I went in for a strep throat test at CVS Minute Clinic. The rapid test came back negative, but the RN said she was sending it out to the lab. She said if they called me in the morning it was positive. If I did not receive any call, it was negative.
I never received a call from them. The next day I felt worse so I just stayed in bed all day. The next day, my throat was getting progressively worse. I went back up to the Minute Clinic. The RN said it looked like strep, but the test results must have been negative if nobody called. She said it was probably viral and let it work its course.
On Monday, I was having difficulty swallowing at all. Saliva could not even pass so I went back one more time to the clinic. Another RN looked at my throat and said I needed to go to the ER immediately before my airways closed. She said I had an abscess on my left tonsil. It was life threatening.
I left the clinic and went tot he emergency room. They sent me to another hospital because they said I needed a ear, nose, and throat specialist to drain the abscess. When I arrived at the other hospital, the doctor ordered a scan of my throat to make sure it had not spread. He wanted to try me on steroids for a few hours to see if he could reduce the abscess that way. Several hours passed and they told me they wanted me to stay overnight and see if they could avoid surgery. The abscess had gone done some.
I told them I did not want to stay overnight because I could not afford it. They gave me some antibiotics and told me to come back in the morning.
When I got home, 5-6 hours later, CVS Minute Clinic was on my answering machine. They said there had been a mistake and my test wasn't picked up the day I went in. It had just came back to them and it was positive for strep.
I now have at least a $ 6500 hospital bill. I feel they are responsible for the abscess that they said was life threatening. I feel they should be for all medical bills. They were negligent and should be held accountable.
Would this be considered malpractice or negligence?
Jay
Unfortunately, the fact that there was a delay in sending out the tests is not reason for you to collect on the hospital bill or, for that matter, and "pain and suffering." CVS did not cause the strep, they merely were unable (due to minor negligence) to give timely results of the test. Their limit is likely whatever you paid for the test.
Part of the issue will be whether they intentionally delayed sending out the test (i.e., it was intentional such that you would suffer) or whether they acted in a way that was significantly out of bounds of industry practice (gross negligence). The way you tell it, it sounds like a mistake, not gross negligence.
I think, if you press, they'll refund what you paid... just to get rid of you. But, if you took this to court, they'd make the argument that they (a) did not cause the abscesses, (b) make an honest mistake in delaying sending the tests out, and (c) you signed a form that stated their limits of liability.
Take note of (c). Did you ever sign anything? I've not used CVS for tests, so I don't know their practice. But I've been to labs and they do require you to sign something that says that they aren't responsible for problems like this.
David
Well its a good dream ...how can... what you now know is as abscess...
be positive for streptococcal (strep) bacteria ...of course you may have had had both
Strep throat will go away in 3 to 7 days with or without treatment. Doctors usually treat strep throat with antibiotics even though they may not make you well faster. Antibiotics shorten the time you are able to spread the disease to others (are contagious) and lower the risk of spreading the infection to other parts of your body.
CVS could not cause an abscess
Orignal From: Would CVS Minute Clinic be liable for damages if they failed to send out test to a lab and problems occurred?
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