$2.5M

Case Details

Patient's undiagnosed fracture leaves her unable to walk. The plaintiff arrived at the emergency room with full cervical restraints after her air bag deployed when her vehicle struck a tree, but she was discharged after the on-call radiologist read a negative CT scan. Prior to being discharged, the plaintiff was unable to stand on her own, was assisted to the floor by the nursing staff and then into a wheelchair. That information was never relayed to the emergency room physician who had already signed the discharge papers. The plaintiff's husband was unable to get her into his automobile and other nursing staff personnel arranged for alternate transportation to take her home. Prior to discharge, the plaintiff was unable to dress herself. The plaintiff returned to the hospital the following day after she woke up unable to move her legs. A review of the CT scan from the previous night, along with an MRI, confirmed an undiagnosed fracture. The plaintiff was med-flighted to another hospital for emergency surgery and underwent extensive rehabilitation. Although she has feeling in her lower extremities, the plaintiff is unable to walk and has limited use of her upper body. A suit was brought against the emergency room physician, radiologist and nurses who argued that the injuries were caused by the automobile accident and not the delay in surgical intervention. The plaintiffs also claimed that there was issues of secondary gain due to the fact that the plaintiff had had previous psychiatric history. The case was settled through mediation.

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