doctor that the nurses said was the best out of 2 choices they gave
me.
At the Orthopedic Doctor's office I saw a intern who examined me. I
told the intern what the urgent care doctor told me about having a
bone tumor on my arm and gave him the over exposed x-ray. The intern
said the x-ray was normal. I started to explain to him where the pain
was located and how it felt like something was tearing in my shoulder.
The intern cut me off before I could finish and asked me to move my
arm as much as I could, which was not very much, and it caused extreme
pain to my injury. I told him that my deltoid muscle was very
inflamed. He then wrote down I had a frozen shoulder and then sent me
to have x-ray's taken.
Then the Orthopedic Doctor came in and said "Good news you do not
have cancer, you have a frozen shoulder. I am not able to determine
the condition of your rotator cuff because of your lack of range of
motion". The Doctor showed me one x-ray of my left shoulder/left
humerus. He put the x ray on the viewing screen pointing to the normal
humerus and then quickly removed the x-ray and put up a x-ray they
took of my right arm for comparisson. I did not get to see my left
shoulder area as he only had the x-ray up there for 3 to 4 seconds (as
if he did not want me to see something). He said someone would come in
and prep me for a cortisone shot and gave me a referral to a physical
therapist. I saw him for about a 2 1/2 minutes total, he did not
examine me at all, going with the interns diagnosis. I then received
the shot administered by him. I called the Physical Therapist that
same day and at least he told me to let the shot do it's work for a
couple days and then start with some light stretching after the 2 days
of letting the shot do it's work. I did not have any change to my
injury in pain reduction, inflamation, or range of motion. In fact the
light stretching aggravated the injury big time. I quit aggravating
the injury by stop doing the exercises. I have not seen anyone else as
I do not have insurance and I was not able to work as any use of my
arm aggravated the injury. After a year and half my range of motion
improved but I still had pain and inflammation in and under my deltoid
muscle. After 22 months I felt what I determine as a bone fragment
fall out from under the scapula bone into the void between the 2 bones
of my collar and scapula bones.
I was explaining it felt like I had tearing under my deltoid muscle,
when the intern cut me off, but after I felt this bone fragment I
realized it could have been cutting I was feeling. I was very fit at
the time of this injury and never had this kind of injury before.
There was several x-rays taken of my left shoulder (from different
angles) and 1 taken of my right shoulder. I only got to see the 1 of
my injured left shoulder and only for the few seconds as my attention
was directed away from the shoulder area because the Doctor pointed at
the humerous wherethe Urgent Care Doctor said was a bone tumor. The
x-ray I have of my left arm/shoulder (from the urgent care center)
could show the bone fragment I can not be sure without comparison. The
Orthopedic Doctor gave me the x-ray of the right shoulder, but the
x-ray was taken at a angle that the clavicle and scapula block the
view for comparison.
In summary Orthopedic Doctor did not administer the cortisone shot in
the proper location of the injury because he did not examine or
question me of the location of injury and the intern only wrote down
Frozen shoulder, (the shot was given in my back in between the ball of
the humorous and the lower part of the shoulder socket) not any where
near the injury/inflammation location of my under deltoid muscle and
had no effect in helping the injury by relieving pain or inflammation.
The area he gave the cortisone shot looks like I had polio now.
I had a friend try and move my arm and it would not move at all. This
lack of movement was their only basis for administering the cortisone
shot.
The office visit was on 1/7/2004 in California, I contacted a on line
lawyer referral and was told there is a 1 year limit for malpractice.
The bone fragment did not become dislodge until 22 months after the
office visit. I felt the bone fragment fall down and get stuck between
a rip and other tissue and now it is some where in my torso. At the
time of the visit the bone fragment could of been removed with a local
anesthetic and a orthoscope. Now it will require a general anesthetic,
more dangerous and costly to remove. I was injured by the cortisone
injection.
I feel the Orthopedic Doctor fraudulently represented the correct
diagnosis/treatment, and then injured me with the incorrect treatment.
I feel since he knew there was not going to be any insurance company
to deal with Orthopedic Doctor figure he would make money for this
treatment, and that I would be back as it would not of taken care of
the problem so he would make more money.
There has to be recourse for me in this matter. I have not contacted
the Orthopedic Doctor since the bogus treatment. I should at the very
least have consumer fraud and/or assault charges. I want to at least
take him to small claims court and subpoena all the x-rays, documents,
that attorney's get so I can prepare a case against him. Then if I
would win in small claims I would go after his license to practice. I
feel I would have leverage then. I feel that after this I will have to
seek medical treatment outside the US because I would not feel safe
going under general anesthesia with US Doctors, so I have incurred
damages.
I need to see the x-ray's to determine if there was a bone fragment
showing in the x-ray's. Would this be my best option? I need some
assistance please, I know only a creative Attorney can help. Can you
please help my perplexing situation?

Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

<anonamous@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:lcg972t1mk3kdo78k55vustgi24p3tha3b@4ax.com... Had to go to a urgent care after I injured my shoulder climbing. I went to a urgent care for treatment of the injury. I told the doctor I had experienced pain and inflamation in my shoulder under the deltoid muscle while doing a particular move on a climbing route. The Doctor had a x-ray taken of the shoulder. The x-ray tech had the x-ray machine set to high so the 1st x-ray was to over exsposed, the 2nd x-ray was still a little over exposed but they used it to evaluate the injury. The doctor determined I had 1. "cystic lesion mid shaft humerus" 2. possible rotator cuff sprain. I went to the Orthopedic Doctor that the nurses said was the best out of 2 choices they gave me. At the Orthopedic Doctor's office I saw a intern who examined me. I told the intern what the urgent care doctor told me about having a bone tumor on my arm and gave him the over exposed x-ray. The intern said the x-ray was normal. I started to explain to him where the pain was located and how it felt like something was tearing in my shoulder. The intern cut me off before I could finish and asked me to move my arm as much as I could, which was not very much, and it caused extreme pain to my injury. I told him that my deltoid muscle was very inflamed. He then wrote down I had a frozen shoulder and then sent me to have x-ray's taken. Then the Orthopedic Doctor came in and said "Good news you do not have cancer, you have a frozen shoulder. I am not able to determine the condition of your rotator cuff because of your lack of range of motion". The Doctor showed me one x-ray of my left shoulder/left humerus. He put the x ray on the viewing screen pointing to the normal humerus and then quickly removed the x-ray and put up a x-ray they took of my right arm for comparisson. I did not get to see my left shoulder area as he only had the x-ray up there for 3 to 4 seconds (as if he did not want me to see something). He said someone would come in and prep me for a cortisone shot and gave me a referral to a physical therapist. I saw him for about a 2 1/2 minutes total, he did not examine me at all, going with the interns diagnosis. I then received the shot administered by him. I called the Physical Therapist that same day and at least he told me to let the shot do it's work for a couple days and then start with some light stretching after the 2 days of letting the shot do it's work. I did not have any change to my injury in pain reduction, inflamation, or range of motion. In fact the light stretching aggravated the injury big time. I quit aggravating the injury by stop doing the exercises. I have not seen anyone else as I do not have insurance and I was not able to work as any use of my arm aggravated the injury. After a year and half my range of motion improved but I still had pain and inflammation in and under my deltoid muscle. After 22 months I felt what I determine as a bone fragment fall out from under the scapula bone into the void between the 2 bones of my collar and scapula bones. I was explaining it felt like I had tearing under my deltoid muscle, when the intern cut me off, but after I felt this bone fragment I realized it could have been cutting I was feeling. I was very fit at the time of this injury and never had this kind of injury before. There was several x-rays taken of my left shoulder (from different angles) and 1 taken of my right shoulder. I only got to see the 1 of my injured left shoulder and only for the few seconds as my attention was directed away from the shoulder area because the Doctor pointed at the humerous wherethe Urgent Care Doctor said was a bone tumor. The x-ray I have of my left arm/shoulder (from the urgent care center) could show the bone fragment I can not be sure without comparison. The Orthopedic Doctor gave me the x-ray of the right shoulder, but the x-ray was taken at a angle that the clavicle and scapula block the view for comparison. In summary Orthopedic Doctor did not administer the cortisone shot in the proper location of the injury because he did not examine or question me of the location of injury and the intern only wrote down Frozen shoulder, (the shot was given in my back in between the ball of the humorous and the lower part of the shoulder socket) not any where near the injury/inflammation location of my under deltoid muscle and had no effect in helping the injury by relieving pain or inflammation. The area he gave the cortisone shot looks like I had polio now. I had a friend try and move my arm and it would not move at all. This lack of movement was their only basis for administering the cortisone shot. The office visit was on 1/7/2004 in California, I contacted a on line lawyer referral and was told there is a 1 year limit for malpractice. The bone fragment did not become dislodge until 22 months after the office visit. I felt the bone fragment fall down and get stuck between a rip and other tissue and now it is some where in my torso. At the time of the visit the bone fragment could of been removed with a local anesthetic and a orthoscope. Now it will require a general anesthetic, more dangerous and costly to remove. I was injured by the cortisone injection. I feel the Orthopedic Doctor fraudulently represented the correct diagnosis/treatment, and then injured me with the incorrect treatment. I feel since he knew there was not going to be any insurance company to deal with Orthopedic Doctor figure he would make money for this treatment, and that I would be back as it would not of taken care of the problem so he would make more money. There has to be recourse for me in this matter. I have not contacted the Orthopedic Doctor since the bogus treatment. I should at the very least have consumer fraud and/or assault charges. I want to at least take him to small claims court and subpoena all the x-rays, documents, that attorney's get so I can prepare a case against him. Then if I would win in small claims I would go after his license to practice. I feel I would have leverage then. I feel that after this I will have to seek medical treatment outside the US because I would not feel safe going under general anesthesia with US Doctors, so I have incurred damages. I need to see the x-ray's to determine if there was a bone fragment showing in the x-ray's. Would this be my best option? I need some assistance please, I know only a creative Attorney can help. Can you please help my perplexing situation?

