Don’t take the word of the nurse. Quite frankly, she is not a lawyer, and obviously doesn’t know everything. Go talk to some lawyers.
It may be “only” a pinky, but you are losing work time, not to mention pain and suffering.
Don’t hold your breath for the medical board to do anything though. It is staffed by doctors, and they tend to look out for their own.
E72521, I’m so sorry to hear about what’s happened to you. Doctors like that truly suck. :mad:
My BIL lost his ring finger several years ago (it really IS dangerous to wear your wedding ring to work). It took some time, but he adjusted to the loss and is doing well now. I hope that with time, things will be better for you, too.
This may be scant comfort, but…{{{{{E72521}}}}}
heh, I see that others beat me to it whilst I was reading
Shit dude. Atleast it wasn’t Mr. index finger…right? I suggest you show off your tallest finger to any lawyers that say it isn’t a big deal, though…
I’m sorry to hear about this.
I hope you don’t find this rude, but how are you typing with your finger damaged so badly it needs to be amputated?
Again, you have my sympathies.
I’m going to repeat what I said earlier…a pinky finger is very useful for typing/keyboarding, and since we’re using computers more and more every day, losing a pinky IS quite annoying, not to mention all the pain you went through. Hell, if it was up to me, I’d award you a good sum of money just because you went through all those weeks of unnecessary pain, and then I’d award you more for the actual loss of a body part and possibly becoming less employable. I really like a lot of the doctors and medical people I come in contact with. But people like this, who ignore their patients’ pain, have no business in the medical profession. Pain is a signal that something is wrong.
I’m really sorry that you’re going through this.
Ditto for whoever said the nurse doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Never talk to medical staff about legal issues, I don’t care who they used to work for. They live on a different planet when it comes to malpractice.
A lawyer will listen to you. Whether or not they will take your case isn’t so much about whether you HAVE a case, many times if they say no it’s because they are bogged down with other cases. In that instance, they will usually refer you to some green kid fresh outta law school who is starving. That’s not a bad thing, either: starving lawyers work harder than ones who are sitting pretty.
It doesn’t matter that you have insurance that covers your lost wages. It’s not YOUR fault that you had lost wages to begin with! Don’t take this laying down! You deserve to be compensated for what you have gone through and this quack deserves to have his ass nailed to the wall! And yes, a thumb is more important than a pinky, but the issue is that you have lost a body part because someone screwed up. What body part you’ve lost isn’t as relevant as the fact that you lost one. You can LIVE without a pinky, sure, but dammit you were born with it and you shouldn’t HAVE to have it cut off. A woman could live without a uterus, so does that mean she shouldn’t sue if a doctor screws up and she ends up having to have a hysterectomy because of it, just because she’s 57 and well past childbearing age?
If you go see a lawyer and they say you don’t have a case, don’t automatically take that for an answer. See another one. Sometimes lawyers are just lazy and don’t want to deal with cases that aren’t going to bring in huge amounts of bucks and they’ll tell you that you’re outta luck just to make you go away. It doesn’t hurt to get a second opinion and besides the consultation is free (should be, anyway). If you’re real sweet to the paralegals they will go to bat for you with the attorney and do whatever they can to help.
Also, IMHO you have a much better chance of winning a lawsuit over this than you have of getting this guy’s license yanked. Go for both, of course, but don’t hold your breath about the latter.
Again, IANAL. This is just my personal opinion based on my experience in the legal field (malpractice included) and classwork.
First: sorry about your injury, that’s awful.
Second: sue the bastards. IANAL but I worked in a hospital legal department and saw many instances of successful lawsuits for medical mal resulting in much smaller losses than a finger!
It’s not just (just?) that you’re losing the finger, it’s the whole pain & suffering issue plus the fact that the doctors and PAs didn’t listen to you. (This was a common thread in the lawsuits I spoke of.) I’ll bet you can find a lawyer who will take this on.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
Oh, and before you go in for surgery write “WRONG HAND” on your left hand and “WRONG FINGER” on all fingers not to be amputated.
Take no chances write wrong hand on both sides of the other hand
You know what they call the guy who finishes last in his class at medical school?
Doctor.
The point of that joke is this: not every doctor you go to is a genius. They have some dummies, some slackers, and some outright careless people working in the medical profession. If you think something is wrong, get a second opinion. And if you get no satisfaction from the second guy, get a third opinion. It’s your body that’s getting jacked up. Don’t just take the guy’s word for it simply because he has a diploma and a white coat.
That’s just my opinion. YMMV. And it sucks that that’s all I can offer, that and sympathy, but what can I do? Sorry, man.
E , I’m so sorry to hear of all that you’ve been through the past several weeks. I would definitely see both another hand surgeon for a second opinion – maybe there is some type of conservative treatment (like the iv antibiotics) that they can try before surgery.
