I work as a chiropractor in California. A new patient came in recently that was involved in a motor vehicle accident nearly three years ago, at the start of Covid. She was not the party at fault. The hospital installed hardware from the skull down to C7 to stabilize the neck. C1 did not receive any hardware.

However after reviewing the hospital provided images and their rad reports, it became obvious that the surgery was not needed. No fractures, no ligament disruption, absolutely nothing that would indicate that surgery was a reasonable option.

The surgeon told my patient that if she moved her neck in any way she could be paralyzed for life, and that they need to do the surgery immediately. Her husband was not allowed to visit her and offer advice. The rad reports clearly state that she was in an "altered mental status", due to the MVA.

I suspect that the surgery was pushed on her solely to earn money. Elective surgeries had been cancelled due to Covid, and those involved mostly likely had a dramatic drop in income.

Assuming that the hospital and surgeon took advantage of her and performed needles and painful surgery, what are the legal options?
It has been over two years, statue of limitations may have expired. However do the statue of limitations start at the time of discovery, or when the surgery was completed?

Also if this was a will full action that caused major injuries to the patient, could this be considered a criminal act? As the rad report states that my patient was in an "altered mental state", that would indicate that her consent was not voluntary.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: c1steve,

Your patient needs to talk with a med-mal attorney. Your scenario is more complex than just whether or not the SOL was tolled.

Not a Doc or a Legal-Wolf but just curious .... did the operation actually harm her? Or cost her?

I have advised my patient to talk to her attorney, and ask for a referral. However I am doing a little research on my own. Always good to do some independent investigation. She did not have to pay for the surgery, $750,000 worth I believe, but she had to close her successful business and was forced to retire due to the pain.

My patient was harmed, and has been in constant neck pain for nearly three years. If you saw her x-ray you would be shocked. I also referred her to a neurosurgeon for consultation regarding removing the hardware.

I will ask my nephew this weekend, neck and spine surgeon in Cali.

I would be shocked if they did not have further advanced imaging. Can she check with the medical records dept and ask for a complete set of records relating to the incident (by date: prior day though present) including imaging reports and a digital copy of the images on CD/DVD or whatever methods they produce them.

They may well have been seeing something on the CT that you can't see on an xray.

Also, if you've got the Rad Report for the xray, what does it state in relation to the injury?

Legal advice should be given by a licensed attorney in the patient’s state of residence. Not by us. I wish her good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
I would be shocked if they did not have further advanced imaging. Can she check with the medical records dept and ask for a complete set of records relating to the incident (by date: prior day though present) including imaging reports and a digital copy of the images on CD/DVD or whatever methods they produce them.

Also, if you've got the Rad Report for the xray, what does it state in relation to the injury?

I have all the pre and post surgery images. I saw nothing that indicated surgery. Their radiologists wrote reports covering all their advanced imaging inc. CT, MRI, and x-ray. Only issue at all was some significant edema in the anterior portion of the neck.

A few pages did not come through the fax system, but I will obtain them eventually. The hospital's own radiologists stated there was no fracture and no ligament damage.

It won’t help your patient financially, but it should be reported to the CA Medical Board for investigation. The investigation should reveal if it was necessary for the surgery to be performed.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
However after reviewing the hospital provided images and their rad reports, it became obvious that the surgery was not needed. No fractures, no ligament disruption, absolutely nothing that would indicate that surgery was a reasonable option.

The surgeon told my patient that if she moved her neck in any way she could be paralyzed for life, and that they need to do the surgery immediately. Her husband was not allowed to visit her and offer advice. The rad reports clearly state that she was in an "altered mental status", due to the MVA.
.

Did you review her complete medical records of this care? Or, just the rad reports? If the former, then you have no doctor's notes, hence, no ideas what the line of reasoning was as to why, at the time, she needed the operation. He said this or she said that, without written documentations, means little. The hospital might or might not be crooked, I don't know. But before you start accusing them, better have everything on the table. Just something to think about.

quote:

Originally posted by jer830:
...it should be reported to the CA Medical Board for investigation. The investigation should reveal if it was necessary for the surgery to be performed.

Yes. Was standard of care adhered to? The Medical Board will shed light on it.

Would the insurance company agree to the surgery if there was not an issue? Just trying to get an MRI, insurance companies try make it difficult to get one. Just thinking.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
An MRI in this case is pretty standard. Insurance companies have been told to back off on prior authorizations as well.