pjaystevens47
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida...My granddaughters, one who is now 2 and one 14 months were seen by the same physician. The 2 year old was born with congenital tightening of the achiles tendon. She was unable to flex her feet or legs from birth. She was seen regularly by the physician, and my daughter asked about this at 8 months, and 13 months. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. At the same time, the 14 month old was seen at 2 weeks old. She had bilateral inguinal hernias. The doctor was going to give my daughter a referal for surgery. She waited 4 months, and was told that medicaid was holding the referal up. My daughter called the medicaid office and found out that they had never gotten a request from the doctor. During that phone call my daughter requested that the primary care physician be changed. This took a month. The new doctor immediately referred the baby to a specialist, and she was operated on within a week. The 2 year old also saw the doctor at the same time. The new doctor asked what the previous doctor was recommending for her, my daughter told her physical therapy. She laughed and said it wouldn't have helped. She said that this type of birth defect should have been taken care of at birth, with corrective shoes. My daughter knew a member of Shriner's who gave her a referal to the Shriner's hospital. The doctor there said he rarely did this surgery on a child as old as my granddaughter. She had the surgery done, but still has more problems caused by trying to walk, which has separated the bones connecting her toes. She may have to have several more surgeries, and a lot of pain before this problem is corrected. There are no guarantees that she will be able to fully get the functions back. My question is can the first doctor be held responsible for not diagnosising these problems and failing to make proper referals?