Misdiagnosis

[jameyb66]

Brought my 3-day old son into the ER with labored breathing. Chest x-rays were taken. The radiologist at the ER diagnosed my son with pneumonia. Due to his age, they decided to transfer him to another hospital. At the second hospital, radiologist #2 looked at the x-rays and determined that my son was negative for pneumonia. The cause for the labored breathing was dried mucus(winter low humidity) and quickly resolved with saline solution and a vacuum. Since antibiotics were started at the first ER, my son was kept for two days to administer the full dosage.
Now, due to the misdiagnosis, I am stuck with a $2,000 bill. I got all the medical records of his entire stay. Do I have a case?

Twin Cities, MN

[longsally111]

you didnt call your pediatrician? You took your 3 day old baby into a germ infected petri dish of an er with all the flu's going on? Ok, so you did it and then the baby was placed on antibiotics. They do not adit babies just to finish doses of meds. There is more to your story.

[>Charlotte<]

Double post, Sally.

http://forum.freeadvice.com/health-insurance-hmo-plans-79/misdiagnosis-489034.html

[IsabellaSoriano]

Originally Posted by >Charlotte<

Double post, Sally.

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/health-insurance-hmo-plans-79/misdiagnosis-489034.html[/url]

he was actually asked to post on this forum since his issue had nothing to do with the insurance company.

[cbg]

Blame me for the double post. I made the referral. It really belongs here and not where initially posted, but it took a few attempts to convince the poster that this had nothing to do with insurance.

[>Charlotte<]

Ooops..never mind!

[IsabellaSoriano]

Originally Posted by jameyb66

Technically, if the radiologist had not made a mistake, my son would have not gotten unnecessary antibiotics, unnecessary ambulance transportation, unnecessary bedside doctor visits, and an unnecessary hospital stay. The first ER was capable of performing suction to relief my son of dried mucus in his airways. There is no doubt that my son got certain services. But due to a misdiagnosis, many unnecessary services were rendered. You really haven't answered my question. Are mistakes allowed under insurance law?

ignoring the insurance law questionn.....

having had brought a newborn child into the ER before....i can honestly say, nothing was done to my child without my consent.i consented to the testing, the spinal tap, the IV, everything. and with that consent, came a bill.

in the end, the spinal tap wasn't necesary. i knew WHY i was bringing the child. they ASKED to do other test. now, i could have said, no, treat my child for this issue only, but i chose not to.

with newborns, they err on the side of caution.

[lya]

If the infant did not need additional antibiotics, the infant would not have been admitted to complete the course of antibiotics. The initial dose would have done no harm.

Dried secretions that lead to labored breathing in a newborn have to come from somewhere other than low humidity.

X-rays take time to cure--the findings may change as the film matures. It is not nelgience or malpractice of any kind to interpret a wet film one way and interpret the more mature film another way.

The initial ED did not keep the infant and admit the infant to 'that' hospital but sent the infant to a hospital with better abilities to diagnose and treat neonates. Failure to do so would have been negligent; doing so is not negligent in any way.

More likely than not, what we have here is a traumatized parent who retained part of what was said at each ED and by each MD and whose understanding of the situation was influenced by emotions and concern.

Pay the bill (the amount over insurance benefit payment) and be thankful your infant lived to come home with you.

[jameyb66]

Originally Posted by longsally111

you didnt call your pediatrician? You took your 3 day old baby into a germ infected petri dish of an er with all the flu's going on? Ok, so you did it and then the baby was placed on antibiotics. They do not adit babies just to finish doses of meds. There is more to your story.

Sally
Please keep your personal, unrelated comments to yourself. I don't know of any pediatrician that is available for questions at 3am... Whether all ERs are filled with bacteria, is totally unrelated. Where do you think he was born? In a plastic bubble.... Nope, he was born in a hospital. A hospital possibly filled with bacteria. The same hospital my other two daughters were delivered at, without any complications. Lastly, this did not happen recently. It happened in January. If you are not going to answer my basic legal questions, please refrain from your asinine personal opinions and attacks. Here is the rest of the story. This time, please read before commenting.

My wife and I awoke to a baby that had problems breathing and breathing hard. We brought him to the ER of our local hospital. After chest x-rays, their radiologist diagnosed him with pneumonia. Recommendation was to start antibiotics and transfer him to another hospital in St Paul that handles children exclusively. When he was admitted to that other hospital, their radiologist saw the SAME x-rays and determined it to be NEGATIVE for pneumonia. Since antibiotics were already started, the recommendation was to administer the entire dose. Again, if it was not for a botched dianosis, my son would not have had unnecessary antibiotics, ambulance rides, doctor visits and hospital stays. My question is simple. What legal recourse do I have? Should I take it to small claims? Malpractice? Civil? Is malpractice an option, since my son did not receive any injuries?

Thanks again for any help.

[jameyb66]

Originally Posted by lya

X-rays take time to cure--the findings may change as the film matures. It is not nelgience or malpractice of any kind to interpret a wet film one way and interpret the more mature film another way.

Bowow... When was the last time u went to a hospital or ER.... X-rays in todays hospitals are digital... Meanining, there is no film. No maturing or developing issues..

[lya]

We use both film and digital. Digital x-rays are reviewed by the receiving hospital before we send the patient, not after, not on arrival at the other hospital. Thus, it is more than reasonable for me to infer that you took the films with you.

You have criticized two experts in the fields of Emergency Nursing and Pediatrics/Neonatology.

Go soak your swollen head in a toilet.

[jameyb66]

Originally Posted by lya

We use both film and digital. Digital x-rays are reviewed by the receiving hospital before we send the patient, not after, not on arrival at the other hospital. Thus, it is more than reasonable for me to infer that you took the films with you.

You have criticized two experts in the fields of Emergency Nursing and Pediatrics/Neonatology.

Go soak your swollen head in a toilet.

I see now that you are biased... You are in the field and are defending one of yours... You still have not answered my question as to how to deal with someone's mistake. In my field, judgement mistakes like this are not allowed.

[Proserpina]

Originally Posted by jameyb66

I see now that you are biased... You are in the field and are defending one of yours... You still have not answered my question as to how to deal with someone's mistake. In my field, judgement mistakes like this are not allowed.

LOL hardly. Lya is probably one of the most unbiased, objective posters on this entire forum - but of course you don't want to hear that.

Please feel free to collect your son's medical records and have them reviewed by a medmal attorney.

[lya]

Originally Posted by Dogmatique

LOL hardly. Lya is probably one of the most unbiased, objective posters on this entire forum

Thank you.

[ecmst12]

A mistake, or more likely a professional disagreement about how to interpret the x-rays, does not necessarily indicate malpractice. Show those x-rays to 10 more radiologists and you'll get more then one interpretation.