Medical Negligence is not something you see cropping up in the sporting arena that often, but that’s not to say it has not happened before in the past. In fact, there are many cases of negligence by medical professionals that have cost sports men and women dearly. Let’s take a look at some examples:
WWE:
Although not strictly a sport in the traditional sense, professional wrestling is as real as it gets when it comes to athleticism and injuries. These guys have no off season, and can be on the road for extended periods of time. So, a build up of small injuries can turn into bigger problems. And, rolling round on dirty canvasses can lead to things like Staph infections. Just ask current UFC star CM Punk, who’s Medical Negligence solicitors are having a field day at the moment, with their case. It’s alleged that Punk had suffered a Staph infection, that was ignored, and when he finally sought treatment elsewhere, was discovered that it had developed into full blown MRSA.
NBA:
The NBA is one of the most watched sports in the world, but one such case of medical negligence did not get a lot of worldwide press attention. Despite Eban Hyams technically not playing in the NBA, he was heavily touted for a spot, getting regular call-ups to the pre-season tournament, the NBA Summer League. But before his shot in the big league, Hyams broke his hand in 2008, but it was not noticed. Due to a misdiagnosis, it was eight months before he could play again at a professional level and he successfully sued for medical negligence.
NFL:
Going a ways back, a famous case from the 80’s, was that of Charlie Kreuger vs his former team, the San Francisco Forty-Niners. The ream physicians discovered that Krueger was missing his ACL through injury. This fact was kept from the player, so that he could keep playing. When he complained of pain, he would be given codeine and sent away. Eventually, parts of his knee bones became badly damaged, due to the lack of support from the missing ACL. Krueger was awarded over $2.3 million in damages, and lives in constant pain.
What to do If You Feel You Have Been Mistreated:
Coming clean about medical negligence can come as a hard decision to make for a lot of sports people, especially if they are in a team sport. However, there’s no shame in looking after your health. Sourcing professional help via the Solicitors Guru website is a great place to start. It’s important to note that, your health really and truly is your wealth. Sportsperson’s have a very limited time frame to make a successful career from, so to have your career cut short due to medical negligence should be unacceptable in all cases.
The bottom line is, and as blunt as this may sound, the team will still be there long after you have retired. It will continue on as it had before you. So if your career is cut short due to injury caused or aggravated by medical negligence, misdiagnosis or other, you’d be best served to make sure that your future is looked after, and not cut short due to the actions (or lack thereof) of a health care professional, that you have placed your trust in.
Another important matter to be mindful of is, there may be time restrictions relating to bringing these types of cases to court, so if you feel you have been subject to medical mistreatment, you would be wise to move fast.
