Most people in Tennessee and elsewhere experience anxiety in the time leading up to scheduled surgical procedures. When the planned surgery involves the patient’s spine, nervous anticipation is often exacerbated because the slightest error or medical negligence by the surgeon could have devastating consequences. One such case in another state led to a lawsuit against a doctor at a facility that deals mostly with spinal disorders.
According to court documents, the plaintiff underwent spinal surgery in April 2017, and when she came to afterward, she experienced severe pain, weakness and numbness. An x-ray after the procedure allegedly showed six screws placed in the spine, four of which were misplaced directly into her spinal nerves. An expert witness who looked at the placement of the screws says the imaging clearly shows them to be incorrectly placed.
Further allegations state that the defendant could see the incorrect positioning of the screws in the plaintiff’s back, but he maintained that there was nothing wrong. Furthermore, after a subsequent medical examination, the doctor told the patient that she needed further surgery, but he never mentioned the misplaced screws. During a second surgery on the following day, the defendant removed two screws, allegedly causing even more damage by leaving bone fragments scattered in the spinal canal.
This woman claims to have suffered permanent damage that led to further surgeries by a different doctor. Along with the emotional trauma and pain and suffering the plaintiff experienced, she would also have had to deal with mounting medical bills and possibly income losses. Navigating a medical negligence lawsuit in Tennessee is a complicated process, which might be best handled by an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
