wrong diagnosis/permanent damage

[pa]

Hi. We took our 13 year old son to the closest er when we suspected testicular torsion. The triage nurse and er doc all suspected the same. The specialist was called. He was sure it was not a testicular torsion and sent us home.
He had done a quick manual exam...not an ultrasound even though we asked for one. He was sure...it was not necessary. When the symptoms continued (they didn't change), we went to a different er. They had us in the ultrasound within 20 minutes...and the OR within an hour. It was too late. The torsion had occured hours before. We might have saved it if we had caught it earlier. What do we do now? We are so angry at this outcome. We are now specialists in this area. Ultrasound is standard practice.
pa in CA

[Edited by pa on 12-20-2000 at 01:22 AM]

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Basically your son has permanent damage -- I am assuming the testicle had to be removed? As to what you need to do: you need to contact a medical malpractice attorney for a couple of reasons:


testicular torsion is common in adolesence and you DID go home, even though everyone but the specialist was diagnosing it properly.


Try either attorneypages.com or call your state bar and do a search for medical malpractice attorneys. You might want to go down to your local law library and see if the librarian can help you find names of attorneys who specialize in this malpractice area.

 

[pa]

lawrat.. thanks for the input..I don't get what you mean about going home...we were discharged...everyone deferred to the specialist...we believed him...sorry to need more clarification...i appreciate your input

 

[lawrat]

Wel, meaning this: the doctor you sue/his insurance company will say: well if you knew it was serious and you were discharged, why didn't you just go to another hospital?

I don't think it will hold water, but be prepared to answer that it was the specialist's opinion, which was a blatant misdiagnosis.

 

[pa]

reply

thanks very much for your input...it really is helpful to get an informed opinion...we will start the process...bye