Location: South Carolina.
Wondering if I have any legal recourse or what is the best course of action. I went to my primary care office for what I thought was an ear infection in early June. A medical assistant informed me I had a cerumen impaction and started irrigating my ear while waiting for the provider (an NP). The NP said she couldn’t see my eardrum but I had fluid in my ear (not sure how she could determine that if she couldn’t see my eardrum). She left and the medical assistant continued irrigation. At one point, I felt an extreme and sharp pain that shot down through my ear, into my tonsil and throat. I immediately demanded the MA stop. She was extremely nervous and told me I could leave.
I had to sit in my car for about 15 minutes before I could drive home–I was dizzy, nauseous, and the tissue I was using to dab my outer ear was blood-tinged (pinkish). I spent the remainder of the day prone, with extreme ear pain and tinnitus, with very diminished hearing (I thought the power was out when I woke up, because I could not hear anything). My hearing was nearly nonexistent in the ear for three days, and the tinnitus remained 24/7 (I did not have tinnitus in my ear prior to the procedure). I made a second appointment to make sure my eardrum hadn’t been ruptured and went back. The NP said she still could not see my eardrum and advised me to see an ENT. I saw an ENT about two weeks later, and he determined my eardrum was not damaged, there was hardly any wax in my ear, and my hearing was slightly degraded in that ear (by this time it had improved). However, the tinnitus is still present, nonstop. I like to relax in quiet and I can no longer do that. If I don’t have other sound, all I can hear is the high pitched tone of the tinnitus.
I know it seems like a minor thing, but this is very disruptive to me, and I believe the irrigation was one incorrectly by someone who was either not properly trained, should not have been performing the procedure, or was not following procedure. The ENT and the NP seemed dismissive of the tinnitus and essentially said “you get used to it.” The issue is, I didn’t have it before my medical appointment, nor did anyone at any time tell me tinnitus might result. What should I do? I have never had to consider consulting a lawyer. If the tinnitus went away after a week or two, I’d let it be, but it seems like it’s permanent at this point as it has not decreased or changed.