Our client went to Highland Hospital, the County hospital for Alameda County, for a routine medical procedure. To prepare for the procedure, he required IV medication. When the nurse attempted to insert the IV at the antecubital fossa (inside of the arm just above the elbow), she encountered significant difficulty. She poked and prodded our client at least three different times, causing increased pain in the area each time. At her last attempt, our client experienced a sharp, burning pain that caused him to leap out of his chair.
The needle had irritated and then struck a nerve causing our client to suffer a permanent, debilitating case of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Type II, otherwise known as CRPS II or causalgia. CRPS Type I is also referred to as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, or RSD. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is an uncommon form of chronic pain that usually affects an arm or a leg. CRPS typically develops after an injury, surgery, stroke or heart attack, but the pain is out of proportion to the severity of the initial injury. The unrelating pain that comes with CRPS has been referred to the worst form of pain known to human beings.
The Zinn Law Firm retained nationally-renowned experts in CRPS as well as a neurologist from Massachusetts whose research focusses on how IV insertions can cause CRPS when performed incorrectly. The firm was able to show that the risk of injury rises to unacceptably-high levels after two or three failed IV insertion attempts and that the standard of care requires that, after a certain number of attempts have been made, another nurse should be called to place the IV and another site should be used. The case settled for a significant confidential sum.
The Zinn Law Firm has represented a number of other clients who have suffered from CRPS or RSD. If you or someone you know has faced such an injury, please contact us at 415-292-4100.