Dear Sandy -

So very sorry this was the news. I suspect it's not all that uncommon, just not everyone finds out. I had a very similar thing happen, I was kept in optional casts (for the treatment of torn but not severed tendons on both feet weeks, courtesy of a "personal trainer" at the gym who put me on a machine that, I was told, people with flat feet have no business using) well after the pain became unbearable. In the doctor's defense, however, he sent me to someone who was (then) regarded as one of the top pain specialists in Los Angeles, who didn't say a word about RSD. In fact, the first I heard it mentioned was by a rheumatologist two days before the lasts of the casts was to come off.

So with the referral to the pain dr., my orthopedic surgeon honestly and legitimately covered his rear flank, so to speak: his was entitled to rely on the pain doctor's opinion regarding any questions related to RSD. This was true even as I learned 18 months later from a hot young orthopedic surgeon that the emerging standard before any immobilizing surgery, e.g. of the ankle, is to put the patient in a test casting in the anticipated immobilized position and if any pain cuts in, s/he is given a number to call 24/7 to have it removed.

The only lawsuit I filed was a products liability action against the manufacturer of the gym equipment, and that I dismissed at the close of discovery, when the defendant's representative provided a sworn statement that it had no knowledge of any prior claims of injury relating to this machine, and, indeed, none were on file with the Consumer Products Safety Commission. And I couldn't sue the gym or the trainer because, against my better judgement (but upon the cajoling of significant others, to the effect that the only way to get along in this world "is to play by their rules) I entered into a waiver and release agreement that is fully enforceable under California law.

And the pain doctor? He was a nice guy who had taken over my treatment in an agressive (in a good way) fashion as soon as he heard the suggestion of RSD, and continued treating me for serval months before accepting an out of state academic position. And as I learned in first year torts in law school, except for those victims of truly bad actors, the single most important variable in determining whther a patient files a medical malpractice action is "bedside manner." And my pain doctor had it in spades. So having just folded my tents on the product's liabilty action, I didn't have the stomach to go after him, especially where, at the end of the day, a significant portion of the recovery might be subject to the claims of my health insurance company, under a doctrine called "subrogation." That and my wife's employer, has significant (and delicate) business dealings with the hospital that hosted the pain management practice at issue.

Now, I have ZERO idea what Rhode Island law is on the point, but under CA law, whatver the applicable state of limitations is, it generally doesn't begin to run (it is "tolled") until the patient knows or should have known that malpractice occured. Which in your case will hopefully be found to be the time you met with Dr. Getson, although one or more defendat may argue that your were "on notice" as of a substantially earlier date.

To that end, were I in your position, I would start talking to as many good medical malpractice lawyers as soon as possible, where the time to act after obtaining actual knowledge may be relatively short, and a defendant may be pushing for an earlier "notice" date in any event. And remember, since these actions are almost always taken on a contigency basis, with the lawyer paying for "costs" along the way - primarily paying for the time of expert witnesses in one capacity or another - they tend to be highly selective, wanting only cases that are sure winners. So the first guy may not take you, but the sixth might. In other words, with a clock ticking (and the first thing you have to find out is how much time you have to file any lawsuit, which will be complicated if any defendant is a public entity, like a state/county owned hospital) you may very well need to get started beating the bushes in fairly short order.

I don't mean to come across as too pushy, but this does seems to be the next logical step, given the facts as you have laid them out. Please let me know if I'm missing anything here.

Mike