Should i sue?
i have a long history with orthidontistry: neck gear, head gear, MARA, braces, retainer. i have recently found out that one or more of these devices has caused a treatable permanent speech impediment, which has caused me psychological trauma over my adolescent years, as though the metal covering my face wasnt enough. i have seen numerous speech therapists. now, my orthodontist wants to use ANOTHER device to correct this impediment. it will be in my mouth for at least 3 more years (i’m 18). at age 21, if something goes wrong with this device, it may be too late to fix it, as my jaws will be set permanently by then. my parents paid over $15,000.00 or more in check ups, devices and speech therapists over my lifetime, as well as $12,000.00 for my siblings. I never agreed to have these devices put into my mouth. all i can remember is my mom signing a huge check, that only resulted in psychological trauma. I told my shrink about this and he says i should sue the orthodontist. what do you think i should do? and by the way, he doesnt do anything. all he does is check at what his interns and nurses have done. one more thing: should the patient be able to object to such treatment, even though he/she is a minor? it is his/her body.
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10 Answers
object. object. object.
it is your body.
take the bourgeoisie bastard out!
you have the power to fix your speech impediment. i did.
One question: SAME orthodontist? My kid is about your age and started treatment when he was 4 because his mouth was so messed at . Back then our orthodontist told us that he rarely used headgear or neck gear and my son totally avoided it. He now has perfect teeth, so much so that when we were in Europe, kids his age were staring at his teeth. He does have to wear a retainer for the rest of his life, they’ve found that most teeth will move back if you don’t. Mine went back and I straightened them with Invisaligns and wear them everynight to keep them that way.
One thing to keep in mind with a lawsuit, unless it is the atty is paid out of the settlement, you can be out more than it is worth, so you have to factor that in. I don’t think I’d let the same orthodondist touch my mouth again, if you followed all of his instructions to the letter and what he did caused the speech impediment,
Well how old were when it started, and did you have a say in it?
i was in grade 5 so maybe 11 years old. i had no say whatsoever. i signed no contract and i said constantly that i don’t want it. the doctor said that it would work out in the long run, but my teeth are the same as ever, except that my overbite has gotten better, but that was the main cause of the speech impediment.
Well I would say that you should, and to be honest you could sue your parents too if I remember correctly. Now I wouldn’t do that for 2 reasons, one they are probably paying for it, and they’re your parents. As for the orthodontist you could sue for malpractice and maybe more, the only thing that I could see that would get in the way would be that your parents would have had to sign something to allow him to treat you. If those records are available they would probably present them in court leaving you high and dry, but I’m sure the lawyer will come up with some bullshit to try to get around it.
buck it up man. I am so sorry that all this has happend to you but don’t sue. Get several opinions and go from there with the mouth piece.
I couldn’t help but read your description with daffy ducks voice in my head. But on a more serious note… I am no lawyer but I think that it would not be your ortodontists fault, maybe an industry wide problem. Or as you said should rest on the device makers shoulders (class action?) what is a treatable permanent speech impedement?
If the orthodontist informed your parents of the risks involved before installing your appliances, his butt is covered against losing a lawsuit. Also, it is common practice for interns and nurses to do the work, and not the doctor himself. I found this out the hard way. an orthodontist completely screwed up my daughter’s jaw. Well, not him, but his office staff. I found out that he had suffered a stroke, and lost the use of one arm, so he had the girls in the office tighten her braces. She was in excrutiating pain that never went away, and refused to give her any medicine for it. She got to the point where she couldn’t even eat mashed potatoes because of the pain. when I complained to him, he said he was going to remove the braces. I took her to the University of Florida’s facial pain department, and they said they had never seen a jaw as bad as hers. I considered suing him, but his secretary told me so many people were already suing, by the time my case came up, he would have nothing left. The doctors in the facial pain department diagnosed her with fibromyalgia and said it was related to what this idiot had done to her. They treated her for free for 5 years so they could use her case for studies.
So my advice to you is to get all of your records from him and consult an attorney. You might have a suit against both him and the manufactures of the devices. An attorney would be able to help you sort all of this out.
ugh, just thinking about that reminds me of the pain i had too! not as bad as your daughter’s, definitely not. but damn.
i hope you get what you need, zack.
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