Does this patient have a case?

• pmoney25

  

  First I will state this person is not 100% healthy but can live day to day and prior to this was able to walk around and pretty much get by on normal day to day activity.
  
  This person starts to have breathing problems, gets taken to the hospital. While in Hospital they give this person some Meds. They did not know this person was allergic to the meds which was understandable. The patient has a violent allergic reaction and stops breathing, nearly dies. They revive patient and put him in ICU. The next day, they give him the same medicine from the day before that nearly caused him to die. Apparently no one put it in the system that he was allergic. They give him medicine, he starts having seizures and falls out of the bed, stops breathing and has to be revived again. The fall out of bed caused serious damage to his back/spine.
  
  After this incident, the patient has been confined to a wheelchair because he cannot walk because of what happened to his back when he fell out of bed. Apparently there has been permanent damage.
  
  The family has contacted a lawyer but the lawyer is taking forever to get this going.
  
  Do you think this guy has a legit suit or will the hospital get off?
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  I'd sue for $12
• DeyDurkie5

  

  ZWICK 4 PREZ wrote: I'd sue for $12

  booooooo
• september63

  

  Well they always ask me if im allergic to any meds. If they documented that patient was asked. Prolly no lawsuit. Although hospitals like to settle such stuff just to keep it out of the news.
• Sykotyk

  

  Definite case. Probably wouldn't win, but would get a settlement out of it, easily.
  
  
  Sykotyk
• sonofsam

  

  Call Edgar Snyder and Associates... They are on the web. This person has a BIG TIME case against the facility that treated him/her. either that or call 1-800-medmal1. There are lawyers all over this country that would salivate at a case like this. The right atty. will get all medical bills paid for, all medical bills as a direct result of the injury/illness in future visits to a hospital, and likely a nice lump sum with a few zeroes on it.
• pinstriper

  Why didn't he tell them he was allergic to the Meds? Unless it was noted in his chart and his chart traveled with him (which it probably did), then they'd have no clue in ICU that he was allergic...again, he should have mentioned it. If I'm allergic to an antibiotic or whatevr - the first thing I'm going to do when I get to a medical facility is tell them that I'm allergic to that med....and emphasize it strongly whenver I get the chance. Sure, they may have messed up also, but this patient should have taken more of a personal reponsibility for his/her own life.
  As far as the lawsuit, I'm sure he'll get a settlement, and everyone elses rates will go up as a result. Hospitals don't pay out, it gets passed to insurance companies, and they don't pay - the insured do. The bills always get passed down to the people, that's how it works.
• bcubed

  

  I'd say only if it was realized and or charted what medicine was given and that he truly had an allergic reaction. It is very likely they may have given him a number of meds and not known which or thought it was a different med that gave him the reaction.
• pmoney25

  

  pinstriper wrote: Why didn't he tell them he was allergic to the Meds? Unless it was noted in his chart and his chart traveled with him (which it probably did), then they'd have no clue in ICU that he was allergic...again, he should have mentioned it. If I'm allergic to an antibiotic or whatevr - the first thing I'm going to do when I get to a medical facility is tell them that I'm allergic to that med....and emphasize it strongly whenver I get the chance. Sure, they may have messed up also, but this patient should have taken more of a personal reponsibility for his/her own life.
  As far as the lawsuit, I'm sure he'll get a settlement, and everyone elses rates will go up as a result. Hospitals don't pay out, it gets passed to insurance companies, and they don't pay - the insured do. The bills always get passed down to the people, that's how it works.

  Prior to the hospital visit, he did not know he was allergic to this medicine. After the first incident, no one at the hospital notated that he had an allergic reaction. A mistake that one of the Nurses at the Hospital admitted too. The second time he was given the medicine he was not in a normal state of mind due to the recovery from the day before.
  
  Believe me, I know way too many people will be sue happy for anything but in this circumstance, I feel the Hospital definitely screwed up and even Doctors/Nurses/Hospitals need to be held accountable sometimes.
• pinstriper

  pmoney25 wrote:

  pinstriper wrote: Why didn't he tell them he was allergic to the Meds? Unless it was noted in his chart and his chart traveled with him (which it probably did), then they'd have no clue in ICU that he was allergic...again, he should have mentioned it. If I'm allergic to an antibiotic or whatevr - the first thing I'm going to do when I get to a medical facility is tell them that I'm allergic to that med....and emphasize it strongly whenver I get the chance. Sure, they may have messed up also, but this patient should have taken more of a personal reponsibility for his/her own life.
  As far as the lawsuit, I'm sure he'll get a settlement, and everyone elses rates will go up as a result. Hospitals don't pay out, it gets passed to insurance companies, and they don't pay - the insured do. The bills always get passed down to the people, that's how it works.

