Athletic Trainer Fails to Diagnose Concussion

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller concerned about his son who was hurt at a soccer game at the local high school. The caller said the boy hit his head hard on the asphalt track surrounding the playing field when he was pushed out of bounds. The school had a contract with a local doctor to evaluate students for concussion, but this doctor failed to screen for a concussion, and instead authorized the injured student, to continue to play. After the game, the caller took the boy to a local hospital where he was diagnosed as suffering a serious concussion injury. The caller wanted to discuss whether he and his son could sue the doctor who failed to diagnose the concussion.

In Indiana, the caller and the boy would have the right to pursue a claim against the doctor, as well as a separate right to sue the school.

But, the claim against the doctor would need to be pursued as a medical malpractice claim and would have to be submitted to a medical review panel, even though the doctor was technically an employee of the high school and even though the son was not technically a paying patient of the doctor.

In Indiana an individual who fails to make a diagnosis while on the payroll of a school, as an athletic trainer, is still considered to be providing medical care, and a suit against them would have to comply with the Indiana Malpractice Act.

In the caller’s case, the doctor was hired to serve as an athletic trainer and was specifically hired to conduct tests to screen students for concussions and other brain injuries. Thus, any allegations against the doctor/athletic trainer that focused on the failure to provide medical care in the form of failing to provide a diagnosis would be treated as a malpractice claim.

To sue the doctor/trainer, the caller would need to file a proposed complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance. Thereafter, a medical review panel would need to evaluate the doctor/trainer’s conduct, before any suit could be filed in court.

Keep in mind any lawsuit against the school would have to comply with the government liability notice requirements which require several types of notice to be submitted within 180 days of the incident, and the suit would then have to be filed within two years of the incident.

The malpractice action against the doctor would have a two-year statute of limitations but unlike the claim against the school, there would not be any requirement to provide pre-suit notice. Still filing such a notice if time permitted doing so, would prevent a defendant from raising the issue.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”