What are my rights if I had a right total knee replacement but was injured doing physical therapy in a local hospital?
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What are my rights if I had a right total knee replacement but was injured doing physical therapy in a local hospital?
The 1st day post-op I got out of bed to do physical therapy with a student physical therapy aid but fell and broke my right ankle. It required surgery with a plate and screws (ORIF) 5 days after my knee surgery. In addition, I was in the ICU unit being treated for low heart rate (36-50). I was transferred to ICU directly from the recovery room after my knee replacement. Do I have a personal injury lawsuit that would include damages, pain and suffering?
Asked on January 14, 2016 under Malpractice Law, New York
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Being injured in a hospital does not, by itself, mean you have a claim. Rather, a malpractice claim would arise if the medical care you received from deficient or negligent (careless) in some way. d on what you write, that means you may have a claim if, for example, it was premature to have you start doing physical therapy and that was why you were injured; or because the student therapy aid did not conduct therapy correctly or did not do reasonable steps to protect you or keep you safe.
Have you received any reason or indication from any other physicians that something like the above was done wrong--such as, again, that they should not have had you try to do physical therapy so soon? If there is reason to think that was the case, you have a malpractice claim against the hospital. You may also have a claim against the first attorney, who took your money then did nothing.
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