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Inept referral coordinator - med malpractice on an admin?

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C

crusade

Guest
What is the name of your state? California

My son had chronic ear infections since he was 3 months old. We took him in every month to get antibiotics and would ask about a specialist. Finally, they referred him to a specialist, only to have the referral coordinator sit on the referral for 5 months. Soon as he got into the specialist, they recommended tubes. Similarly, the same coordinator sat on a referral for him to see a specialist eye doctor for his farsightedness/lazy eye.

His speech is very delayed for his age due to the length of time it took to get into a specialist - and his vision may/may not be correctible now.

Is there anything I can do? I'm frustrated that some of this could have been avoided - that they've robbed him of being a normal kid.
 


ellencee

Senior Member
crusade
I doubt there is any cause for a suit of any kind. Was your child denied medical treatment during these intervals? Six months to get in with a specialist is not uncommon. Tubes in the ears are generally not a bona fide emergency. Neither is treatment for lazy eye unless the condition is severe and at risk for causing permanent blindness without immediate treatment. If the treating MD believed that your child needed specialized intervention ASAP, I believe the appointment would have been secured without any input from a referral coordinator.

More likely than not, your child has every chance to be a 'normal' child and whether or not that happens is mostly up to you (the parents).

EC
 
C

crusade

Guest
My son was not denied medical care in the 6 months, however, his primary care physician went on maternity leave and he was bounced around to any available doctor during the 6 months of ear infections leading up to the tubes. The doctors would verify he had an order for a referral, but the coordinator just ignored the request. (It wasn't a matter of getting in to see the specialist, she never referred our information). Finally, one PA sat in the referral coordinator's office and demanded our information be faxed over (this was towards the end of the 6 months). Even then, we had to call back 3 days later b/c the referrral coordinator had not faxed the information.

Once faxed, we got an appointment within 3 weeks.

We are providing care in terms of speech therapy to increase his vocabulary. The therapist said that each ear infection can delay speech up up to 3 months longer. I just wonder what would have happened had we gotten the referral 6 months earlier.

With the farsightedness/lazy eye it was getting severely worse weekly, enough to make the doctor concerned. She told us to contact the specialist directly, essentially circumventing the inept coordinator and she (the doctor) would verify it for us.

Unfortunately my desire to sue is for revenge, or at least to compensate the cost of speech therapy...
 

ellencee

Senior Member
Unfortunately my desire to sue is for revenge, or at least to compensate the cost of speech therapy...
LOL! At least you're honest!

If there were a viable medmal claim, it would be against the treating physician since the referral coordinator is the physician's employee and the responsibility for the referrals remains with the physician.

If I were screening this complaint for an attorney, I'd have to say it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove that the hearing loss and need for speech therapy would not have been the result even if the referral had been prompt and the child had been seen promptly by the specialist. Tubes in the ears do not represent a cure or a guarantee of less ear infections or less damage to hearing. Tubes are merely an attempt to reduce the fluid and infection that become trapped behind the ear drums and to place the tubes, a hole is punched through the ear drum and doing so will result in scar tissue on the ear drum.

Lazy eye takes its own course, being truly subjective to the person and the severity. In some children, despite all proper treatment, surgical correction is the only answer. If I recall correctly, the surgery is usually performed after the child reaches the age of two, though I have known of children to have the surgery during their kindergarten and first-grade years.

Speech therapy can be found for reduced fees and for no fee if it is provided through the health department or the programs associated with public education and daycares. The cost of speech therapy would not equal the cost of a medmal suit and that alone will probably preclude any medmal claim.

You should consult with a medmal attorney in your area. Consultation appointments are usually free. The attorney can explain to you the statute of limitations that apply to minors and advise you on what steps to take should it become apparent that negligence did lead to damages that would not have occurred otherwise.

Best wishes,
EC
 

vrzirn

Senior Member
PE tubes are not a panacea for the chronic ear infections many children sufer in their early years. Frequently, they fall out and need to be replaced; that involves extra risk due to more anesthesia exposure.
Many doctors believe in just riding out those susceptible years because the child usually outgrows those infections without any hearing loss. Antibiotics keep things under control.
Therefore, watching and waiting is an acceptable alternative to surgery. The delay is neither malpractice nor negligence. Same with the lazy eye.
Put aside your desire for vengeance (no money in that pot for you) and talk to your kid, eye to eye. Read to him. You may be accountable for some degree of his developmental retardation.
 
C

crusade

Guest
I appreciate the honest and thoughtful advice. You know when it comes to children we parents get protective :)

As for vrzirn, I'm sure you've seen your fair share of neglectful parents, or those using their kids for medmal profit. I assure you I do not fall into that category. in fact, my son is my best bud and at the age of two can already count to 20, is starting to read (sounding out STOP, DADA and other words), knows his colors, and gets every ounce of my attention.

As an alternative to legal action, my wife and I contacted the doctor's office to officially complain about the coordinator. Surprise, surprise - it wasn't their first complaint...or second...or third.

After the tubes, his speech began to burst to more than 3-5 new words a week. unfortunately, he still has real trouble with some sounds. Speech therapist said it was from months of not hearing our pronunciation correctly.

thank you all for calming me down - i will do my best in turn to calm down the protective grandparents, aunts and uncles that constantly bend my ear about 'how i should handle the situation'.

--crusade
 

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