Updated: 10/7/2008 12:08:30 AM
A planned knee replacement surgery wound up costing South Knoxville native David Graves much more than just his old knee.
"I walked into the hospital that day to have surgery and was carried out 30 days later," Graves said.
The doctors gave the one-time auto technician an epidural. He had back problems in the past and that injection into his spine would make for more problems in the future.
"The reason I'm on these crutches is because I'm paralyzed. Not completely from the waist down, but from what they call the saddle region, and it runs down both feet, so I have no feeling in either foot," he said.
Graves got a lawyer and filed suit. He ultimately settled with a Knoxville area hospital. Because of the settlement, he won't divulge how much and which facility, but he said without taking legal action, he likely would have lost his home during the month he was in hospital.
"My medical bills alone were well above $50,000," he said.
But starting October 1, a new Tennessee law is making it tougher for people like Graves to get their case in front of a jury.
Two of three changes to law put more burden on plaintiffs. Now, they have to give health care providers 60 days notice before filing a lawsuit.
Also, plaintiffs must have a doctor or expert review their case and determine if it has merit before it goes before a judge or jury.
Attorneys in Knox County are trying to beat the deadline for that new law. In the last two days of September alone, 10 malpractice suits were filed in Knox County. Typically, the clerk's office sees a case or two each month.
"The merits of the case won't necessarily be affected by these new requirements in my humble opinion. If you've got a good case, you've got a good case," Greg Coleman, Graves' Bearden-based attorney said.
Coleman said most good attorneys were already doing most of what the new law requires anyway. He said the biggest issue many cases will run into is finding the expert and setting up appointments to take care of the extra hurdles the law has now set up.
He says the biggest thing patients can do is move forward with an attorney as soon as they believe they have a case rather than waiting. After one year, the statute of limitations in Tennessee wouldn't allow their case to go to court.
"It is more cumbersome," Coleman said.
Coleman said there are many questions within the legal community about the new law and the requirements. Ultimately, Coleman said he wouldn't be surprised to see the law in front of an appeals court and the Tennessee Supreme Court for clarification.
Graves just hopes the extra few hurdles don't discount patients who have a legitimate claim and deserve compensation.
"My trust and faith is in the Lord, not in the doctors. Things can go wrong, and this is the result of one of those," he said. "Hopefully one day I'll be able to lay these crutches down."
