For some, it may seem that failure to diagnose issues only involve illnesses. A person goes to the clinic and medical professionals analyze symptoms and come up with a theory about what the symptoms may mean. It may surprise some people in the Springboro area that a failure to diagnose can happen after a person is injured in an accident.
A recent story out of a Midwestern state may be instructive in how a missed diagnosis may occur after an accident. In 2011 a man fell off a roof and suffered multiple injuries. At the hospital, doctors said that the man suffered several fractured ribs and a broken clavicle. He underwent treatment, including rehabilitation for those injuries. After he had finished his therapy, he continued to suffer severe back pain, according to his medical negligence lawsuit.
The man says that medical professionals had failed to discover all of the injuries that he suffered when he fell from the roof. He says that he had more than one fracture in his spine. The failure to diagnose the spinal fractures resulted in permanent damage to his back, he says, and the permanent injury has compromised him in several ways.
In general, people likely understand that spinal cord injuries may be debilitating. If the spinal column is injured, the medical condition can harm the spinal cord, where nerves transmit signals from the brain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that accidents involving a fall are among the leading causes of spinal cord injury.
In the recent medical negligence lawsuit in the Midwest, the man and his wife say that the failure to diagnose the spinal fractures caused the man harm. The couple claims that missing the fractures after the accident fell below the standard of care.
Source: The Daily Iowan, “Couple sues for medical negligence,” May 13, 2014