Do I have any recourse after an IM injection given at the ER has caused nerve issues combined with a noticable limp?

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Do I have any recourse after an IM injection given at the ER has caused nerve issues combined with a noticable limp?

I received an anti-nausea medication via IM injection at the ER about 11 months ago; I was being seen due to a kidney infection. As soon as the injection began an instant pain shot down my entire left leg down to my foot. I told the nurse administering the injection instantly that something was wrong, that I thought he hit something. He continued with the injection until the medication start coming back out of the site. The nurse did check on me every few minutes to see if the pain was subsiding, it wasn’t. This is almost a year later and after several MRI’s, ridiculously expensive nerve tests, pain medications and I’m getting ready to walk into my 3rd spinal injection. All of this with strength loss in the leg and a noticeable limp. Is there any recourse that I can take?

Asked on February 7, 2019 under Malpractice Law, Illinois

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

 
Medical malpractice is negligence.  Negligence on the part of the hospital is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable hospital would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm). The hospital is liable for the negligence of its employee (nurse) which occurred during the course and scope of employment.
Prior to filing a lawsuit for negligence against the hospital, it may be possible to settle the case with the hospital's insurance carrier.  When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary, which means having reached a point in your medical treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports, and documentation of wage loss.  Those items should be included in the claim you file with the hospital's insurance carrier.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement.  The medical reports document your medical treatment/injury and are used to determine compensation for pain and suffering which is an amount in addition to the medical bills.  Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.
If the case is settled with the hospital's malpractice insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.
If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from that insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the hospital.
If the case is NOT settled, your lawsuit for negligence against the hospital must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
Illinois has a two year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in a medical malpractice case.  Since eleven months have elapsed since the negligent act occurred, if your treatment continues and the two year statute approaches, file the lawsuit to protect your rights.
 


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