Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Ohio
what is our next step?
My wife had a total knee replacement in oct. 08.Two weeks after surgery she developed an infection with heavy drainage.Doc said it was probably a stich infected. She was given an oral antibiotioc which dried it up.After X-mass her knee swelled up and was sore . She had a seconed surgery to clean and flush out .She then had to see an infectious disease doc and was put on a vancomycin drip for 6 weeks. We informed the ID doc of her other meds she was taking , one of which was Daypro .A combination of the daypro and vanco. shut her kidneys down as she was overdosing on vanco.Her kidneys are still not working at proper level and her knee is not getting better and the infection is still with her.Now every body wants to take a wait and see position and in the meantime she feels like crap and is going to have to go back to work next week not completely healed.Any advice would be welcome
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: what is our next step?
The first thing you need to do is obtain a complete set of your wife's medical records for the treatment leading up to the 1st surgery to the present. The hospital(s) are obligated to provide you with copies upon request, but they are likely you charge for the copies. The records need to be reviewed by a medical doctor and perhaps a surgeon. She has had a drug interaction that arguable should not have occurred and she may have suffered permanent kidney damage. She also suffered a post-operative infection that may have been avoidable. Her kidney function will need to be accessed by a kidney specialist know as a nephrologist.
Damages for a medical malpractice claim are capped at $250,000.00 for pain and suffering. There is no cap on economic damages, such as current and future lost wages and past and future medical treatment.
VERY IMPORTANT: Your time to make a claim is limited. You only have one (1) year for the date of the malpractice to make a claim. It takes time to put a med-mal case together. Unlike other personal injury cases, in a med-mal case, the medical records must be reviewed by a doctor and an affidavit must be signed by the doctor stating that there was a breach in the standard of care. So it is import not to wait until the last minute to speak to an attorney. I have medical malpractice experience. I also have doctors and nurses available to review medical malpractice claims. If you would like to discuss you case, please do not hesitate to contact me at:
Even if you do not contact me, please contact someone. Good luck, and I hope you get through this ok.