Nerve damage can be extremely painful and difficult to successfully treat. In fact, many patients who experience nerve damage spend a lifetime trying to manage the medical complications that frequently stem from damaged nerves. If a doctor’s error caused your nerve damage, knowing that the damage could have been prevented can be devastating. You may, however, be entitled to compensation for your physical and emotional injuries if a doctor’s error caused or contributed to nerve damage. The medical malpractice attorneys at Bailey Fisher PLLC are dedicated to helping victims suffering nerve damage because of a doctor’s error.
Understanding Your Nervous System
The human body is truly an amazing machine. A vital component of that machine is your nervous system, which is divided into your central and peripheral nervous systems. Your central nervous system sends signals from your brain through your spinal cord and from your spinal cord to your brain. Your peripheral nervous system involves nerves that branch out from your spinal cord. These nerves carry messages to and from other parts of your body, including your limbs and internal organs.
Within your nervous system, nerves are categorized as autonomic, sensory, or motor nerves. Autonomic nerves operate mostly involuntarily and control things such as your internal organs, smooth muscles, and glands. As the name implies, sensory nerves are responsible for things such as taste, smell, and pain, while your motor nerves carry signals from your brain through your spinal cord and to muscles throughout your body.
What Is Nerve Damage?
Nerve damage can be the result of a medical condition such as diabetes or acute or repetitive trauma to the nerve. Motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, and workplace injuries are common causes of traumatic nerve damage. Traumatic injury to a nerve can also happen during a surgical procedure if the nerve is cut, stretched, or put under too much pressure.
Given the extremely important role that nerves play in the human body, it should come as no surprise that the impact of a damaged nerve can be felt in many ways throughout the body. Symptoms of nerve damage may include:
- Pain or burning along the nerve
- Loss of feeling
- Numbness
- Tingling in the hands, feet, arms, or legs
- Loss of strength
- Twitching in the affected area or along the affected limb
- Coldness in the extremities
- Inability to control bladder or bowel function
- Sexual dysfunction
- Difficulty holding things
- Paralysis
Is It Malpractice If a Doctor’s Error Causes Nerve Damage?
Not all errors made by doctors rise to the level of medical malpractice. Despite their skill and training, doctors do still make unavoidable mistakes. If an error was preventable, however, the doctor may be liable for any injuries stemming from that error.
Under Florida law, a doctor’s actions or omissions must have violated the “standard of care” used to evaluate whether a healthcare professional committed medical malpractice. Florida Statute 766.102(1) explains the “standard of care” as “that level of care, skill, and treatment which, in light of all relevant surrounding circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.” To prevail in a Florida medical malpractice lawsuit the victim is usually required to have a similarly-experienced and credentialed doctor testify that the acts or omissions on the part of the doctor in question deviated from the accepted standard of care and were negligent under the circumstances, and that the negligence of the doctor caused or substantially contributed to causing the injury or damage.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for My Nerve Damage?
Despite extraordinary advances in medicine during the last century, we have yet to figure out how to effectively repair or replace damaged nerves. Unfortunately, that means that when a doctor’s error causes nerve damage, the victim often must live with the pain and medical expenses associated with the injury for life. A medical malpractice lawsuit allows you to ensure that the doctor is held responsible for your injuries and may provide you with compensation for things such as:
- Medical expenses. Doctor, hospital, and rehabilitation expenses related to your nerve damage as well as bills for rehabilitation, outpatient therapy, or in-home assistance may be compensable.
- Lost wages. Lost income to date as well as projected future lost income.
- Pain and suffering. Non-economic damages, including things such as mental anguish, scarring, pain, and suffering, may be included in a medical malpractice settlement or verdict.
Contact an Orlando Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you or a family member suffered nerve damage that was caused by a doctor’s error, you may be entitled to compensation for the physical pain, financial loss, and emotional trauma you have experienced. Having an experienced Orlando medical malpractice lawyer advocate for you and your future is the best way to ensure that the at-fault party (or parties) is held accountable and that you are fully and fairly compensated for all your injuries. At Bailey Fisher, we are committed to aggressively advocating on behalf of injured victims living with nerve damage.
Call us at 407-628-2929 or submit our online form today. One of our experienced Orlando medical malpractice lawyers will evaluate your case for free and advise you on the next steps.
