Lawsuit...would You Do It Again?

[mamachick]

I agree with lostforgottensoul-first I fell in a supermarket due to the floor cleaning company not putting up signs or having a trail mopper. I broke rib, collapsed lung, but worst was and remains the head injury which seems to be permanent. It was 2 yrs before they supplied the video surveillance that proved it to be their fault-what a relief. About the same time, I was assaulted by an on duty police officer and tore my rotator cuff. I got my head slammed again and ended up with definite ptsd. Therefore, I settled the case with the supermarket. The case against the cop got real screwed up and I was constantly attacked emotionally. All of my mental health records were used against me. Any thought I ever had was twisted and used as ammunition. The fall was 2006, the assault 2008. The store suit settled after 3.5 yrs in 2009, and police settled in 2016. That is 10 freaking years.

While I know in my heart the truth, the fall caused the head injury with difficulties, the cop caused the ptsd even if I was predisposed. The ptsd on top of the head injury seems that it would have (not monetarily) served justice better, but it has about ruined me and while I got some money, it was less than a tenth of the fall settlement. It was nothing but aggravation.

My interpretation is this-the more nasty, negligent, deliberate, etc. the professionals were, the meaner they will be in defending themselves. If you claim any depression or any kind of mental health issue, they will tear your ass up with your records and make you look nuts before this. They will make everything your fault regardless of documentation. By the time I was done, I wished I was f....ing dead. I was not a weak person before this. It is their intent. They are ruthless. They will hire the most ruthless attorneys they can find, twist everyones words, tear up therapists, family, friends, anyone they can.

The sad part is, I would never have filed a suit against the officer if I had just gotten an apology from the chief or the officer for allowing this to happen and my daughter have to witness all of this. If you do file a lawsuit and you loose, you can be held responsible for the costs of all depositors and the defendants attorney fee's, which can easily be 50K in defending themselves-they spare no costs.

I don't have a lot of faith in our justice system, and most lawyers are in it for money. They may enter the profession for justice, but along the way, reality sets in. I know, my daughter became an attorney and I have seen how the system works first hand.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@brat17, thats horrible! Im sorry!

 

[arbez]

Does your therapist support your decision to sue?

My therapist supports my decision. I'm not suing claiming damages such as PTSD. What both of them did was wrong. The one doctor called the other doctor said he would have seen me (which his office told me he wouldn't) and that I had threatened to sue him (again, which I did not and have the letter I sent to prove it). The second doctor took that info, refused to look into my constant pain, basically thinking I was a crazy person based on what the other doctor said who was covering his own butt. He finally did a hip aspiration for possible infection when I started running fevers everyday and another doctor dropped me back in his lap. During the procedure he was curt, and caused me horrible pain (I'm speaking from someone who has been through this procedure before not to mention 2 hip replacements after 2 hip scopes). I was in tears, shaking, trying to keep my bottom on the table. He ignored it all. Then he ordered the wrong tests on the fluid. I found the letter he wrote to my disability company saying that I was a manipulative liar while copying records to see another ortho surgeon. The letter also makes it clear that he was the one who wanted to contact them to give them this info. I have surgical reports that prove he made my leg over an inch too long and put the cup in at the wrong angle which was causing all of my pain (that he ignored). I understand even surgeons make mistakes but to be vindictive and intentionally cause your patient pain and suffering I can't understand. I fluctuate between letting it go and moving on because I've been warned it could make my PTSD worse. The other part of me thinks that if I lay down and let the awful people in the world continue to behave that way without any consequences then I am allowing myself to be a victim and maybe making them pay for doing wrong would help me in the end.

 

[arbez]

Id say the latter just from my own experience. If i would of taken on a lawsuit in my condit...

Thanks for your advice, appreciate it. My therapist supports whatever I want to do. She just wanted me to know it could worsen my PTSD. Think other issues are making it bad right now so I'm depressed and feeling vindictive. Would like to make these guys who think they are God's gift to medicine, suffer as I have suffered at their hands. The hard part is time is getting short, I have to make a decision in the next 6 months. What to do? Probably am going to let it go based on what I've read here. Thanks again.

 

[arbez]

Wow you have been put through the ringer, I am sorry for what you have had to endure in all of this. I ca...

Thanks. You may be right about my energy being spent in better ways.

 

[Justmehere]

If you want to reclaim your voice, then I would seriously hesitate suing. Civil malpractice and slander suits are not actually a good way to have a voice be heard. Courtrooms are about persuasion and crafting an argument, at a price, more than getting voices heard. I know this seems terribly counter-intuitive... but I've spent way too many days in my life in court and learned this the hard way.

But you don't have to give up on being heard and having an outlet and someone finally address your concerns.

Instead, pursue reporting him to the medical board. If you have a solid case, they will take action against him. You can also pursue an amendment to your medical record under HIPAA so that it stops being so harmful. His letter was one doctor's opinion. It certainly can be harmful, but not the end to a disability claim if you can get evidence from other doctors that disagree.

Only an attorney can say for sure, but I think you will get a lot further in repairing the damage done and getting your voice heard by focusing on getting a disability law attorney to work on a case to get disability awarded through building a case for the disability company or SSA. That is a route that you are much more likely to have success at and gain some validation and make up some of the losses.

 

[arbez]

If you want to reclaim your voice, then I would seriously hesitate suing. Civil malpractice and slan...

Very, very helpful, thank you so much. Gives me hope.

 

[mamachick]

I agree with justmehere. Some very sound opinion I think.
I totally believe what you have gone through both physically and emotionally. I also believe that these people that walk all over others should be put in their place. If you decide to sue, I will support you through your struggles as well. I really understand your hurting in this, it is betrayal and sloppiness and those who should care don't give a damn, and that makes me mad and want to prevent others from this too.

