Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Missouri

trauma doctor

my son was taken to a trauma center after a spinal injury. after a short exam including a cat scan to reveal the fracture in his neck the doctor proceeded to tell him and my wife and I that his neck was broken and that he would be paralized and never walk again. it is now 2.5 weeks after the accident and he is beginning to get movement back in his legs and other areas. this doctor's exam was not complete in that a MRI needed to be done in order to determine the extent of the spinal cord injury. without this he had no way of knowing, but instead mis-diagnosed the injury and quite frankly put our entire family thru hell for hours until the MRI was done and it was determined the cord was not cut , but bruised and there was hope for some recovery. the doctor who did this was negligent inhis initial exam, gave us incomplete information which had a tremendous emotional impact on the entire family, is there the potential for legal action against this doctor? as a side note, we never saw the trauma doctor again after that.


Asked on 5/02/06, 8:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Ransin David W. Ransin, P.C.

Re: trauma doctor

Your inquiry raises more questions than you are aware of.

1. if your son's condition was not made worse by the improper healthcare, then you have very little so sue over, and such a case would not be wise; this is not to mean your family's anguish was meaningless, it just means that a jury is very unlikely to give much money compensation under those circumstances, and thus the insurance company will not be the least inclined to offer any money in settlement; on the other hand, if his condition was definitely worsened by the delay, then I'd reach the opposite conclusion

2. the greater issue is how your son was hurt in the first place; the real claim might lay there, and the person responsible for getting him hurt can be held liable for anything the doctors did wrong later during his treatment

feel free to email me directly if you have any other more specific questions, or if you want to get other opinions, thanks, and best wishes to your son for the best recovery possible from his injuries. David Ransin [email protected]

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Answered on 5/02/06, 9:49 am


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