Could Dr. have prevented hospitalization?

[mindy]

What is the name of your state? WV

My 10 month old son was seen by our family physician 4 weeks ago. At the time, his symptoms were wheezing and coughing. I asked him if it was asthma, and he replied that it was probably just a respiratory infection. The doctor put him on a nebulizer every 4 hours, and wanted to see him again in a week.

After a week we took him back to the doctor who said that he still had a wheeze and to continue giving him the nebulizer treatments for another 3 weeks.

This past Monday, the baby started running a fever and breathing very heavily, and was very lethargic, we took him to the doctor who immediately admitted him to the hospital where it was determined that he had bilateral pneumonia. He stayed in the hospital on oxygen and IV antibiotics for 5 days.

My question is, was the doctor negligent in not prescribing antibiotics when he first presented with respiratory problems, I feel that had he treated my son with antibiotics right away, or even after the second time we were in the office, my son would not have ended up in the hospital with a potentially life threatening problem.

[justalayman]

antibiotics do nothing for a viral infection or asthma.

asthma is the bodies over-reaction to a stimuli.

A virus will not respond to antibiotics so if the infection was viral, antibiotics would have done nothing for that either. Also pnuemonia is not always caused by an infection. If that was the case, aiding the body in removing the fluids would be the appropriate treatment which I would presume the neb meds were for.

Depending upon what the medication was given by nebulizer, the doc may have been doing all that was called for. It may be the meds prescribed were not effectively treating whatever the ailment was and ended up with pnuemonia because of that.

I would think the doc would have considered a different med because of the lack of progress but he was there an I'm not..

Are there any damages because of the treatment? If not, you have no legal case.

[texasmed_1]

Originally Posted by mindy

What is the name of your state? WV

My 10 month old son was seen by our family physician 4 weeks ago. At the time, his symptoms were wheezing and coughing. I asked him if it was asthma, and he replied that it was probably just a respiratory infection. The doctor put him on a nebulizer every 4 hours, and wanted to see him again in a week.

After a week we took him back to the doctor who said that he still had a wheeze and to continue giving him the nebulizer treatments for another 3 weeks.

This past Monday, the baby started running a fever and breathing very heavily, and was very lethargic, we took him to the doctor who immediately admitted him to the hospital where it was determined that he had bilateral pneumonia. He stayed in the hospital on oxygen and IV antibiotics for 5 days.

My question is, was the doctor negligent in not prescribing antibiotics when he first presented with respiratory problems, I feel that had he treated my son with antibiotics right away, or even after the second time we were in the office, my son would not have ended up in the hospital with a potentially life threatening problem.

I know seeing your child ill is very heartbreaking. Having a potentially life threatening illness without considerable damages, even if the doctor were negligent is not a case an attorney would consider pursuing. Be very thankfull your child will recover, others are not as fortunate.

[mindy]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I had a feeling I'd get the response that I did. I suppose that the damages suffered were not sufficient to warrant any cause of action.

Aside from the emotional trauma of having my son in the hospital, the main damages I suffered was missing a week of school, thank god midterms were the week before and I didn't miss those. I'm a nursing mom, and while he was sick the baby refused to take a bottle or solid foods so I had to stay with him constantly. I also have pnemonia and trying to recover from it myself while taking care of my son 24 hours a day with no rest, and only a small chair to try to sleep in was difficult.

[barry1817]

Originally Posted by mindy

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I had a feeling I'd get the response that I did. I suppose that the damages suffered were not sufficient to warrant any cause of action.

Aside from the emotional trauma of having my son in the hospital, the main damages I suffered was missing a week of school, thank god midterms were the week before and I didn't miss those. I'm a nursing mom, and while he was sick the baby refused to take a bottle or solid foods so I had to stay with him constantly. I also have pnemonia and trying to recover from it myself while taking care of my son 24 hours a day with no rest, and only a small chair to try to sleep in was difficult.

If this is not a case that a lawyer will take, you might want to consider what filing a claim with the state's medical board would do. If the doctor was negligent, then at least you might start the wheels in motion that might prevent this sort of treatment ot others.