I would also see a lawyer. Something that you might want to check into is the level of supervision required of PAs in your state. IIRC, in some places, the physician has to see each patient and in others they only have to chart-review ‘x’ number of charts that the PA selects.
Anyway, I’ll be keeping you in my thoughts and I’m taking your post to heart with hopes that I’ll never be as callous and cold to patients as the “professionals” you have had contact with.
SnoopyFan: You’re right about the lawyers. Somewhere buried deep in the yellow pages is a lawyer that will take my case. When I’m feeling better, I’ll find one. Or would you suggest going through the local Bar Association?
Lynn Bodoni: My problems are nothing compared to the shit you’ve had to endure. I will think of you whenever I’m feeling sorry for myself.
emekthian: I was never able to master the art of typing with all of my fingers in the first place. The Vicodin I’m taking is probably slowing things down more than anything else. My work only requires me to spend about an hour a day typing short notes. I’m already adapting. What keeps me from working is the open wound on my hand and later the need for three doses of antibiotics through a central IV line a day.
Cicada2003: They’re doing this under local–I’ll be awake and alert in the OR. To play it safe, they will mark my left hand with a big N and my right with a big Y in the pre-op area. Before anything happens in the OR, everyone present is supposed to verify the correct limb. Pardon the pun, but it sticks out like a sore–er–pinky.
Scylla: My doctor is in a very prestigious orthopedic group and my case was reviewed by another hand specialist. I don’t think I can wait another two or three weeks to get in to see another surgeon. Also, FWIW, my wife’s best friend is an oncologist and after reviewing my x-ray, she was very enthusiastic about getting this done PDQ.
FTR if things go as planned, I’m only losing half of my finger. The finger is made of three bones. They’re removing what’s left of the bone at the tip and about half of the middle bone. If cancer is found or the infection worsens, they will remove more at a later date. If all goes well, I’ll have a stump just past the middle joint of the finger.
Doper Doctors: I was not trying to insult the entire medical profession. 95% of you guys are A1 top drawer. I just had a run of bad luck. It’s time we did something about the other 5% IMO…
Again, thanks to all of the cool people here that helped me feel better. This is really good therapy.
Wow. Crazy story.
My friend was put through six months of a choice between blinding stomach pain if she didn’t eat, and intolerable nausea if she did, plus hugely expensive drugs which allowed her to function, and the loss of twenty pounds that she really couldn’t spare, because two family doctors and a gastroenterologist failed to notice the positive test result from her very first round of tests. The fourth doctor gave her some pills and she was fine.
Why? How is this possible?
To the OP: my deepest sympathies. When you do bring your lawsuit against this quack, make sure to include all the time you spent looking for second opinions from doctors about your finger, and from lawyers about your case !
And, good news on potentially keeping the stump! (It would probably still fit in your ear, no?)
Dude, IANAL…just a businessman…
But here’s my advice.
Sue until his children bleed.
Disclaimer: It is absolutely, positively, not your fault that you’re losing a body part. That unequivocally sucks.
Remember, you have the right to aggressively insist on appropriate care. If a doctor isn’t taking your pain seriously, you’re allowed to say, “hey, maybe I’m not making myself clear. I AM IN HORRIBLE PAIN.” You can be firm. If a treatment is obviously not working, you can go back and demand that you be re-evaluated.
You’re allowed to get a second opinion. In fact, a second opinion is appropriate and even routine before an amputation.
And you have a right to sue for malpractice. Yes, even if you’re only losing a small body part. All of your body parts are enormously valuable.
It’s your body, and you have a right to be assertive, even aggressive, in getting it taken care of if that becomes necessary.
Your posts make you sound like a person who is reluctant to make waves, who wants to be polite and cooperative, and that’s often a good quality. But sometimes, to get what you need, you have to take a deep breath and kick a little butt.
It’s not only a matter of compensating you.
It’s teaching a lesson to the doctor (and hopefully, the whole medical profession) not to blow people off.
Don’t dismiss it because it’s just a pinky. This was a fully functional part of your body. You lost it due to the negligence of others, and now you have to learn to live without it, and possible face further surgery.
I would contact the local bar association rather than look through the yellow pages.
DO NOT discuss this case with the doctors. Let your lawyer handle it.
Or as George Carlin used to say, “Somewhere in the world is the world’s worst doctor. And somebody has an appointment with him in the morning.”
Just tell everyone that you did it because Ronnie Lott is your idol.
But seriously, folks…
Sorry to hear about your medical megafuck. Here’s wishing you the best.
You have my total understanding and sympathy, E72521.
20 years ago, an accident mashed two of my fingers, and the ER Doc told me he’d have to remove them. Unbeknownst to him, I’d worked in that same hospital, and had the privilege of seeing a great hand surgeon at work in the OR. Long story short-I can still count to 21 if my knees are apart.