Even for an attorney to take a case, this is what a friend who is an attorney has said to me, and reflects most of them.

"People think because we are in the legal business, we are about seeking justice, but we are in the business of making money. If a case will not produce money and the client does not have up front costs of $400 per hour, then we can't take the case. We take cases based on a combination of factors. People think that you can sue for mental or emotional damage and you can not, there must be physical damage as well. If there is physical damage, then you can add the mental anguish but have to prove both. The award will usually be consistent with physical damage, and it is not what most people think. I can't afford to front costs and read all the reports and file all of the documents and pay my secretary and work on a case for 2 yrs to settle for $15,000."

I can tell you that a torn rotator cuff and 2 surgeries brought less than 5K after expenses. This was a 7 yr battle and there was no justice in the end. The only justice was that the cop that did this was a repeat offender and got his Karma. He had many other complaints and had one girl friend arrested falsely and her attorney contacted me for help during my pursuit of justice. He beat his girlfriend up(off duty) and put a gun to her head in front of her children, and she called sheriff who arrested him. This was 7 yrs after he put gun to my head and tore my arms up and kicked me and slammed my head while on duty. By the time he committed this act, he could not escape the consequences because mine was public, I posted publicly about him and ruined my own reputation. Is it worth it? Probably not, and it has made me an easy target for other things because I don't trust police and won't call them. He is now a meter maid. It took my claims plus his girlfriends claims yrs apart to stop this asshat. I do believe that if I had not had a lawsuit going, she would have been passed over too. It would have been swept under carpet, but once he was arrested, the public knew too much for him not to plead out.

Do you know why he did this? He said he thought I was someone else, but I had been told that the local police were going to get me because I am a smart ass. I was a counselor for abused women and was sick of them being beat and raped by the locals. I called a couple out on it in my own way since I could not breach confidentiality. I wrote letters to the chief when one forced is way into my home with only my 16 yr old daughter home to see what was left from a garage sale. That is what they do with their power when you report bad behavior. To this day, I think he did something to my daughter because she has not been the same since this incident. She is mean and has gained 150 lbs. She won't talk about it but I had knowledge that 2 different cops that harassed her (age 16 and again when 17) were porn addicts of teen porn. I knew this from working with their partners/significant other.

Who are they going to believe, you or a Dr. I believe you and I am sure others here do as well. This is just food for thought. If it sounds tough, it is tough and if you decide to sue, you are going to have to be so tough. They will pry into every medical condition that ever afflicted you, every partner you ever had, what your siblings ever did, etc. They held me for over 8 hour deposition knowing my pain level. In order to keep up with the case, I had to take bad meds and went from 120 lbs down to 88 lbs.

I used money from my slip and fall to live on, and spent it unwisely too often to comfort myself and my kids who watched me fall apart. That was a fair settlement in my opinion and was to be used for future but I was not thinking straight after ptsd. That is on me.

Again, what happened to you is horrible. If you decide to sue, I know where you have are, have been there and will be all the support I can.

Whatever you decide...F@&$ those people that do this kind of stuff. Karma will get them. It may be slow, but it is certain in my opinion.

 

[arbez]

I agree with justmehere. Some very sound opinion I think.
I totally believe what you have gone through bo...

You are so sweet, despite what you have been through. Hope I come out the same person I was (or better), not angry, cynical. I appreciate your words of support. The two things I have already on my side is a good lawyer who told me what to expect (and didn't sugar coat anything, he was very realistic) so I could make a rational decision. He also would take the case and only take payment based on winnings. The other thing he said was in my favor is that one other profession that juries look kindly upon (even more so than physicians) are nurses. Which I have been for over 30 years. I thinks that's what makes this worse, if these docs treat a nurse like this how are they treating those not in the profession? This has sure opened up my eyes. It has made me see how badly one person can intentionally treat another. So sad.

 

[aut555]

Also you can report to the Federation Medical Board, which is the clearing house on all US medical doctors, and it is based out of Texas. Doctors will stick up for other doctors, and clique together. His medical malpractice insurance will be subpoenaed to see if he has any priors, making your case easier if he does. D2 will get a reprimand from the state medical board if you win. If he is holding other state licences , it will come up if and when he renews ,( usually every two years). People do cover up for doctors but if you are ready for the war? Find out what monetary award is typical, plus deduct state taxes on that, and then base your decision on that. And there are caps on medical malpractice awards, l believe in some states. Good luck with your choice and this doctor had no right to do that to you.

 

[mamachick]

@arbez- I am so glad that you have a good attorney that is willing to take his fee from winnings. That in itself means that he thinks it is a really good case. With all the information you stated on here, we are still not attorneys and sometimes things that seem like it would be a slam dunk to a lay person is the opposite to an attorney, and vise versa. He is the expect. The attorney in my fall case did not let the defendants abuse me so I have no idea if they tried, but the attorney in the police suit was a goof. No local attorneys want to sue police where I am at so I had to hire someone 3 hrs away. It made communication difficult. A bad attorney is the worst scenario as well. I am sure that it would not taken such a toll on my health if he had been even decent, but his priority was running for some village mayor position and he was about 70 yrs old.

I am so glad that you have a good attorney and this outlook. Just don't let anything that they say get to you. What you have described is to abusive and I have seen similar happen to others. You are strong and will get through this.

 

[PointlessExistence]

If you do file a lawsuit and you loose, you can be held responsible for the costs of all depositors and the defendants attorney fee's, which can easily be 50K in defending themselves-they spare no costs.

This is not accurate. You would never have to pay the other side's lawyers' fees in a medical malpractice case, unless your claim was an entire fabrication. There are very specific laws about when the losers have to pay the other side's lawyers' fees.