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Common causes of orthopaedic medical negligence injury:
- Delay in diagnosis of bone fractures and tendon damage
- Missed fractures (including radiological)
- Mismanagement of fractures or damaged tendons
- Failure or delay in treatment or surgery following diagnosis (including cancer)
- Lack of informed consent prior to a procedure
- Surgical error
- Incorrect / wrong casting of a fracture
- Sub-standard post-operative after-care / rehabilitation
- Inappropriate or premature discharge
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Common orthopaedic negligence injuries
- Permanent mobility problems
- Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is debilitating, has a negative effect on quality of life and will often require further medical care for pain management including long-term medication (which may have unfavourable side-effects).
- Bone Infection
- Blood clots
Blood clots are a risk with any orthopaedic surgery but if undiagnosed or diagnosed late can be life threatening.
- Dislocation
- Wrong limb or digit amputation
- Nerve Damage
This can occur during or after surgery
- Wrong sized, mismatched or incorrectly fitted implant components in joint (elbow, hip or knee) replacement surgery
Such surgical mistakes cause chronic pain, inflammation, mobility issues and further complications with the patient requiring revision surgery.
- Poorly performed joint replacement (elbow, hip or knee) surgery
Surgery that is poorly performed may lead to ongoing chronic pain, reduced mobility and revision surgery and rehabilitation.
- Casting Injuries
If a cast, for example, is put on too tight it can cause injuries such as malformation of fractures bones, permanent nerve damage, Deep Vein Thrombosis (blood clot) and pulmonary embolism, muscle and tendon damage, blood vessel damage. Poor casts can in extreme cases lead to amputation.
- Unnecessary surgery
Any surgery that was not necessary, not the best treatment option (where there are alternative options) or not in the patient’s best interest may be negligent.
- Amputation
If a diagnosis and treatment is delayed occasionally amputation surgery becomes necessary. This is not always down to orthopaedic negligence.
Other causes include failure or poor management of diabetes complications including foot or leg issues which have not been managed properly by the health professionals whose care you are under and may lead to amputation.
- Heart attacks and strokes
- Death
- Psychological / emotional injury
The emotional trauma of any orthopaedic medical negligence injury can led to emotional and psychological issues requiring treatment.
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How we can help you claim for compensation for Orthopaedic Negligence
It can take courage and can initially feel daunting approaching a medical negligence solicitor. This is particularly so when wishing to challenge the treatment and care provided by a highly qualified professional, who we hold in high regard and who we place our health and trust in.
It is important to appreciate that mistakes happen in any situation involving human beings, regardless of how well trained, skilled, experienced and caring they are. Where mistakes are made and harm is caused with regard to patient care there are consequences that may lead you to consider instructing a solicitor to bring legal action on your behalf.
You may not be considering financial compensation once medical negligence has arisen - you may want to make sure that nobody else experiences the same injury that you did. This is entirely understandable. As humans, we trust in the training and expertise of our healthcare professionals and don’t expect harm to be caused. Many patients want lessons to be learned to prevent further harm for others.
Pursuing a claim against a healthcare professional (public and private) does raise awareness. Pursuing a claim leads to investigation and scrutiny and consideration of existing policies and procedures and to further training. It also allows for a financial settlement to be awarded which places a patient in a better position than they may have otherwise been.
