I am a 62 year old female. My primary care physician did not read my pre-op chest x-ray before I went in for a major spinal fusion at Lake Forest Hos.

Dear Anonymous: I'm sure you must be going through extremely difficult times, and I'm sorry you have to do that. The question of whether or not you might be able to establish a basis for a malpractice case depends on a few factors that beg the question of whether it is worthwhile to bring one. Technically, you have to prove that the health care provider failed to possess and exercise that degree of care, skill and expertise which would have been possessed and exercised by a reasonably prudent practitioner under the same or similar circumstances. That is the negligence or "malpractice" part of the equation.  You also have to prove that that negligence was the cause of your injuries. If you can prove both of those elements, then you have proven the technical requirements to bring a case. However, these are very expensive cases to bring, and the damages that were caused by the negligence must be substantial enough to justify the kind of award that would justify the costs of prosecuting such a case. In most medical malpractice case situations, the patient-plaintiff bringing the action often has litigation-related expenses of at least $40,000-$50,000, and oftentimes MUCH more. In your case, from the facts you've given, it is hard for me to say if your damages are extensive enough or not to justify bringing a case. I would need to know a great deal more about your economic losses that resulted, the impact on your health, the delay of the lung cancer management and what that has caused in terms of your prognosis, and more....