My mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer two years ago and had to undergo radiation therapy and have her thyroid removed. During this time her entire left hand side of her body became completely paralyzed. After her thyroid was removed the feeling returned and she has been normal for 2 years but having to take up to 12 tablets 3 times a day. Last week her side became paralyzed yet again and she spent the whole week in hospital from Tuesday to Friday having multiple tests done to discover the problem. The doctors told her that she needed to book an MRI and that it was better to do this as an outpatient, so she was sent home on Friday night. It is now Saturday, and a nurse has just called saying that she has missed the MRI appointment that the doctor has scheduled for 11:30 this morning. It is now 2:00. She now must wait at least 2 weeks for another MRI to be booked and further for it to be performed. She was not told of anything while at the hospital and the doctor did not tell her he had booked an MRI for this morning. My mother is now seriously distressed and is awaiting a call from the nurse who sent her home so she can complain, though that call is not likely to come. Is there anything we can do in terms of sueing the hospital or claiming compensation or demanding an MRI sooner because of the stupidity and negligence and lack of care for the patients exhibited by the doctors at the hospital? Our family is falling apart because of stupid mistakes made by doctors, and we are afraid that this is going to happen again at any time. Please help!
evilattorney
You can lodge a complaint with the hospital but a court case - c'mon, get real.
It's only me
I know this is upsetting, but it sounds more like clerical mistakes than medical mistakes.
Mo
If you are worried, and they wont move the appt up, go to the emergency room. They cant ignore her there.
You can only sue if their negligence caused you harm and you dont know that yet.
I am not normally an advocate of running to the emergency room but something similar to this happened to my step mother...she fell through the cracks and had a stroke...the doctors made her wait for an appointment for a couple of weeks and they were SHOCKED when they saw her. I think this is an extraordinary circumstance that calls for an emergency room visit if she is refused an appt in a reasonable amount of time
Tom V
You gave three choices. Filing suit against the hospital (a two or three year process), claiming compensation (which is the result of filing suit, so an equally long process), or demanding a sooner MRI. What I really suspect, if you care about your mother, is that what you really want is the third option. You want her to have an MRI now. So call around to other hospitals, and to radiology centers. Someone should be able to get her in. If the hospital is truly negligent (which i don't think they are based merely on the facts you presented), you can worry about that part later.
BSherman
A lawsuit requires legitimate damages resulting from real negligence. For example, if the hospital removed a person's kidney rather than their appendix in an operation, then there are grounds for a lawsuit. Your complain centers around mis-communication and appointment scheduling. You have nothing.
Go to a new doctor, if you don't like your present one. That's your only recourse.
mnwomen
Sorry but no case here. These things happen. There is also the point to be made that you or your mother could have called to verify the appointment. Write a complaint letter and demand an earlier appointment.
Orignal From: How to claim compensation for hospital negligence.?
Post a Comment