# Who, if anyone, do I have a lawsuit against? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811 "2014-04-23T22:14:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/1 "2014-04-23T22:14:59Z")
A week ago Thursday, I went to my LCP, because my knee hurt, and was wiggling oddly. She did a cursory examination, did not order X-rays. 24 hours later, I was in the ER, diagnosed with a broken femur. I had a couple of falls out of my wheelchair, most recently the Tuesday before my doctor visit. The front casters on my chair are shot, and was waiting on new parts. I was never told not to use my chair, and they had already come to see the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/2 "2014-04-23T22:29:08Z")
Your LCP missed a diagnosis. Perhaps it was negligent. It was diagnosed 24 hours later, so I assume even if malpractice, you don’t have significant damages from a 24 hour delay. I don’t have enough information about who might be liable, if anyone, for the problems with your chair. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/3 "2014-04-23T22:44:22Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I had a couple of falls out of my wheelchair, most recently the Tuesday before my doctor visit. The front casters on my chair are shot, and was waiting on new parts. I was never told not to use my chair, and they had already come to see the problem. You should sue yourself for waiting until someone told you not to use your wheelchair after you fell out of it a few times. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/4 "2014-04-23T22:53:30Z")
I’m not a lawyer or a doctor. Just my observations as a fellow human. > [@etv78](#): > > A week ago Thursday, I went to my LCP, because my knee hurt, and was wiggling oddly. She did a cursory examination, did not order X-rays. 24 hours later, I was in the ER, diagnosed with a broken femur. On the face of it, that sounds awful, but actually, you fell two days before you went to the doctor. Since you didn’t need to go to the ER right away, I assume you said something to the LCP like, “I fell two days ago. My knee hurts” and not “AGGGGH! I’m in a lot of pain!!!” Assuming her cursory examination didn’t reveal any swelling or bruising or bones jutting out of skin, she just may not have seen any need for an X-ray. Basically, if you weren’t in a lot of pain, what did you really suffer by finding out a day later that you had a broken femur? Obviously it is not optimal, but what sort of compensation do you think you deserve, and for what? Incidentally, what did she tell you was going on with your leg? > [@etv78](#): > > I had a couple of falls out of my wheelchair, most recently the Tuesday before my doctor visit. The front casters on my chair are shot, and was waiting on new parts. I was never told not to use my chair, and they had already come to see the problem. If you knew there were problems with the wheelchair and yet continued to use it, either you felt you _HAVE_ to use the wheelchair in your daily activities and therefore must accept any risk, or you deemed the risk of something going wrong to be small enough to accept. I’m not seeing why it is necessary for someone else to tell you not to use it, or how they are liable for your injuries, if you know there is a problem with it and are fairly experienced with wheelchairs. Finding out that the front casters are shot, did you ask if the wheelchair was safe to use until the parts come in? I’m not trying to put the blame on you; I just can imagine it being the sort of problem that should be addressed but does not obviously turn the wheelchair into a Terrifying Wheelchair of Death and Destruction for which the technician was obligated to warn you not to use. Sometimes shit happens. It doesn’t mean a lawsuit is in order. I guess it also doesn’t mean you couldn’t find someone to file a lawsuit for you if you wanted to, either. I’m sincerely sorry you got hurt and hope you didn’t have a lot of pain, and hope you get better soon. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/5 "2014-04-23T22:56:19Z")
My Dad fell and broke his femur last year. The first two x-rays (several days apart) revealed nothing. They thought he was just bruised. It took even more pain, and a CAT scan to reveal the fracture. Sometimes medicine isn’t an exact science. You should worry less about suing someone and more about fixing your wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/6 "2014-04-23T22:59:41Z")
Agreed all. I’m not litigious by nature. If I didn’t use my wheelchair, I would’ve been homebound, and probably bed bound. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/7 "2014-04-23T23:08:37Z")
However, if a short stocky balding man bought you a used wheelchair, whose brakes failed on a particularly steep incline, then you should definitely sue. You might get a free big screen TV out of it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/8 "2014-04-23T23:14:25Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > However, if a short stocky balding man bought you a used wheelchair, whose brakes failed on a particularly steep incline, then you should definitely sue. You might get a free big screen TV out of it. Or a box of envelopes. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/9 "2014-04-23T23:15:36Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > However, if a short stocky balding man bought you a used wheelchair, whose brakes failed on a particularly steep incline, then you should definitely sue. You might get a free big screen TV out of it. That episode was on yesterday! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/10 "2014-04-23T23:23:05Z")
Who last changed its oil? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/11 "2014-04-24T00:30:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Or a box of envelopes. Which I would have the sense NOT to lick. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/12 "2014-04-24T00:31:05Z")
Smeg- What exactly are you asking? The chair is manual. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/13 "2014-04-24T03:54:30Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Smeg- What exactly are you asking? The chair is manual. Oh Christ. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/14 "2014-04-24T04:01:07Z")
Guin- Why is that facepalm worthy? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/15 "2014-04-24T04:23:58Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You should sue yourself for waiting until someone told you not to use your wheelchair after you fell out of it a few times. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/16 "2014-04-24T04:30:44Z")
Lisa- They never told me my chair was unsafe to use!!! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/17 "2014-04-24T04:40:50Z")
What does LCP stand for? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/18 "2014-04-24T04:51:48Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Lisa- They never told me my chair was unsafe to use!!! That’s it! They person you should sue is “They”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/19 "2014-04-24T05:01:12Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Lisa- They never told me my chair was unsafe to use!!! As a fellow wheelchair-user, I am just disgusted. We ain’t all like this folks. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811/20 "2014-04-24T05:28:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > What does LCP stand for? From Google Ruger® LCP® Centerfire Pistol Models Latino Comedy Project - Austin Texas Latino / Latina … Law and Contemporary Problems The LCP Solution: The Remarkable Nutritional Treatment for … Local Coastal Programs (LCPs) Beats me. To the OP: Stop drinking and wheelchairing. It doesn’t seem to mix for you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-if-anyone-do-i-have-a-lawsuit-against/686811.md?page=2)