Unable to bowl or field professionally, Australian cricketer Nathan Bracken has launched a wide-ranging case for professional and medical compensation.
Bracken suffered an injury to his knee on January 8 2007 before a one-day test match against the English team.
Although he played the game, the former sporting star claims that two doctors and a physiotherapist hired by the Australian Cricket Board should have recommended he received arthroscopic surgery to correct the damage at the time.
Instead, Bracken says that he suffers from “constant debilitating” pain in his right knee that lead to his decision to quite the sporting profession in 2010.
His case revolves around the alleged misdiagnosis of the original injury, with the medical professionals originally identifying his condition as nothing more serious than bone bruising.
Bracken asserted that he was sent to undergo an MRI scan on his knee, but was subsequently given anti-inflammatory medicine and prescription-strength analgesics and told he was in good shape to continue his profession.
The former cricket star claims he developed what is known as a “lunge lesion” as a result of repeated restrictive and compressive forces put on the injured limb during normal sporting activities.
Instead of giving him drugs and allowing him to continue playing, Bracken asserted that the medical professionals should have referred him to an orthopaedic surgeon.
He claims that a simple arthroscopic procedure could have corrected the injury before the legion developed and would have allowed him to continue to play for Australia.
In a statement of claim submitted to the Supreme Court, personal injury lawyers said that the practitioners failed to “investigate, diagnose and treat” the injury at the time.
Bracken’s legal team are now preparing to sue for damages reported to be around $1 million, mainly due to lost earning opportunities.
While the case is still set to be heard by a full court sometime in early March, it does serve to show the importance placed on correct diagnoses by doctors and health professionals.
A medical negligence lawyer is able to give parties who feel they may be the victims of a misdiagnosis or sentinel event to explore their legal options before committing to a course of action.
The funds provided by malpractice cases can be used to overcome the difficulties faced by the individuals as a result of their condition.