I don't remember what the statute of limitations period is regarding medical
malpractice. I could look it up, but that would leave the more difficult
question concerning when the period starts. I don't know whether the
statute of limitations period starts at the time of the malpractice or at
the time of its discovery. You will need to consult a medical malpractice
attorney anyway and that's the person who should advise on the issue. I can
tell you a few other things.

If it turns out that the statute of limitations period has run, then it WAS
true that "There has to be recourse for me in this matter", but that
recourse was lost. Lost as in gone forever.

If the statute of limitations has not run out, then you need a medical
malpractice attorney. When you have signed one on, that person will send
you to another doctor for x-rays and diagnosis. It is not necessary or even
helpful for you to obtain the x-rays and do your own investigation. That
may be possible to do if you have the skill, but it is a useless thing to do
legally. The investigation will have to be repeated anyway by an MD who
will end up testifying in the medical malpractice lawsuit.

You do not have a consumer fraud case. "Assault case" is just another way
to say medical malpractice. There is no point in trying to characterize it
as something other than medical malpractice in order to get past a statute
of limitations problem or to get the matter into small claims. It doesn't
work.

Small claims cannot be effectively used for discovery in a medical
malpractice case. Even if you get the x-rays, which you won't, what good
does it do? You can't get a medical malpractice case started on the basis of
your own reading of the x-rays. And your attorney and the doctor engaged by
the attorney won't bother with x-rays you hand to them. They need to see
new x-rays that the doctor takes and old x-rays that the attorney obtains
through discovery so they can be sure they are looking at x-rays that have
not been phonied by you. No implication intended, but your attorney needs
to make sure.

Forget about going after the doctor's license to practice. One instance of
malpractice won't do it, your contingency fee attorney won't help you with
that crusade because there is no money in it, and there is no benefit to you
anyway.

If you feel that due to this medical malpractice you will need to seek
medical treatment outside the US because you would not feel safe going under
general anesthesia with US doctors, that's your right. It's a goofy idea
because you cannot find a country in which there has never been an instance
of medical malpractice, but you have the right to make that silly decision.
But the costs of that decision will not be recoverable as part of your
damages from the medical malpractice.

Finally, I suggest you need to start immediately seeking advice from a
medical malpractice attorney. If the statute of limitation has not run out,
it could do so tomorrow. Don't wait even one day. Call medical malpractice
attorneys' offices, make appointments, consult with them on the phone if
that opportunity arises, and don't stop until you either have a lawsuit
filed, or until you have reached a final conclusion that it's too late, or
until you have reached a conclusion to drop the matter.

This answer must not be relied on as legal advice for the reasons posted
here: http://mcgyverdisclaimer.blogspot.com

McGyver

I am aghast to read about the experiences of you people here. Wonder if the medical practice has become a thing of vandalism or not, as wherever we can see there are incidences of malpractices from the medical people and they hardly pay attention to the problems of the patients. This is a grave situation I feel and unless some drastic measures are taken these would carry on.

In the upper left hand corner of the post is the time and date.

Let's try to keep the posts relevant, please.