I went to the emergency room on 10-05 for back pain. I was 8 weeks pregnant. I told the dispatch nurse this at signin. I arrived at 8pm, the took diagnostics at 10:23pm, i gave them a urine sample which confirmed my pregnancy. They sent me back to the waiting room, hurting! Thats not the worst of it. I was finally call back at 1:15am, then told me to drink 3 cups of water to take a ultrasound. I waited another hour in a half before i was taken to the ultrasound room. She did a (sorry for the graphics) vaginal ultrasound after she couldnt see clearly with the regualr external ultrasound. The whole time she was acting weird like she saw something. I asked her what the problem was and she just said "looks fine, the doctor will go into detail with you." They sent me back to the room and I waited an hour, needless to say at 4am I finally saw the doctor who told me to just go home and rest and try to stay off my feet for 24 hours. He said nothing seem that serious other than they had a hard time hearing the babies heartbeat but it could be nothing. Two months later at my OB/GYN I was informed I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks! That night to be exact! I carried a dead fetus because they didnt want to investigate my pain! Is this negeligence?
The emergency room doctor exact words were " we werent able to hear a heartbeat but you're right at nine weeks, that may come in the tenth week. We cant seem to see why you would be have so much back pain because everything else looks normal" I dont understand why they wouldnt do more test? The discharge papers state possible miscarriage. I was waiting on medicaid at the time which I informed them of, so I had no doctor yet.
hsc16354
HIRE A LAWYER............. DON'T WAIT
Ruth C
why did you wait two months to see your OB/GYN after that night? I'll bet your instructions said to check back with your regular doctor. It's difficult to prove negligence when it comes to a miscarriage, but if they recorded that they heard a heartbeat, even though it was difficult, you probably won't prove that THEY did anything wrong.
K W
No. According to you, they were able to hear the heartbeat, it was just difficult. Secondly, no one can pinpoint down that you lost the fetus that exact night.
STEVEN F
They DID investigate your pain, and found nothing. If you have a case against ANYONE, it is the OB/GYN for specifying the miscarriage occurred 2 MONTHS before he examined you. It is not medically possible to be that acurate. Even if the ER was negligent, you whould have to find a DOCTOR willing to review the altrasound and testify there was NO DOUBT that serious problems existed at that time.
russell s
holy crap im so sorry. not sure if its illegal but there is sure to be many attorneys who would take your case for a percentage of the money they will be getting for you. let the judge sort out whether or not it is illegal. if your attorney doesnt win your case you dont owe them a dime. its bad enough that i would sue and im not a law suit kinna guy
TheMom
There is no way the doctor can know the exact time/night you had a miscarriage, especially 8 weeks later. You might have medical negligence for the doctor who is telling you they can tell you the exact day/time.
You also hold some personal responsibility. If you hurt so bad you spend the night in the ER, why didn't you go to your OB/GYN the very next day? An ER visit in not a substitute for regular doctor visits.
I'm sorry that you lost your baby, but the story seems a little far fetched.Of course you can ask for the results of the ultrasound, to see what it shows. FYI, An ultrasound doesn't measure hearing the baby's heart beat, it is more of a visual tool. A doppler is used to hear the heartbeat.
jellybeanchick
Sorry to hear about your loss, but it doesn't sound like negligence. Back pain in itself isn't a medical emergency, and they did two ultrasounds which at the time did not reveal a miscarriage. Because it wasn't an emergency situation, they couldn't do anything else for you, and you should have gone to your OB much sooner than two months later!
Edit: They didn't do more tests because back pain in itself isn't a medical emergency. ERs have limited resources and they have to triage them for the most critical patients - this is why they took so long to see you. You should have followed up with a regular doctor as soon as possible, and your insurance situation isn't considered in ER triage. It's not the ER's job to do extensive diagnostics beyond ruling out life threatening emergency situations.
Orignal From: Tips: Is this medical negligence?
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