QUESTION
Can I sue because my daughter was wrongly diagnosed in the ER?
Asked on Nov 07th, 2012 on Personal Injury - Florida
More details to this question:
My daughter was sick with high fever and throwing up and complaining of neck pain. I took her to the ER they only looked in her throat and said she has strep. They gave her antibiotics through an iv and sent us home. They did not do a swab, he just looked. The next morning she was the same so I took her back. Another doctor did a spinal tap, it was meningitis. They sent us to a room and said we would see a doctor soon. 28 hours later after we continued to ask where a doctor was one came in to see us. Then we were transferred to Children’s Medical Center and that’s where we are now. Can we do anything about this?
11 ANSWERS
Ronald A. Steinberg
God forbid, I hope not. In other words, if the delay, in and of itself, causes your daughter to suffer significant physical or mental issues due to the prolonged high fever, etc., then you would have a malpractice case on her behalf. Realistically, all the money in the world would not make HER happy, if that was the case.
Answered on Dec 19th, 2012 at 12:14 AM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Pacific, MO
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Melvin G. Franke
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What are your damages? Unless there are permanent and significant damages the is probably no.
Answered on Nov 09th, 2012 at 1:52 PM
The question would be was the delay in getting your daughter to the Children's Hospital a cause of any further damage to her. In medical malpractice cases you have to prove what the doctors and other health care practitioners did actually caused some harm. While it is horrible that they missed the diagnosis, if the lapse of time between first visit and final diagnosis would have made no difference in outcome, as they will undoubtedly have experts testify, then it would be a very low chance of recovery. I hope your daughter makes a full recovery.
Answered on Nov 09th, 2012 at 5:12 AM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Charlotte, NC
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Paul Whitfield and Associates P.A.
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Your notes do not say that there was any damage caused by the delay. I had a malpractice case once where the child died in 6 hrs after being released under similar circumstances as yours. If your present doctors tell you that your child suffered significant damage as a result of the delayed diagnosis you probably have a case. it is a doctor call. So talk to your doctor and if he thinks you have a case get you a good malpractice lawyer.
Answered on Nov 09th, 2012 at 4:48 AM
Civil Litigation Attorney serving New York, NY
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Havens & Lichtenberg PLLC
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At this time, you do not have a case to take to a court because it is not clear whether the failure to correctly diagnose your daughter's condition and the failure to promptly begin treatment resulted in any damages. For your daughter's sake, I hope that she recovers completely and you don't get a cause to sue the hospital and its physicians. What you can do now is file complaints with the Department of Health. The forms and the instructions are at http://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/doctors/conduct/file_a_complaint.htm If later it turns out that your daughter was harmed and you have to go to court, documenting all the facts in the complaint now while they are fresh in your memory will help you in the court case.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 10:52 PM
Arbitration & Mediation Attorney serving Ann Arbor, MI
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Blaske and Blaske PLC
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Whether it makes sense to bring a case depends on lots of factors, including whether the delay in treatment caused your daughter any significant harm. Hopefully they can treat the meningitis successfully, in which case I don't think there's any case you should pursue, although it wouldn't hurt to file a complaint with the patient relations (or whatever the equivalent is) department and find out why - and ask them to be sure it doesn't happen again with other people - why there was such a long delay in getting treatment started.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 10:15 PM
Civil Litigation Attorney serving Aptos, CA
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Richard E. Damon, P.C.
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Possibly. If you can prove the delay in treatment worsened your child's condition seriously. It does sound like shoddy treatment.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 7:37 AM
Personal Injury — Plaintiff Attorney serving Taylor, MI
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Downriver Injury & Auto Law
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It is hard to say if the delay made a difference. This would require an expert review of the medical records.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 5:55 AM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Syracuse, NY
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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In order to prove a medical malpractice case, a claimant must prove a failure to conform to accepted practice, resulting in an injury. A bad result is not enough, and if it is a "judgment call" by the doctor, there is no malpractice, even if the doctor made the wrong call.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 4:53 AM
Thomas Edward Gates
Probably not.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 4:49 AM
Automobile Negligence Attorney serving Orlando, FL
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Kelaher Law Offices, P.A.
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Absolutely, but if your daughter makes a complete recovery, the damages wouldn't be worth the cost of bringing the lawsuit.
Answered on Nov 08th, 2012 at 4:46 AM