Illinois. Several weeks ago, I was injured when a piece of wood went through my finger. I went to the emergency room. To make a long story short, the doctor ordered an xray, then said he found nothing, but admitted that xrays don't really show wood. There was a clear injury from where the wood entered, and it was sticking out about 1/4 in on the exit end. He then broke off the wood that was sticking out of my finger, leaving a rather large piece in my finger. He insisted that he got it all out, but I protested because I could feel that something was still there. He told me that I have a low pain tolerance, insisted that it was out, and sent me home with pain meds. After 2 more doctor visits, a missed week and a half of work, and a nasty infection, a nice chunk of wood was cut from my finger, which had showed up perfectly via ultrasound.
I called the hospital to speak to them about my treatment, and after ignoring me for about a week, they finally called and said they had investigated it, and would waive the ER bill. They said that the physician and radiology are billed from outside companies, so I would need to pay that out of pocket and then they would reimburse.
The hospital lady then tells me that she is sending a waiver for me to sign and when I asked what I'm waiving, she skirted around it, then finally said I would be waiving my right to claim future liability towards the hospital; AND she says the only thing I will see on the waiver form is the $252 out of pocket ER expense, not the reimbursement agreement for the other.
Now I know that this is not some major huge medical emergency, but the doctor left the wood in my hand which did result in infection, and in turn, a longer healing time because they couldn't close the wound because of the infection. I lost wages also. Is this grounds for some kind of lawsuit?
Also, is it 'legal' that they still collect from my insurance company for something they obviously admit they dropped the ball on? Otherwise, why would they agree to pay anything?
I'm not saying they owe me thousands of dollars, but I do want to be treated fairly.
I called the hospital to speak to them about my treatment, and after ignoring me for about a week, they finally called and said they had investigated it, and would waive the ER bill. They said that the physician and radiology are billed from outside companies, so I would need to pay that out of pocket and then they would reimburse.
The hospital lady then tells me that she is sending a waiver for me to sign and when I asked what I'm waiving, she skirted around it, then finally said I would be waiving my right to claim future liability towards the hospital; AND she says the only thing I will see on the waiver form is the $252 out of pocket ER expense, not the reimbursement agreement for the other.
Now I know that this is not some major huge medical emergency, but the doctor left the wood in my hand which did result in infection, and in turn, a longer healing time because they couldn't close the wound because of the infection. I lost wages also. Is this grounds for some kind of lawsuit?
Also, is it 'legal' that they still collect from my insurance company for something they obviously admit they dropped the ball on? Otherwise, why would they agree to pay anything?
I'm not saying they owe me thousands of dollars, but I do want to be treated fairly.
