Oubliette331
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT
This situation involves my 26 year old sister.
On Christmas Day 2017, she was brought to the ER by ambulance for an accidental drug overdose. She is not addicted to heroin but had consumed a small amount by snorting, along with several other substances in larger amounts. She was administered Narcan twice prior to arriving at the hospital. She was told that her blood pressure was dangerously low. Drug overdoses are an epidemic in our area and the hospital staff was very cold toward her, not showing much concern or compassion. She was not given any form of counseling nor informed of any additional resources that she might want to utilize. They discharged her after about 7 hours of observation.
Her blood tests showed a slightly elevated creatinine level of 1.37 mg/dL, as well as several other abnormalities that were never discussed with her or addressed in the medical record. The cut off written on the test results is 1.3, but later doctors have told us that a level of 1.1 is more appropriate for an adult female. She was uninsured and does not have a doctor. The medical record states that she was discharged with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician, but they never actually said this to her and they knew that she doesn’t have a PCP- they didn’t give her any instruction for follow up at all, did not inform her of symptoms which should prompt her to return to the hospital, and never called her to follow up either. A doctor who treated her later in the same hospital network said that the standard policy for patients who are not insured and/or don’t have a doctor is to set them up with an appointment with one of the hospital doctors prior to discharge.
After being discharged, she felt unwell for two weeks. She was unable to keep food down and was throwing up quite a bit. Then her face and ankles became swollen. She returned to the ER two weeks after the overdose incident due to these symptoms building up. They were about to discharge her when the doctor looked over her test results again and realized she was in acute renal failure. Her creatinine levels were 33 mg/dL, which was a pretty dramatic decline in function as typically the levels rise by 1 per day during acute kidney failure. She was admitted to the hospital where she stayed for almost two weeks getting dialysis treatments. She has now been discharged and needs ongoing outpatient dialysis. The doctors think that the kidney failure was caused by the period of low blood pressure that occurred at the time of the overdose. A biopsy ruled out an autoimmune response as a possible cause.
Is this a case of negligence in her initial hospital visit for the drug overdose? She was given very minimal treatment IMO considering that she had just survived a life threatening ordeal. It is well known that sustained periods of low pressure can cause damage to organs, especially kidneys, and her test results at the time indicated that there might have been a developing issue. I feel that they should have kept her for longer observation, informed her of the possible future complications or health issues, educated her about resources for substance abuse, and set up a follow up appointment knowing that she is uninsured with no doctor or at least contacted her after a few days to check on her. If she had not returned to the hospital when she did, she could have died. And she was reluctant to go back after such dismissive treatment, being viewed as a “junkie.” Thankfully she is alive, but had to quit her job and needs to get dialysis 3 times a week, with the possibility of permanent kidney damage. If the kidney failure had been caught sooner that could’ve been avoided.
This situation involves my 26 year old sister.
On Christmas Day 2017, she was brought to the ER by ambulance for an accidental drug overdose. She is not addicted to heroin but had consumed a small amount by snorting, along with several other substances in larger amounts. She was administered Narcan twice prior to arriving at the hospital. She was told that her blood pressure was dangerously low. Drug overdoses are an epidemic in our area and the hospital staff was very cold toward her, not showing much concern or compassion. She was not given any form of counseling nor informed of any additional resources that she might want to utilize. They discharged her after about 7 hours of observation.
Her blood tests showed a slightly elevated creatinine level of 1.37 mg/dL, as well as several other abnormalities that were never discussed with her or addressed in the medical record. The cut off written on the test results is 1.3, but later doctors have told us that a level of 1.1 is more appropriate for an adult female. She was uninsured and does not have a doctor. The medical record states that she was discharged with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician, but they never actually said this to her and they knew that she doesn’t have a PCP- they didn’t give her any instruction for follow up at all, did not inform her of symptoms which should prompt her to return to the hospital, and never called her to follow up either. A doctor who treated her later in the same hospital network said that the standard policy for patients who are not insured and/or don’t have a doctor is to set them up with an appointment with one of the hospital doctors prior to discharge.
After being discharged, she felt unwell for two weeks. She was unable to keep food down and was throwing up quite a bit. Then her face and ankles became swollen. She returned to the ER two weeks after the overdose incident due to these symptoms building up. They were about to discharge her when the doctor looked over her test results again and realized she was in acute renal failure. Her creatinine levels were 33 mg/dL, which was a pretty dramatic decline in function as typically the levels rise by 1 per day during acute kidney failure. She was admitted to the hospital where she stayed for almost two weeks getting dialysis treatments. She has now been discharged and needs ongoing outpatient dialysis. The doctors think that the kidney failure was caused by the period of low blood pressure that occurred at the time of the overdose. A biopsy ruled out an autoimmune response as a possible cause.
Is this a case of negligence in her initial hospital visit for the drug overdose? She was given very minimal treatment IMO considering that she had just survived a life threatening ordeal. It is well known that sustained periods of low pressure can cause damage to organs, especially kidneys, and her test results at the time indicated that there might have been a developing issue. I feel that they should have kept her for longer observation, informed her of the possible future complications or health issues, educated her about resources for substance abuse, and set up a follow up appointment knowing that she is uninsured with no doctor or at least contacted her after a few days to check on her. If she had not returned to the hospital when she did, she could have died. And she was reluctant to go back after such dismissive treatment, being viewed as a “junkie.” Thankfully she is alive, but had to quit her job and needs to get dialysis 3 times a week, with the possibility of permanent kidney damage. If the kidney failure had been caught sooner that could’ve been avoided.
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