I'm not sure whether it's worth my time or energy, but all my friends and family are telling me I need to get a lawyer.
Anyway, my 11 year old daughter came down with stomach cramps and a fever on Jan 21st. On the 23rd it had gotten worse instead of better, so that morning at 4am I took her to a local ER. The doctor never touched her body, but took her vitals and she had a fever and was complaining of severe cramping in her stomach.. he got a urine sample to make sure there was not blood in her urine and there wasn't so... he told us that she was probably just constipated or maybe having menstral cramps or maybe had a virus. So we left and came home.
That same day about 8 hours later, she had been asleep and woke up hurting really bad again and still running a fever. So it being Friday afternoon I decided to take her to her pediatrician to make sure everything was ok since the weekend was coming up. To make a long story short, the doctor said well the ER was probably right she is either constipated, has mentral cramps or a virus and sent us home.
I then waited another 24 hours and she was way worse, so I took her to a different hospitals ER. They took her directly in and put her on an IV without any tests. Her cheeks were purple, she had dark circles under her eyes and her fever was 102.5. We spent 12 hours there while she tried to drink about 40 ounces of contrast in order to do a CT scan. The doctor got frustrated with her and screamed at her saying "Do you know how much money you are costing your mom and dad? If you don't drink this stuff right now I am going to strap your forhead and arms and legs down and shove a tube down your nose and put it in that way". Well of course we were all terrified and so I just begged her to drink it... but her heart rate was hovering at 160. When she had finally drank enough, they found that her appendix had ruptured and so I had her sent by ambulance to the nearist hospital with pediactric care for surgery.
She spent 13 days in the hospital and has just been sent home with home health care. She has 2 drainage tubes and a pic IV line that I have to administer 2 antibiotics every 8 hours in.
Her appendix had ruptured and had time to turn gangrene... and her entire abdomen was filled with infection. She barely made it through the ordeal and still has a lot of healing to do.
If only the 1st doctor I took her to at the ER would have done a simple blood test, he would have seen that her white blood count was extremely elevated and maybe could have prevented some of the complications.
Any of your opinions are greatly appreciated.
tonalc2
Yes, consult an attorney. Note that in injury/malpractice lawsuits, attorneys usually give you your first consultation for free.
Julia H
You might have grounds for a negligence suit, but I doubt malpractice.
Negligence is the omission of an action leading to an undesirable outcome. Malpractice is a direct action that creates an undesirable outcome.
Failure to order a CBC was an omission on the parts of the doctor in the ER and the pediatrician, but they didn't actually do something to her to cause her harm.
A jury might see it differently, of course.
Kaitlyn
I am not a doctor or anything (and I just started nursing school, so I am definitely not a pro) but I definitely would contact a lawyer specializing in medical cases. Appendicitis is not a mysterious ailment - it happens a fair bit and the fact that he (or your pediatrician for that matter) didn't check for it seems a bit ridiculous to me. Doctors should take into account the fact that, as a parent, you also can provide insight into the seriousness of the illness. Thankfully you kept pushing for diagnosis, but those doctors should have done a blood test - seeing as it was such a serious ailment and she was in a significant amount of pain.
This is most likely also costing you money, time and your daughter serious emotional stress- you deserve compensation.
nurseforglass
When a child presents with abdominal pain, appendicitis should always be ruled out . There is a typical clinical presentation such as rebound tenderness but atypical presentations are not rare. At every hospital I have ever worked at, the child would have the CBC and urinalysis, a physical exam by the doctor, and a surgical consult if indicated. They usually keep the child in hospital overnight and recheck everything in AM.
Orignal From: Do you think I have a medical malpractice case?
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