A jury returned a verdict of $5.6 million against a Ohio hospital after a father was left paraplegic due to medical malpractice. He was left bound to a wheel chair for the remainder of his life.
The jury found the Ohio medical malpractice occurred when an emergency room physician failed to get a necessary test, an MRI, that would have found an infection in the father’s spinal cord. If they had discovered the infection, they could have drained it and prevented permanent injury to his spinal cord.
Spinal cord injuries are serious injuries that often need experts to determine the extent and cause of the injury.
The Ohio father was seen by Lodi Community Hospital E.R. with new severe back pain despite no recent back injury. He told the physicians that he had been recently diagnosed with MRSA, a bacterial infection. The E.R. doctor discharged the Ohio father with a diagnosis of a muscle strain, prescribed pain killers, and told him to return if his symptoms worsened.
Due to the medical malpractice, his infection grew worse to the point where he began experiencing weakness and tingling in his legs. This is a sign that there may be a nerve issue causing the problems. After two visits to the ER, he was finally given an MRI, which revealed the infection compressing the spinal cord. Surgery was done, but it was not done soon enough to prevent permanent injury.
If you believe you have a spinal cord injury or have become paraplegic due to medical malpractice, you should contact an medical negligence attorney as soon as possible to evaluate whether you have a case.