Hello, I have questions regarding one of my doctor’s actions…well inactions that have really upset me and have caused complicatins. I would like to run my situation by some of you before I see a lawyer to see if I have something here or not…and yes I understand that this does not constitute real legal advice…I am just wanting to be pointed in the right direction.
Also I apologize in advance, this is kind of a complicated case—even to me and I have been living it—I will try to come across as fluid as I can.
First, I live in Louisiana after recently moving here from Idaho. I got a job as a cable television/broadband technician a very intensely physical job. On September 28, 2011 I was injured at work when a ladder I was on broke and I fell roughly 16-20 feet to land on the sidewalk/grass area below. No broken bones but I injured my right knee (I fell on it the hardest), my lower back, and both of my legs go to sleep/burn if there is any pressure on my butt or lower back (i.e. Sitting, laying on back, or any combination thereof). My knee locks up and snaps loudly randomly and grinds constantly.
After several issues with the Work Comp. insurance company I was finally approved to see a doctor specializing in these types of injuries—I was told. Let’s call him Dr. Y. I first saw Dr. Y. around December 7, 2011. When I saw him, he took X-rays and an MRI of my back and did a quick physical exam on my back and knee; he told me that he would take care of my back first then work on my knee. He then told me that I had two, small, hernias in my lower lumbar region of my back and even though they were small, they didn’t need to be large to hurt and cause issues with numbness/burning in my legs. He recommended an injection and told me it will probably take multiple injections. Roughly a month later I received my first and only injection in my lower back. It made my back feel a bit better as far as the constant throbbing, but didn’t help the sharp pain when I moved and numbness/burning in my legs, the worst symptoms remained unchanged. When I told him this his attitude quickly changed. It was almost likeI hurt his feelings when I told him the injection basically didn’t work on the major issues…and he began to act like he didn’t believe me. He stopped prescribing me pain medication even though nothing had changed…the reason he gave was—and this is the100% what he said—he said his mother had died from a prescription drug overdose in October, 2011 (two months before) and he doesn’t see the need to give someone with acute pain any type of pain reliever. I then began asking over the next couple of visits what we were going to do about my knee. He told me that according to his notes he gave me a knee exam and there wasn’t anything wrong with my knee that he could “see”. This was in late January and early February of 2012.
Several months went by and now it’s April. Dr. Y. has refused to do any more injections on my back after the first one, according to my Work. Comp. adjuster he has had approvals since the first injection to perform a total of three injections, so two more were already approved. He still maintained that he couldn’t find anything wrong with my knee even though he took no X-rays or MRI’s of my knee, just twisted around for a minute. And virtually nothing has seen improvement since I began seeing him. In April I was talking to his physician’s assistant or nurse prac. And asked him why he wasn’t doing anything with my knee to which I was told that Dr. Y. doesn’t specialize in knees! That I would need to be refered to another doctor in his office. At this point I had been talking with Dr. Y. FOR MONTHS about getting started on my knee and he kept pushing it off or saying he gave me a physical exam and saw nothing…never did he say he doesn’t do knees. Then my wife called Dr. Y’s office and spoke to the Work Comp liaison there and she couldn’t find anywhere in my charts where Dr. Y. said anything about knee pain/injury. Even though it is listed in my patient file and my referral from the first (emergency) doctor, And it clearly stated on the first page of my file "refering for lower back/knee pain"…
(To date my last appointment with Dr. Y. was in July, 2012 at which point he told me he was going to return me to regular duty at work the next time he sent his report in to the WC insurance company (I had been assigned to light/desk duty). Which with my knee and back still not much better, there would be no way I could go back to regular work…I would love to, but I physically cannot.)
At this point (May, 2012) I start trying to request a new doctor through my adjuster which he did not want me to do…so I requested a doctor who specialized in knees and basically, for now, kept Dr. Y. on the rolls as the doctor for my back.
So I asked around this time and chose a well recommended knee doctor, Dr. C. After dealing with my adjuster and cutting through red tape with him finally had my first appointment with Dr. C. in August, 2012. Before I saw Dr. C. I received X-rays and an MRI on my affected knee. When I saw Dr. C. for the first time he said from the imaging it is clear that I have—and I am a layman here—basically jump started arthritis in my fall. That in the area behind my knee cap there is a lot of bone on bone rubbing and a lot of inflammation and I will most likely be in need of, at least, joint resurfacing. Also my knee joint is scaling and tiny bits of scaled bone have broken off and gotten caught in the actual joint which is what, to this day, has been causing the random locking feeling and loud popping sounds/feeling when I am walking or otherwise using my knee. Also Dr. C. has kept me on light/desk duty. To add to my frustration, after telling Dr. C. what I had gone through with Dr. Y…I was told that if I had gotten treated with either steroid injections or a knee lubricant that I probably would have been able to recover a lot easier and faster than what it is going to take now, because the longer you use a damaged body part the more damage is caused which makes it harder to fix and recover from…
So what I am asking is do I have a legit legal issue or action with Dr. Y? This whole thing really has pissed me off, and I feel like I was just used by Dr. Y. to get the Work Comp. payments without doing anything. Because even though he wasn’t helping, he still brought me back every two to three weeks…