Physical Therapist Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Hough v. Sports Pro Physical Therapy, LLC

This is a physical therapy medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman in Prince George's County. This case is the 67^th medical malpractice case filed in Maryland Health Claims Arbitration in Maryland in 2017 and was filed on February 7, 2017.

Summary of Plaintiff's Allegations

Plaintiff becomes a patient at defendant Sports Pro Physical Therapy in Prince George's County due to injuries she sustained in a car accident to her right foot/ankle and her lower back. She receives services on a continual basis for three months and then has a right total ankle arthroplasty done at Georgetown University Hospital.

A month after the procedure, she returns to the defendant physical therapist for rehabilitation of her right ankle. About three months later, the doctor who performed the procedure determines that she has a sustained non-displaced medial malleolar fracture in her right ankle due to the actions of defendant therapist who treated her with a balance board "against medical advice."

The surgeon has to perform an open reduction internal fixation of a medial malleolar fracture. This requires a lengthy period of rehabilitation and therapy. Despite this, the condition of the woman's right ankle further deteriorates, and she has a permanent disability.

Additional Comments

• This Complaint has more questions than answers. First, is it a breach of the standard of care to use a balance board to rehabilitate this injury?
• The Complaint quotes the doctor as treating the victim with a "multiaxial balance board against medical advice. How as the use of this board against medical advice? Did the orthopedic doctor specifically say not to use a balance board? Were there oral or written instructions? It would seem odd that the doctor would have instructed the physical therapist not to use a balance board?
• Was it an acute injury or something the doctor figured out? The Complaint is very awkwardly worded. Did the patient know there was an injury the moment it happened?
• The victim claims a permanent ankle injury. Trying to thin slice which injury is from the car accident and which is from the malpractice may be a challenge.
• Plaintiff has a real chance of winning this case if the treating orthopedic doctor is fully on board with the allegations in the Complaint. If not, it will be an uphill battle.
• This is yet another medical malpractice lawsuit filed on the eve of the statute of limitations without a report from a medical expert.

Jurisdiction

• Prince George's County

Defendants

• Sports Pro Physical Therapy, LLC
• A physical therapist

Hospitals Where Patient was Treated

• Georgetown University Hospital

Negligence

• Failure to properly administer physical therapy to rehabilitate the plaintiff's right ankle arthroplasty
• Failure to follow instructions and prescription from treating physician
• Causing harm and injury to plaintiff from a balance board
• Failure to properly instruct plaintiff during physical therapy

Specific Counts Pled

• Medical Malpractice

Plaintiff's Experts and Areas of Specialty

• None at this time

Getting a Lawyer for Your Malpractice Claim

If you have sustained a severe injury due to the negligence of a doctor or nursing staff, our firm can help you. You may be entitled to compensation and justice for the harm you have endured. Call Miller & Zois today at (800) 553-8082 or get a free online case review.

More Malpractice Claim Information

• Take a look at the potential value of your medical malpractice case
  • Information about ankle and foot injuries and their value
• The other medical malpractice cases filed in 2017 in Maryland
• There are not a lot of foot and ankle injury medical malpractice lawsuits. This Baltimore County lawsuit against a podiatrist was filed a year before this claim.
• Medical malpractice lawsuits against physical therapist are relatively rare. Here are the statistics.
• Here is another lawsuit against physical therapists, this one filed in 2018. This case involved a nursing home patient who fell while being assisted by two physical therapists. So it really does not go to the core of the PT's care and treatment of the patient.

---