Is there any legal action I can take for negligence?

Xander, I also had trouble following the sequence of events, so I'm going to approach the issue from a different standpoint:  criteria for medical malpractice suits.

1.   Statutory limitations:   State statutes mandate that certain types of litigation claims must be filed w/I the time framework established in the statute, so you'll need to (a) establish dates on which malpractice occurred, or the beginning of the malpractice through the end of it.   (b)  If there's ongoing malpractice, that's probably a different issue, and one which I'm not qualified to address.

2.   If the statute has "run", you're unfortunately out of luck.

3.   If the statute hasn't run, you would have to get copies of medical records from the facilities at which you claim malpractice occurred.   This can be easily be handled by a medical malpractice attorney, who will subpoena the records, which have to be produced within a given timeframe.   If you try to get them on your own, the staff could "put your request at the bottom of the pile" and forget to respond.

4.    The med mal attorney would likely (a) forward the records to a practicing physician, or rehab physician, someone performing in the area of the alleged malpractice; or (b) have an on staff RN or other medical person review the records to determine if malpractice exists.   

5.   Consideration would also be given to what other rehab facilities, and the people who allegedly engaged in the malpractice, would do "in similar circumstances."    I.e., if certain types of therapy are standard for certain injuries, that would factored into the analysis.

6.    The doctor who reviews the medical records would indicate whether or not he/she has found evidence of malpractice.  If not, unfortunately, that's it.  

7.   If the doctor does find malpractice, the attorney would file suit.

8.  I don't mean to be rude, but I had a lot of trouble following the sequence of events, although I believe that you may have had another accident that complicated existing injuries.    If so, that would be a major factor in determining and/or assessing liability for the latest injury, which could be denied by the second cause of injury b/c it's not an original injury, but a complication of an existing one. 

Thus, the second potential defendant wasn't the sole cause of the second injury.    Factoring out what happened years before and what occurred subsequently, in terms of injuries, is challenging, although there are factors that could be addressed in causing follow-up complications.


I'm sorry; I just can't follow what else happened, but hopefully this basic outline will help you determine whether or not litigation is an option.

Here is what you wrote on your profile:

I'm a 45 year old male that was involved in a truck. Vs motorcycle accident on 6/23/15 spent 3 months at hospital for recovery from injuries suffered, 2 collapsed lungs broken rib cage , clavicle, total spinal cord injuries required 2 fusions with 2 titanium rods and 43 screws after hospital, I went to rehab for 3 months learned how to walk and all that fun stuff again but never fully recovered, surgeon said that I would make a good recovery ! Better than he anticipated and that most I was gonna lose would be some flexibility so time goes on I have 3 months of at home care but I never even got back to 60% recovery! Surgeons office changes location and hospitals never saw him for follow up afterwards! Now 5 years later I'm on the decline and had a fall that landed me in the hospital was then put in therapy and that's where my ? 

From what you said in your profile, the rehab facility got you back on your feet again and functioning. After an accident of this caliber, expecting to get back to 100% is unrealistic, in my opinion.

Call some attorneys and let them tell you if they will take your case or not. We would have no way of knowing such a thing here on the forum.

Best of luck!

First, I hope you've been documenting any of your complaints to the social worker, and the lack of services by the facility involved with the rehab work. Also, you should have been reporting this to the insurance, making sure they're documenting it so that they can dispute the claims. Contact an injury attorney immediately to discuss your situation and for advice pursuing insurance fraud in conjunction with your insurance company or Medicare/Medicaid. I hope you made reports to your insurance, if not, that's where you should start right now. I have to ask though, why you didn't request a transfer earlier in your rehab stay to a better facility? In the meantime try to see if you can get yourself into another one as soon as possible. If you're on Medicare/Medicaid, call them and explain the circumstances, tell them that you'd like to make a fraud complaint, and want to dispute all claims by the facility for reimbursement, and discuss with them that you still need actual rehab. Then call an attorney ASAP.

Xander--

Not to be rude--but if you post again, and I hope you do, please write in coherent paragraphs. I'm having a hard time following your story. (Please don't be offended by this--I think a lot of us need to see things broken down in order).

You suffered a terrible accident with a semi that carried no insurance and has no assets, correct? (Although a big rig is a BIG asset. IMHO) And now the owner is in the wind?

Being very injured and basically alone, you tried to make the company pay for pain and suffering. Trying to do that and heal from major injuries must have been awful.

