Advice for a friend

I could use some advice for a friend in the best method to deal with a situation she's going through. She is from Florida, although now she is studying in Kent, UK, for her Ph.D. About 5 or more years ago, she was in a serious car accident. There was a pile-up on the highway, so her dad, who was driving, pulled way off the side of the road and onto the grass on the side, avoiding the pile-up. But the semi truck behind her had the same idea and crashed right into them! So she has neck, shoulder, and back pain from the accident. The doctor has suggested radiofrequency ablation, but they've never been able to fit it in while she has been home visiting from England. And in general, they aren't doing much to treat her injuries because they have waited for the statute of limitations to run out. It did, so they filed just before it ran out. This was her lawyer's decision, not her family's. Her lawyer already is a problem, as my friend discovered that the lawyer ordered two different types of MRIs to be done as contrasts to show no improvement over time, but with two different types, you can't compare! And the lawyer had no clue what had happened! My friend is the one who discovered this!

Well, a month ago, while she was in Florida for Christmas break, she had an appointment with the opposing counsel's doctor, which was expected. What was not expected was how creepy this guy would be. First off, he allowed her mother and female counsel (whom I'm believe was a paralegal, not a lawyer) to stay in the room but banished her father. There was no sanitation supplies in the room, such as papers to go over the examining table or X-ray machine. And there was no hand sanitizer either. Her mother spent the visit staring at the nasty festering sore that he had open on his hand! So she didn't notice his offensive comments. First, he told my friend that he bets she hopes that his treatment will hurt her, so she can get a bigger settlement. That's out of line! They were clear of all the accident until the semi ran into them! So they are clearly the victims here.

But even worse than that, after looking at her shoulders, he told her to turn around, so he could see her back, and he said, "Not that I don't enjoy looking at your front." CREEPY! She is rather full-figured up there but very thin, so men do tend to like ot look at her front, but for a doctor to say that is totally out of line!

I just learned about this today and told her that she needs to lodge a complaint somewhere. Her response is that her attorney was in the room, so what else can she do? She just spoke to the woman, who said she was going to research the doctor for previous complaints against him, but my friend doesn't really trust her attorney to do everything in her best interest, given the track record already. It seems to me that she needs to file a complaint somewhere besides just looking to see if someone else has lodged a complaint. But I don't have any idea where would be the appropriate place to do this? Would the medical clinic or hospital where the doctor is attached? A state board? Would it be related to her lawsuit as well?

What do you people think?

Vicki,

1. Statute of limitations of a civil liablity is most likely 2 years. Why anyone, including a lawyer would hold off on filing, even a letter of intent is beyond me. If you are ill and need treatment, you get treatment. Or there was some at-fault on your friends side and they were waiting for 2 years to pass. Some legal strategies are to wait until just before the statute runs out, but this is odd.

Defense can say to the effect it's obvious that you weren't that bad, because you didn't seek treatment post-crash. And expert opinion sees through tests that are not comparable.

2. Sounds quite strange. The attorney needs to be made aware of this. He or she needs to guide the next step of the wierd situation not someone running off and filing complaints. This can compromise a lot of things by filing side complaints here and there.

Whole thing sounds strange.