I was taken to a trauma unit with multiple injuries following an auto accident. I sustained fractures to both hands, 4 ribs, punctured lung and liver laceration. They missed a mild Traumatic Brain Injury that was not seen in the catscan. They did not perform a smell test.
After I was released, I continued to complain of lingering symptoms and my family doc sent me for a neurology consult. Because I am verbally high functioning, three neuros refused to take my symptoms seriously and told me that I was exagerating. Another doctor, furious at the way they had handled my case, sent me for neuropsych testing which confirmed post concussive syndrome. I cried when i saw the symptom list. I had told them that I experienced everyone on the list.
My rheumotologist sent me to them several months later for a spinal tap in preparation for a consult at John Hopkins. Afterwards, I was in so much pain that I could hardly walk, was numb and weak on my left side and lost bladder control. I went to the ER. The same neuros were called in and did an MRI of brain, neck and back and then came in and told me there was nothing they could have done in the LP procedure that would have caused any damage. They wrote it up as "degenerative disk disease" which was unfounded. At discharge, another neuro from their practice leaned in very close, almost spitting in my face as he said "People with your condition tend to exaggerate!"
They later added a disclaimer to my medical file that reads that I have "reported cognitive dysfunction not seen on formal evaluation in Dr. ____ office" to cover the fact that they did not send me for neuropsych testing. It was bad enough that the trauma unit missed the injury, but to have a second group of docs suggest I was malingering was devastating. I knew that something was terribly wrong with me and I had to wait six months for that first appointment.
It had taken three years after the accident before I was finally diagnosed. I was not a difficult patient, well educated, professional, a graduate student in Counseling Psychology. I could not understand or make sense of their beligerant attitudes.
I understand that TBI's are often missed in imaging and that my case in some ways common. When I recently asked several attorneys about "failure to diagnose" I was told that the hospital had not caused the accident and therefore were not at fault. I was told that I also had no recourse with the neurology group that failed to send me for neuropsych testing, altered my records and suggest that I am malingering.
Do I really have no recourse? I am still within the time limits for taking action with the trauma unit given that MD's statute of limitations extends to five years with delayed doscovery of the injury. The driver who caused the accident died at the scene. I was visited at home by their insurance company to sign an agreement to receive $25,000 from his policy. I was told that with his death, I had nothing else to recover. I signed, having no idea I had a brain injury. I was also still on oxycotin for pain.
Given the large number of undiagnosed mild TBI's, I find it hard to believe that no one sues the treating hospital. I also had a severe paranoid reaction to dialudid and wonder if it was possibly due to or even worsened any brain swelling. I was not even sent for for my physical injuries. I took out student loans the following fall to return to school. I have not been able to complete that degree given my cognitive issues. What are my chances or do I even have grounds for pursuing a hospital malpractice case?
