Location: Rhode Island
Hi folks! I know medical malpractice is not something you all can really advise on but I am just wondering if someone can give me any clue if this is worth pursuing.
June 2024 I start feeling some weird abdominal pain and go to my PCP. They order scans which end up showing a 24cm fibroid that’s grown between my uterus and diaphragm. I follow up with my OBGYN office and my regular doctor is on vacation so I meet with a different doctor who tells me they had actually found the fibroid in July 2023 when they did an ultrasound to check the position of my recently replaced IUD. At that time the fibroid was only 10cm and it’s likely it could’ve been removed laparoscopically.
Due to the growth of the fibroid during that yearlong span, it was too large to be removed laparoscopically and my surgeon had to do a long vertical incision. Having to be cut in this way has created nerve pain that I have been trying to get under control for over 10 months now. It was been debilitating and really decreased my quality of life. Bending, reaching, walking, and even singing have been incredibly painful. My social life has different and I have a hard time fulfilling my household duties. I was also fired from my job because I had to keep delaying my return due to how excruciating the pain was. I have tried oral medication, nerve block injections, and now I am paying out of pocket for a treatment I can barely afford but I am feeling tentatively optimistic.
Do I have any recourse to get them to, at minimum, pay for the current treatment ?
Thanks so much for reading
Comments
> I know medical malpractice is not something you all can really advise on but I am just wondering if someone can give me any clue if this is worth pursuing.
A med mal lawyer genuinely is who you need to speak to, you’ll have to see if at 10cm not recommending treatment violated the standard of care, and also how you can quantify your special and what to ask for for general damages due to the delay in treatment, and the results of that delay.
Sometimes with the expense and complexity of med mal even a righteous case isn’t going to be sensible from a cost versus recovery standpoint.
I generally agree that you should call a medical malpractice lawyer. However, before you do that, I’d try to get the records from the OB/GYN’s office. If your lucky, you can look at them online. Let me explain why this is important: because fibroids often (but not always) grow slowly, (and can even shrink on their own post-menopause) the recommended treatment for fibroids without symptoms is often “watchful waiting”. So EXACTLY what the OB/GYN claims they told you and wrote in their notes may be critical. For example, if the notes say they told you to come back for follow-up imaging in six months — even if they really didn’t tell you that — that may make a case challenging.
I’m not knowledgeable about what the standard of care required for a 10 cm fibroid that wasn’t then producing symptoms for someone of your age. If the standard of care would only require follow-up imaging in a year, a case might be difficult. 10 cm is obviously already large though, so perhaps the standard of care is removal, even if its not currently producing symptoms.
None of the above is a reason not to check in with a lawyer. Its free, doesn’t take much time, and the worse that happens is you get told “no”.