[email]Barry1817@aol.com[/email]

[ellencee]

Originally Posted by mindy

What is the name of your state? WV

My 10 month old son was seen by our family physician 4 weeks ago. At the time, his symptoms were wheezing and coughing. I asked him if it was asthma, and he replied that it was probably just a respiratory infection. The doctor put him on a nebulizer every 4 hours, and wanted to see him again in a week.

After a week we took him back to the doctor who said that he still had a wheeze and to continue giving him the nebulizer treatments for another 3 weeks.

This past Monday, the baby started running a fever and breathing very heavily, and was very lethargic, we took him to the doctor who immediately admitted him to the hospital where it was determined that he had bilateral pneumonia. He stayed in the hospital on oxygen and IV antibiotics for 5 days.

My question is, was the doctor negligent in not prescribing antibiotics when he first presented with respiratory problems, I feel that had he treated my son with antibiotics right away, or even after the second time we were in the office, my son would not have ended up in the hospital with a potentially life threatening problem.

Early intervention with antibiotics may have helped and may have hindered. I'm not in favor of the new treatment, nebulizers, for children with respiratory infections; but, they didn't count my vote. It is an acceptable standard of care.

In the absence of a temperature greater than 102 degrees F, the MD did not err in failing to prescribe antibiotics unless there is bloodwork to support the need for antibiotics and you did not mention any bloodwork.

Lung sounds are a reliable diagnostic tool for pneumonia. If the physical examination of the child did not indicate pneumonia, chances are no pneumonia existed.

If you want to answer lots of questions about how you care for you child, you can begin to point fingers. I promise you, your care will be brought into question and if you gave your child a bottle while the child was in bed or lying down, your actions will be found to be contributory.

I wouldn't report anyone, if I were you. I suggest you find some current articles from pediatric medical sources and do some research and learn about respiratory infections in infants. Your child is now at a higher risk for developing recurrent infections and asthma.

Remember, antibiotics are not the answer to every infection and overuse of antibiotics leads to superinfections that noone can cure.

EC

[mindy]

"...if you gave your child a bottle while the child was in bed or lying down, your actions will be found to be contributory."

My child does not take a bottle.

"Your child is now at a higher risk for developing recurrent infections and asthma."

Can you elaborate on this?

[rmet4nzkx]

You claim that you now have pnemonia, when was that diagnosed and how is that being treated?
You immediately thought your infant might have asthma, is there a history of asthma in your family? If so you and your child may want to get tested for A1AD. This testing is free and confidential through the Alpha one foundation, if there is DNA confirmation then future treatment may be different. Also make sure you limit access to secondhand and environmental smoke or irritants.

[texasmed_1]

Originally Posted by rmet4nzkx

You claim that you now have pnemonia, when was that diagnosed and how is that being treated?
You immediately thought your infant might have asthma, is there a history of asthma in your family? If so you and your child may want to get tested for A1AD. This testing is free and confidential through the Alpha one foundation, if there is DNA confirmation then future treatment may be different. Also make sure you limit access to secondhand and environmental smoke or irritants.

Sorry to interfer, I just had to say this, watch out Rmet advising OP to have her child checked for A1AD will cause that ticking timebomb in deadlocks head to explode, and she will be on this forum spreading her sarcastic remarks around!

[rmet4nzkx]

Originally Posted by texasmed_1

Sorry to interfer, I just had to say this, watch out Rmet advising OP to have her child checked for A1AD will cause that ticking timebomb in deadlocks head to explode, and she will be on this forum spreading her sarcastic remarks around!

Yeah I know, but she was already banned from this forum as Butterscotch for her bad behavior, which was even termed as DANGEROUS by other members, she is not a nurse or not acting like one anymore, I doubt she will return to the place of her disgrace. She can hold her breath, stomp her feet, turn blue in the face, she has lost all credibility on both forums except for her posse.

[lealea1005]

Mindy, your Family Physician acted within the standard of care.

Nebulizer treatment use in children with respiratory symptoms is neither unusual nor new, and was appropriate treatment. It is very difficult to second guess your Physician's treatment as he is the one who actually examined your son and based his decision to treat upon that examination.

I'm glad you and your son are feeling better. Good luck to you!