Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Wisconsin

medical charting and uneccessary procedures

I had Legionnaire's last year, severe enough to require intubation. The first thing you see when you bring up my chart is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT INTUBATION. I requested my chart a couple of months after my discharge and it says that and that I required aggressive bagging but now where does it say how long it took to intubate. I also have memory and confusion problems from the lack of oxygen. Also there are a few dates wrong in the chart. And I required dialysis after my discharge. I had a cath in my jugular throughout my hospital stay. 2 weeks after discharge they scheduled a subclavian cath placement even though my nephrologist said I may not need dialysis just 2 days away, depending on my labs. I knew it would be painful and begged them to wait 2 days until they saw my labs but I was told I needed the procedure. It was horrible. Then just 2 hours later, my nephrologist said I no longer needed dialysis. I asked why the cath and he just said, yeah, sorry about that. 2 weeks later I developed a blood clot in my jugular. I can't help but think they knew that or they wanted to charge my insurance for the procedure. Either way it ended up being a painful unnecessary procedure. Any case here?


Asked on 7/20/09, 10:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael End End, Hierseman & Crain, LLC

Re: medical charting and uneccessary procedures

In order to determine whether you might have a claim that could be won, a lawyer would have to review all of your medical records and would have to have the records reviewed by doctors in the appropriate specialties. I cannot give you an answer based upon the information you have provided, although I think your potential claim might be a difficult one to prove. I think you will have to retain a lawyer to help you determine whether you may have a case. Keep in mind that the statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases in Wisconsin is generally three years from the date a person is injured by medical negligence, although that time is shortened to 180 days when an injury is caused by state-employed doctors or by health care employees of University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority.

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Answered on 7/20/09, 10:26 pm


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