SJL
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- Sep 13, 2014
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A legal postscript a year-and-a-quarter after my Dec 29, 2015, "final" posting. Please re-title my thread "Painful, failed PKR = TKR Revision & Legal Pursuit (final)"
Finally, the last firm admitted to me that there was not enough $ upside with my limited direct losses (and eventual recovery) because trying such a case would cost several hundreds of thousands dollars with expert witnesses, etc. As an insured retiree, my direct losses (skyrocketing premiums, deductibles, travel, etc.) were under $20,000, and the Colorado cap on "pain and suffering" is $300,000 for the worst sort of outcome. Small claims court procedures ($7500 max return possible) might also have required “expert witnesses.”
Thus, in Jan 2016 I filed a formal complaint online with the State Medical Board including my succinct but detailed packet with a one-page text summary and 6 other documentation attachments (photos, x-rays, reports, etc.). Results can range from nothing done to revocation of medical license. No $ damage awards are possible. The Board never requested more info, and most such complaints are resolved within 6 months. The complainant does not attend any of the proceedings or learn about what occurred therein. I checked in as to “status” of the complaint every 3 months, and finally at 9 months I received notice that they had “dismissed” the complaint. The exact verbiage was as follows: “The decision to dismiss this case should not be construed as an endorsement of conduct. However, the Panel did not find that her action rose to a level of a violation of Colorado law that warranted formal disciplinary action against her license.”
It would seem that only death or egregious maiming are worth pursuing in terms of medical malpractice culpability. Per the Board's filing information, it IS possible that ortho #4 received a private “letter of concern” (the public and I would have no permission to view or know about it). Approximately midway through this complaint process, I knew that she no longer was with the same orthopedist group, and some people have told me that just the filing of such a complaint somehow follows the doctor -- independent of the complaint’s outcome. I currently don't know where she is or what she is doing. My opinion is that if she wants to work in the medical field, it would be best that she work or experiment only with cadavers.
Both the 3-yr-old Lpkr and the 2-yr-old Rtkr are doing OK and feel the same in terms of slight weird nerve sensations (foreign feelings), which might last forever but aren't really bothersome. I did a little downhill skiing this winter for the first time in 20 years, including some crashes, without apparent new damage to the knees or their prosthetics. Even ladders are OK now. Any kneeling on a hard surface must be very brief.
A total of 5 appropriate legal firms were contacted sequentially online over a 6-month period regarding my immediately failed Rpkr2 and required revision to Rtkr. Each took lengthy periods of time to decline representing me with no explanation, no comment about the validity of my complaint, and no other alternative suggestion. But they DID each remind me of the 2-year statute of limitations for filing.
Finally, the last firm admitted to me that there was not enough $ upside with my limited direct losses (and eventual recovery) because trying such a case would cost several hundreds of thousands dollars with expert witnesses, etc. As an insured retiree, my direct losses (skyrocketing premiums, deductibles, travel, etc.) were under $20,000, and the Colorado cap on "pain and suffering" is $300,000 for the worst sort of outcome. Small claims court procedures ($7500 max return possible) might also have required “expert witnesses.”
Thus, in Jan 2016 I filed a formal complaint online with the State Medical Board including my succinct but detailed packet with a one-page text summary and 6 other documentation attachments (photos, x-rays, reports, etc.). Results can range from nothing done to revocation of medical license. No $ damage awards are possible. The Board never requested more info, and most such complaints are resolved within 6 months. The complainant does not attend any of the proceedings or learn about what occurred therein. I checked in as to “status” of the complaint every 3 months, and finally at 9 months I received notice that they had “dismissed” the complaint. The exact verbiage was as follows: “The decision to dismiss this case should not be construed as an endorsement of conduct. However, the Panel did not find that her action rose to a level of a violation of Colorado law that warranted formal disciplinary action against her license.”
It would seem that only death or egregious maiming are worth pursuing in terms of medical malpractice culpability. Per the Board's filing information, it IS possible that ortho #4 received a private “letter of concern” (the public and I would have no permission to view or know about it). Approximately midway through this complaint process, I knew that she no longer was with the same orthopedist group, and some people have told me that just the filing of such a complaint somehow follows the doctor -- independent of the complaint’s outcome. I currently don't know where she is or what she is doing. My opinion is that if she wants to work in the medical field, it would be best that she work or experiment only with cadavers.
Both the 3-yr-old Lpkr and the 2-yr-old Rtkr are doing OK and feel the same in terms of slight weird nerve sensations (foreign feelings), which might last forever but aren't really bothersome. I did a little downhill skiing this winter for the first time in 20 years, including some crashes, without apparent new damage to the knees or their prosthetics. Even ladders are OK now. Any kneeling on a hard surface must be very brief.
