Hi Numb
I did sue for my medical negligence, as you know mine started from a blood test where the needle went into the median nerve.
It went on for two years and we ended up settling for a fairly small amount (compared to what we were told we'd get if we won in court), with the lawyers taking 75% of the money.
The problems we ran into:
- it was my word against the nurses' word.
She didn't document that I had intense pain with the blood test, that I yelled out and was in agony. (Very similar to your story) She told me at the time to get over it
but of course on paper says she never even said that, that it was just routine
- the pathology clinic we were suing was owned by a huge global company and we just didn't stand a hope in hell going against such a big company with their hugely expensive lawyers
- no doctors wanted to say on paper what they'd say on the phone- that the nurse was negligent and it shouldn't have happened. They all worked in conjunction with this pathology company so if they went against them they'd bring dramas on themselves. the whole medical world is too tight with each other
- they reckoned it was just "one of those things" that happens randomly but isn't necessarily anyone's fault. just one of those 1% risks that you agree to when you let them put the needle in (although I never signed anything before the blood test and there was no info about risks on the blood collection form)
We just couldn't prove that it was her fault, that something went wrong, instead of just a rare thing that happens for no reason. Doctors and professionals would agree on the phone or in person and say that she had the needle in the wrong place etc, but wouldn't stand up in court for us. After two years of this we were just exhausted and wanted to focus on getting me better, rather than proving fault or placing blame, so we settled out of court.
There is info on the net about successful med neg claims in regards to ivs/blood tests, one person even got about 4 million- lucky bugger! Just do a lot of research first on both lawyers and the situation.
x Kate