Medical legal advice anyone?

[MikeT]

I broke my collarbone 9-2004 and had surgery five days later.

Well, it has been plenty of time for all the swelling to go down and what I'm left with is clearly seen as (in my opinion) a misaligned collarbone. I am going to go to another orthopedic guy on Monday to get a second opinion on it. Not only is is pushed out farther than the other, it is also higher, not by a little but a lot. I am comparing the unbroken section to the other side so I am not letting the clip or the callous cloud the issue.

It is a pretty ugly sight if you ask...... well anyone who looks at it. I think they are going to have to re-break it and redo the surgery.

I am not looking to try to sue the pants off of anyone, my main goal is to get my collarbone set back the RIGHT way and have them pay for it. I just can't have any out of pocket expenses.

Do you guys have any experience in having a "botched" surgery redone and getting the Dr. that messed it up pay for it? Will I need a lawyer or can the insurance company hash this out with a second opinion?

 

[Okiewan]

No way can anyone here offer legal medical advice, unless one of the lawyers on DRN, a) speicalizes in malpractice and b) if willing to do offer it up free.

That being said, if I'm not mistaken, they can't garantee a clavical will grow back straight (you can't stabilize it completely for one thing). I've seen MANY that didn't... ask AJ, lol, he's got a nice example. Could be wrong tho, as always.

 

[MikeT]

they can't garantee a clavical will grow back straight (you can't stabilize it completely for one thing). .

It didn't grow back on it's own, I has surgery on it and the Dr. set the position in place with a clip and six screws, so he stabilized it. He put it back at a very bad angle that is where I think it went wrong. I wouldn't be questioning the Dr. at all if it healed on it's own.

Also, I am not looking for any exact legal advice, I just want to know if anyone has gone through anything like this before.

 

[Okiewan]

Ah... disregard my last then, it should be right I would think?

 

[MikeT]

Ah... disregard my last then, it should be right I would think?

No prob.
That's what I was thinking. If the guy went in there and had my other unbroken side to compare it to, it should be pretty near perfect. I'll even give him a bump and the screws and all that but atleast compare it to the other side and make me symmetrical. That's what they get paid for.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Most all of the broken collarbones I've heard or read about that did not have surgical intervention healed crooked and with a protruding bump. I've had two myself, both on the left side, and the bone length is noticeably shorter too.

I would expect that with a pin or plate, the bone should be pretty damn straight. I guess you may have a bump from the calcium build up. An x-ray should also be able to show how aligned the bone is in relation to the plate.

Might be a tough fight though. Unless you have chronic pain, it's just cosmetic, so insurance may not pay for it.

 

[MikeT]

The bump from the calcium does not bother me. I expect that, niether does the bump from the clip. It is the very poor alignment of the bones that is just wrong, that is my beef. If the bones were aligned the same as the other side, no problem. I wish all I had to worry about is the bump from the calcium.

The mis-alignment rubs my chest protector badly and positions my seat belt in my car way out on my shoulder. These are the problems that it is causing. Yes it also looks bad, but it would be better if my two collarbones were the same shape.

 

[usgpru27]

I would get your second opinion first before drawing conclusion. You may find that the repair was the only way to ensure that what you had left would be strong. As noted the majority of these breaks do not get surgury. So you are already in the special case catagory. I have broken a dozen or so bones and I have experianced some odd procedures that didnt seem to make sence. In the end all my surgerys worked out great. My recent femur shattering left it with 2-3 inches of missing material. At the same incident I shattered my kneecap in 20 separate pieces. If you saw the X-rays of the kneecap you would not think I would walk again. It is now almost pain free. Since I had no cartalage that screwed, wired, pined it in such a way that the calcification would wear in as it formed and in the end form a new surface. It is actually amazing. Odd to look at.

You will also need to get that hardware out of your collerbone. If you have a plate it will break in time and the screws will back out. That bone is very flexable. Following removal it will feel so much better. The screws and such are very bothersome.

As a side not a friend of mine broke his collarbone and it healed directly on top of the other bone as if they were stacked. No issues and strong as hell. Tested it a few times. Has the bumps and calcium deposits but works..

 

[MikeT]

OK, The prognosis is that the bone has a "mild non-union". It is fully joined so I don't understand the term. The bone is joined but at a slight angle and it can be seen in the X-ray. The Dr. said to wait one year after the original surgery and then have the clip removed. He feeld that a lot of new bone has formed and made the lump much larger. That plus the thickness of the plate and the slight angle all contribute to the result I have. He said that when the clip is removed that the Dr. can sculpt (dremel tool) the bone lump off into a much better shape.

I still wish he (the original Dr.) would have gotten it a little straighter, but what can you do? Looks like I'll be shelling out another $2500 in co-pays next year to get the job finished correctly.

 

[tnrider]

they don't call it a "medical practice" for nothing... my dr broke the bone in my arm below where he was repairing it during surgery.