In truth, ALL insurance companies will be hesitant to pay ANTYTHING on ANY claim...their first response, esp in larger cases, such as yours, is to deny, deny, deny. They want to wear you down and it often works. They know the ins and outs. You don't. Often, a simple 'coding error' is why they refuse to pay and they are not going to tell you that. They'll just keep denying you coverage.

MOST people will eventually give up the fighting and accept a less-than-adequate settlement, just to have the stress out of their lives. But you are not made 'whole' or 'better than whole' which is what the law states they are SUPPOSED to do.

You need to find an attorney who takes on these types of cases. You will receive only about 50-60% of any damages, and you won't feel 'whole' but maybe you'll feel somewhat vindicated.

You also need to be pushier about getting PT. I have found, the hard way, that my ins co doesn't want to do one single thing more than I push them to do. As far as the tickets and such--that's an issue separate from your health. Don't co-mingle the two--the accident is one thing, the healing/Pt/Hospital stuff is entirely separate.

Yes, it may require umpteen calls to your ins company. Keep copious and detailed notes of when you called, to whom you spoke, what YOU said, what THEY said and keep this as a log of info. Try to only talk to one person. Call every.single.day. I had cancer in 2019 and spent 3 days each week dealing with insurance. I'd set aside an hour or two for the calling and then put it to rest. It took me 4 months PAST my last chemotherapy to get them to pay, but they did.

Right NOW: you can go online and see what kind of exercises you can be safely doing alone. Leg pumps, upper body strengthening, etc. OR, pay for an in home visit from a PT who can guide you in taking care of yourself. I know my neighbor who is a PT does house calls and gives and hour or two to patients who cannot come in to his office.

Every day you go without moving your body is a day you regress, physically. You need to advocate for yourself in this.

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I hope you can figure out what to do next. Don't give up hope.

(BTW, where are you located? If you don't want to share, that's fine. Just wondering).

When you are not progressing you are not kept in rehab. Updated responses below from you mean that this spine is long term injury now, 4 years, and you may have progressed as much as your body WILL progress, no matter what therapies or surgeries are done.
A 4 months stay in any rehab is almost unheard of. If you cannot progress well in that time, and the "injury" still exists to the same extent it did then it is unlikely that you can be helped by rehab. When Rehab is over one who cannot care adequately for one's self must have placement in Long Term Care that recognizes that this injury will likely be existing for life. So that's to say that therapy in rehab is not a life choice, basically.
No, as that silly Handel on the Law says every weekend on the radio, "I am here to tell you that you have absolutely no case:" What law can be brought to bear on your injury seems to me already to have been brought to bear, and as you said, several 100 thousand has already been spent on need.
It is not the fault of the rehab that you have the injured vertebrae and the likely permanent limitations. It is AWFUL, but not their fault. It is AWFUL and it may not be fixable. I cannot say what treatment of four burst vertebrae woud BE after four years of the system trying to fix it. I think none of us can have sufficient information about your case to comment with any competence.
And all said and done, whatever we might have as input, there is no reason you cannot consult your own lawyer to give you advice.
Just because you can no longer stay with a girlfriend doesn't mean that the medical community can afford to keep you in rehab. However, I don't understand their thinking they could dump you in the street in a wheelchair with your back in this condition and with a dependence now on oxy as well. It seems the hotel is short term placement due to covid and the homeless situation. Even that housing may not last for you, and permanent placement, or even temporary may be the answer, with medicaid to pay for it.
I do hope that you have a Social Worker who will help you with living arrangements long term.
I wish you good luck going forward. I hope you will update us.

Xander, while you were staying in the hotel room did you have any aides coming to assist you with your personal care and ADLs?

How did it come about that you sat in a rehab facility for four months without receiving the therapy that had been ordered?

What did you do in rehab for 4 months if they didn't have you do any exercises?

There are a lot of difficulties about actions for medical negligence. One is that ‘best results’ are never guaranteed, however much the doctors and patients hope. Another is that getting supporting evidence of what you see as negligence is difficult, even in the most obvious cases – doctor’s look after their own! Yet another is that the medical insurers have far more resources than the average punter – although sometimes that means that they will settle out of court. And perhaps the worst is that dwelling on the whole thing is not good for your own recovery (particularly if you want to provide ‘proof’of how much this has affected you). Private investigators watching while you paint the patio is the next step. Sure, go and see a lawyer, and you may be taken on by someone who does a ‘no win, no fee’ deal. But it will dominate your life for years, and you may end up regretting the whole thing.

I am really sorry about your accident, and how badly it has affected you. I hope that you recover as best you can.