Cortisone Injection

[MacDonald]

Elbow Damage  

I have a severe case of 'tennis elbow' and my doctor gave me a cortisone shot - I had had these 2 or three times before with a different doctor with no adverse affects.  This time 1) the shot had not affect and 2) it left a quarter size white /bleaching of my skin and the disappearance of underlying tissue so that my elbow/arm looks deformed.  Do I have any recourse?

[Goreu]

First of all is the issue of "damages". A doctor may do something negligent but unless the damages are well into the "6 figures", no lawyer will be interested. That is because a malpractice suit requires a very big monetary and time committment of the lawyer and unless the reward for those risks and work are substantial, it simply isn't worth it.  So, unless the loss of the tissue has rendered you disabled, permanently, in that arm, the damages are not sufficient.  But nothing you have said tells me that there was negligence.  Why did the tissue disappear? Did the doctor have any way of knowing this would happen?  Did he do anything or not do anything that any doctor would have done or not done. I like to put it this way:  Would virtually every other doctor look at your case and how you were treated and say" what the Hell was that doctor thinking? Is he crazy or just plain incompetent?"  Get the point? Unless using the steroid the way he did was completely inappropriate for you or he injected in a way that was totally wrong, there is no negligence.  Medical procedures have risks. Even the best doctors cannot eliminate those risks or be sure to avoid bad results.  This from a lawyer who makes his living suing doctors for mistakes............real big and real serious mistakes. Good luck