  Prior to the hospital visit, he did not know he was allergic to this medicine. After the first incident, no one at the hospital notated that he had an allergic reaction. A mistake that one of the Nurses at the Hospital admitted too. The second time he was given the medicine he was not in a normal state of mind due to the recovery from the day before.
  
  Believe me, I know way too many people will be sue happy for anything but in this circumstance, I feel the Hospital definitely screwed up and even Doctors/Nurses/Hospitals need to be held accountable sometimes.

  If the nurse admitted her mistake for not charting the reaction and so forth, then of course he has a case. You didn't mention that part in your original question
  I agree, too many people are "sue happy", however if there is legitimate reason, then they need to be accountable - just like anything else in life.
• Little Danny

  

  The patient has the burden to prove the medical providers deviated from the accepted standard of care. That is, did they act as a prudent medical provider under the same circumstances. This means not the best care- did they act as a reasonable medical provider would under the same circumstances.
  
  Suing a doctor, hospital or nurse is not like like a workers comp claim or your standard whiplash claim. It is very difficult to win a medical malpractice claim. National studies show they win 80% of the time. Jurors tend to give their medical providers the benefit of the doubt unless the individual is a complete jerk.
  
  You will need a good lawyer if your friend intends to go forward. There is a small community of lawyers who specialize in these types of cases. A lot of them don't do anything but medical malpractice cases. My advise is not to use someone you see on TV or on the back of the phonebook. No offense to them but the majority of them have never been in a court room. You can call the local bar association for some references. Good luck
• bcubed

  

  It may have been that when he was first treated and had the reaction they may not have recognized it as a reaction! Reactions are all different and are not easily recognized especially major ones. This may have been the case with this patient but only later when the second attack happened it may have become more evident what was happening. This nurse may have only said that after the fact when all was found out that it was a mistake when she may have never even been a part of the patient's care and is by far in no way able to diagnose a reaction post elapsed time. Having said that, if it was noted in the chart that the original issue was a reaction and to what meds we're given but an allergy alert was never placed on the patients chart then by all means you have a case. I do agree though with Little Danny, it sounds like it will be very hard to prove!
• DenisonBigRedLax

  like many others said, i believe the patient has a case, but it will be tough to win
• CinciX12

  

  Has a case and its easy to get a settlement. If it went to court it would actually be difficult, but I think ultimately the patient would win. A few people will get fired though thats for sure.
• DenisonBigRedLax

  the medical field is one where humans cant be humans..they CANNOT make mistakes...and thats what makes most doctors, doctors
  
  in most cases, one mistake, and someone is dead (or in a wheelchair), and you are unemployed
• THE4RINGZ

  

  DenisonBigRedLax wrote: the medical field is one where humans cant be humans..they CANNOT make mistakes...and thats what makes most doctors, doctors
  
  in most cases, one mistake, and someone is dead (or in a wheelchair), and you are unemployed

  This coming from a future doctor who is suposed to be studying and getting ready for his spring break lacrosse trip?
• HitsRus

  

  Drs./hospitals are sued for adverse results...even if they are not 'at fault'. From the information given, certainly there is grounds for further inquiry towards a lawsuit.. Most likely, a settlement is in order at least.
• ricola

  

  from a medical person...not enough information here to know if the case has merit or not. There certainly will be a lawyer out there somewhere that will take the case, subpeona the records...THEN you'll know if there is a case
• friendfromlowry

  pmoney25 wrote:Apparently no one put it in the system that he was allergic.

  I think that's your best bet right there.
• Little Danny

  

  ricola wrote: from a medical person...not enough information here to know if the case has merit or not. There certainly will be a lawyer out there somewhere that will take the case, subpeona the records...THEN you'll know if there is a case

  As my mama always used to say, there are two sides to every story. There is certainly much more information out there to consider before knowing for certain whether this case is a slam dunk. Was it even known the patient had an anaphylactic reaction on the first night? Did the patient even have an anaphylactic reaction? Was the same medications used on both evenings or was it an alternative drug? Was the patient's outcome and damages proximately caused by the alleged negligence? Is there another explanation for the patient's current condition such as underlying health issues or condition. For instance, is the patient now wheelchair bound due to degenerative spinal changes?
  
  This will not be a cheap endevour on the part of your friend. Your friend's attorney will need to retain experts in emergency medicine, toxicology/pharmacology, nursing, neurology and damage experts such as a life care planner and an economist. It will like cost $25K-50K to try a case like this. If there is a settlement, the costs and the lawyers contingency fee will come out of it. If this is an Ohio case, there are statutory caps on non economic damages. The caps are complicated but basically if this is considered a catastrophic loss then the non-economic caps are the greater of $350,000 or thee times the economic loss up to $500,000 per plaintiff or $1M per occurrence (if there is a spouse/child with loss of support /companionship claims). If there is no settlement and a defense verdict, your friend would owe the costs back to his lawyer.