Do I have enough to file for a chiropractic medical malpractice claim?

[sebastiano53]

Two years ago I went into the chiropractor for my lower back /sciatica. I did not go to my primary caregiver since I thought my back was "just out". I had burning in my right buttocks and down the back of my right leg. The chiropractor knew my history and of my activities. He told me that I may get a little worse before I got better. After the first adjustment I was in more pain and had numbness down my right leg with the burning. I let him know the next time I was in that it was worse and he reiterated that this would be part of getting better. By the third adjustment I was completely numb in my groin area and down my right leg. I felt like I was sitting on a tennis ball if I sat down, I had trouble standing in one place for very long and I walked with a limp. The next time I went in to explain this was getting way worse and not better he decided to do an x-ray. After the x-ray I was immediately sent to have an MRI done. 15 minutes after having the MRI done I had a call from my chiropractor telling me the tech said I had the worst back he had ever seen. I was also herniated at L4/L5 and my disc had "exploded" into my spinal cord at L5/S1 and was crushing my spinal cord. The MRI tech did not understand how I could walk. Once the chiropractor had the official results in he explained to me that he could no longer treat me and that he "thought I was herniated, but was 'hoping' that was not the case". I then went in for emergency surgery to alleviate the pressure on my spinal cord and remove the fragments in my cord.

One year later a new MRI revealed that I still had issues - severe herniation at L5/S1, torn disc at L4/L5, herniation at T11/T12, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, neural formina stenosis, neuropathy in my right leg, etc etc.

I had three spinal epidurals as a non-surgical treatment, but am going in to see a new neurosurgeon for a consultation on a second surgery at my primary caregivers recommendation. I am now looking at having to have by back fused to prevent further degeneration and damage. This surgery is, of course, much more costly than my first. I have already had enough financial devastation from all of the doctor visits and do not need more.

I am not sure if this would be enough to show negligence on the behalf of the chiropractor.

I should add that prior to this I did not have any back issues. I used to run 15-20 miles per week and was in good physical shape. I was 30 years old when this occurred.

[teyrnon72]

You would have to prove that the 3 treatments and the delay either caused your damages or increased them. My guess is that this would not be possible. It's unlikely that you could find an attorney to handle the matter and actually, you probably don't want to find one. Med mal cases are enormously expensive and, while the attorney gets no fee unless you win your case, you would be liable for all the expenses of the case, win or lose. It's likely those costs could bankrupt you if you failed to win.

[unss94]

You would have to show that the standard of care, the custom of the industry, required an x-ray of anyone in good physical shape with sciatica. Then you would have to prove that the x-ray at that time would have revealed the true nature of the problem. The other problem is damages. As you were eventually diagnosed, your damages are limited to a couple extra months of pain. The chiropractor did not cause the damage, he just delayed the diagnosis. Unless you can show that the delay was medically wrong and the delay caused the damage, you have nothing