My 4 year old was treated without real consent

[Shawna79]

What is the name of your state Ohio...

I have full custody and decision making ability of my three minor children. A month ago my daughter was staying with her dad and his girlfriend (who is a nurse). My daughter ended up getting the infection called croup. She decided to take my daughter to the hospital. My ex didn't go because it was 1:45 in the morning and had to stay with the other children....they decided his girlfriend should take her also because his license is suppended...anyways. The hospital gave my daughter amoxicillan and a steroid. Do not get me wrong I am so happy that my daughter was treated but no one notified me. The hospital treated my daughter when no parent or guardian was present. My ex husband called the hospital and that was it. He has no decision making ability. What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again. I could have taken my daughter to the doctors and they could have administered the same drugs and the hospital could have doubled the dose and really hurt her. Nothing happened thank god but this is not right.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state Ohio...

I have full custody and decision making ability of my three minor children. A month ago my daughter was staying with her dad and his girlfriend (who is a nurse). My daughter ended up getting the infection called croup. She decided to take my daughter to the hospital. My ex didn't go because it was 1:45 in the morning and had to stay with the other children....they decided his girlfriend should take her also because his license is suppended...anyways. The hospital gave my daughter amoxicillan and a steroid. Do not get me wrong I am so happy that my daughter was treated but no one notified me. The hospital treated my daughter when no parent or guardian was present. My ex husband called the hospital and that was it. He has no decision making ability. What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again. I could have taken my daughter to the doctors and they could have administered the same drugs and the hospital could have doubled the dose and really hurt her. Nothing happened thank god but this is not right.

This was your only question:

What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again.

The answer is no one can tell you the answer to that; we cannot read the future.

 

[ecmst12]

Why do you think that the child's father can't give consent to treat? Even if you have full custody, he still has parental rights.

 

[Shawna79]

I am not saying that their father can not give consent to treat but he wasn't even there and a women who has no legal rights to request care for my child was there. The insurance information given was an insurance card from 4 years ago. I guess I am the what if type of person. My what if was what if my child was kidnapped by someone who didn't intend to hurt her but just to take her and she got sick. So they took her to the hospital and took consent from a stranger over the phone. Is there no protocol. She was calm and collected when admitted as I said I am glad she was treated but is it right that it's ok to treat anyone without any confirmation at all no picture id required no good insurance card.

 

[seniorjudge]

If there is a car wreck and you are killed and your child is carried to the hospital, then you do NOT want your husband who is not standing right there to give consent?

Think about what you are saying; you are making way too much out of nothing.

 

[>Charlotte<]

Hire a lawyer to take it to court so you can request that the terms of your custody be changed to include the restriction that nobody besides you or your ex (but not until he gets his license) can seek urgent medical care for your daughter. When you get in front of the judge, explain to him that your child was sick, and you're pissed because a) the girlfriend took her to the hospital and b) the hospital treated her. The judge will then make his ruling. Don't get your hopes up.

 

[ecmst12]

When a kid shows up in the emergency room in need of urgent medical care, they will treat the child even if there is NO adult present, because it is an emergency situation.

 

[Zigner]

And, the hospital DID have consent.

 

[barry1817]

treatment

What is the name of your state Ohio...

I have full custody and decision making ability of my three minor children. A month ago my daughter was staying with her dad and his girlfriend (who is a nurse). My daughter ended up getting the infection called croup. She decided to take my daughter to the hospital. My ex didn't go because it was 1:45 in the morning and had to stay with the other children....they decided his girlfriend should take her also because his license is suppended...anyways. The hospital gave my daughter amoxicillan and a steroid. Do not get me wrong I am so happy that my daughter was treated but no one notified me. The hospital treated my daughter when no parent or guardian was present. My ex husband called the hospital and that was it. He has no decision making ability. What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again. I could have taken my daughter to the doctors and they could have administered the same drugs and the hospital could have doubled the dose and really hurt her. Nothing happened thank god but this is not right.

1:45 in the morning and you wanted a call to give consent. I have seen things blown out of proportion before, but all the if, might haves and could have scenarios just seem way off base.

 

[longsally111]

we get kids in the ER all the time and there is no parent present. We call and get consent over the phone. That is all that is needed. Your child was ill and needed treatment. I would think you woule be thankful that the girlfriend cared enough to take your child to get the care they needed.

 

[lya]

The parent who had custody at the time, the father, delegated his "girlfriend" to take the child. The phone call would have been made to the father, not to the mother, even if the phone call had been made.

You're just firing another shot during the cusotdy war...so, please, don't drag the hospital into your personal issues.

 

[wyett717]

There is also such a thing as "implied consent", which assumes that the patient agrees to treatment if they are unable to verbalize it. I would guess that this applies to the child and the girlfriend, as the hospital would assume consent would be given by a parent/guardian anyway.

I can't figure out why a parent would put up a stink about their child's health. If the hospital called and was unable to reach you, what would you expect them to do then?

 

[justalayman]

What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again. .

go to a tattoo parlor and have them tattoo:

"property of Shawna. For emergency contact call: xxx-xxx-xxxx"
"do not treat without authorization by Shawna"

I have full custody and decision making ability of my three minor children.
He has no decision making ability

in an emergency situation, he most likely has the right to make decisions.

My ex husband called the hospital and that was it.

So, if your daughter was taken by ambulance to the hospital and the only contact with either parent was via phone, you believe the hospital would have no right to treat due to the fact the permission was via phone?

Take solace in the fact the hospital apparently required authorization to treat from an actual parent. Now, if they treated and had no contact with either parent, then you would have a right to bitch.

btw: there is no mark indicating that one parent or the other has legal custody of a child. If a parent walks in to a med center and says treat my child, they will assume that parent has the authority to authorize treatment.

to remedy this situation, see my first suggestion.

 

[justalayman]

There is also such a thing as "implied consent", which assumes that the patient agrees to treatment if they are unable to verbalize it. I would guess that this applies to the child and the girlfriend, as the hospital would assume consent would be given by a parent/guardian anyway.

implied consent is generally limited to life threatening situations. Implied consent would not be applicable in this situation due to the fact the situation was most likely not life threatening (croup generally is not life threatening) and even when implied consent is allowed, there must be attempts to contact those that could give permission unless the situation is that dire and that time lost could result in death.

 

[lya]

implied consent is generally limited to life threatening situations. Implied consent would not be applicable in this situation due to the fact the situation was most likely not life threatening (croup generally is not life threatening) and even when implied consent is allowed, there must be attempts to contact those that could give permission unless the situation is that dire and that time lost could result in death.

Croup can be life-threatening. It is a condition that requires prompt medical attention or it can and will progress rapidly to respiratory distress. If the child was "crowing" (characteristic cough of croup), it was time to go to the doc.