My 13 year old son fell down the dtairs last night, and injured his foot, he couldn'r put pressure on it, and now used vrutches that we had from before...my wife called 911 and they told him to stay put until they got there. The doctor at hospital took xray's, came to see my son, said rudely, "There's no reason to have to call emergency 911 resue for something like this, I wouldn't recommend doing it again, if it's not necessary, save it for the people who really need it." As he said he was going to look at the xray's and be back, my wife saw him go to his desk, but didn't look at naything, talked to a nurse, and game back saying, "well, I don't think there's anything majorly wrong with his foot, it's probobly just a sprain, can he put pressure on it?" Our son got up and slowly put pressure on it, and walked with a hobble, and painful limp. He didn't give him any pain medication, or splint, cast, or even an ace wrap, and sent him home. should we have a lawsuite here?
Q
No, no lawsuite here. Where's the malpractice? It's not malpractice to have bad bedside manner.
Jenna I
sounds like it.
thats terrible.
Amethyst
probably not. Usually the jury favors the doctor, and their malpractice insurance lawyers defend them vigorously. So with that kind of resistance, you really need a strong case. Weak cases such as this should be handled by "customer walk". Get his name and never go back there if you think the care was sub-standard.
reina32585
you can call the medical board and complain about how u were treated but unless u can prove that theres something more than just a sprained ankle or foot then theres no malpractice hun. so i would suggest if hes still feeling pain to get a second opinion and see what happends if its broken then yeah u should do something more about it. cuz that just wasnt right for him to mis treat u and your son like that.
Victoria
Well, if he really has a broken foot then I think so.
Take him to another doctor to make sure. Why didnt you confront him when you saw he didn't take a look at the x-rays? That doctor sounds horrible, I broke my foot a few years back (thought it was just a sprain) but my doctor told me I should have come in right away because sometimes the swelling keeps enough pressure on it to not feel it as much. (He said spains are sometimes more painful than breaks) So I was walking around with a broken foot for 3 days.
I also dont agree with him scolding you about calling 911, what if he had broken his neck? He fell down the stairs... you did the right thing.
meandrake
A lot will depend on what injury he really has. If he has a fracture and if the doctor neglected this, sure you have a case. If it is indeed a minor sprain, then you cannot fault the doctor for not prescribing pain killer meds.
A lot will also depend on what the paperwork says. In cases like this its just your word vs his and what clinches the case is the paperwork. I've seen a lot of innocent doctors in trouble due to shoddy paperwork and vice versa.
keith h
at most the doctor was being a little bit rude in response to calling 911 for non-emergent reasons. even if he did break a bone in his foot most people don't call for an ambulance when there's somebody who could drive them to the er. if he hit his head during the fall that may have warranted the call. 911 is intended more for emergency treatment in lifethreatening situations rather than a taxi to get to the hospital.
also , the hospital that i work at does digital x-ray imaging and doctors can view x-rays at a computer monitor at their desk. maybe thats the case here.
RadTech
Keith pretty much said what I was going to say...
Most places are digital now - he most likely has a monitor at the desk where he viewed the images. Few if any hospitals use the old films and view boxes anymore.
And although the doctor may have sounded rude, he was right... people take advantage of the 911 system. Your wife or someone else could have given your son a ride the the ER instead of possibly delaying a patient with a true life-threatening emergency.
Bobby G
After following this thread I tend to agree no malpractice was done. I can address the xray situation. I don't know the situation at this particular hospital but now days a doctor may not ever look at the xray himself. With outsourcing the xray is taken locally and electronically sent to an outsourced radiologist which incidentlally is a physician certified in reading xrays. The radiologist is better at reading the xray than the emergency physician. The point is the treating physician does not have to read the xray. This is done by the specialist. Hence the telephone call. Cases like this which is a result of poor bedside manner is the primary cause of lawsuits and increasing medical cost for all.
Orignal From: Is this a medical malpractice case?
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