I understand your anger in that prompt treatment is critical in successful RSD treatment.

Unfortunately, prompt treatment seems to be a seldom occurence with RSD. To some extent, I can understand why this happens. There's an old medical expression....."If you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras" In the US, there aren't a lot of zebras....unless you're at a zoo. Doctors are trained to look for obvious answers to a problem......ie, if you've got throbbing head pain, take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning. It's assumed the issue is a headache until more information comes in to indicate it might be a brain tumor.

I don't know the specifics of your foot injury, but as a 'typical' scenario.....if you fall or have something fall on your foot and you complain of pain or swelling, a doctor would evaluate how severe it looked. If it seemed bad, they send you for an x-ray.....if that's negative they tell you it's probably a sprain or strain and treat it accordingly. They recommend RICE and possibly give you ace wraps or crutches or a boot and PT. Then you have to wait and see if it gets any better. I had an eversion injury to my R ankle 7/28/10 and it still bothers me. My instructions were to go back to the orthopedist if there wasn't significant improvement in 8 weeks and they'd do an MRI. Thankfully, it was finally improving by mid September, but if it hadn't been......that would have been the 2 months that you waited for the correct dx.

Because of that, I think it would be difficult to PROVE that reasonable medical care would require the dx to be made in under 2 months. That doesn't mean that malpractice didn't occur though. What exact symptoms you had would have a lot to do with it. Also what treatment you did receive is important. If you were treated in a way that was medically reasonable given your symptoms, then there was no malpractice.

That said, your post implies that your injury was obviously severe and nothing was done about that. If that's the case, it doesn't sound like the treatment was medically reasonable. Does that make sense to you ? That if a lawsuit is indicated you don't need to focus it on the doctor not dx'ing the RSD immediately, but what he did dx the problem to be and if he tried to treat that appropriately and investigated further when those first interventions didn't help.

How long ago was your injury now ? When your HMO figured out the problem, did they arrange for prompt treatment to try to nip this in the bud ?

I'm sorry that you are battling this RSD demon !

My personal issue is with RSD neck pain. That dx took about 4 years and then it was another 9 months before I had my first SGB to try to treat the problem.

A Huge problem with litigation, is the 'But For' argument.
As in, But for if you had been diagnosed timely, would you have been cured?
Highly doubtful.
I waited about 7 years for a dx.
I'm fairly certain to myself, that if I was DX'd the day after the accident, I would NOT have been cured. Then the spread, is after time goes on, reasonable to expect.
The best thing is to concentrate on learning to take good care of yourself, and your rsd.
Triangle of Care;
Keep Moving, Exercise.
Take the Proper Meds, (be sure you've got the best doctor you can find)
And, Your Head! This disease is a Big psych killer! Get some psych help when you feel you need it, it's a strength, not a weakness!

I wish you the best!

Pete
asb