Does She Have A Case?

[evamarie12345]

MRSA has spread to lungs

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Arizona
These are incidences that have happened to my mom. (My mom has COPD, suffers from migraines and battles with MRSA which has spread to her lungs.)
--She was "TUBED" at the county hospital then tranferred to another hospital. At the time, the county hospital didn't have the staff or the facilities to care for a "TUBED" patient. The doctor who did the procedure even told me "we are not suppose to perform the procedure". My mom contracted MRSA.
--On a different date, she returned to county to have a pic inserted so the proper IV antibiotics could be administered for the MRSA. County had to have someone come in to do the procedure because they don't staff a pic nurse. When she returned on the scheduled date to have the pic removed, she was sent home after they refused to remove it saying that they never put it in.
--On a different date she returned to county hospital with chest pains. They were going to admit her so they put in an IV. A cat scan was to be performed, but failed when they shot the dye in her and it all came out the IV. When the doctor came around about an hour later he told her the tests came back negative (they were never done) and she was released.
--On a different date, she was released to a rehabilitation facility so they could administer the IV antibiotics for the MRSA. After about 10 days on the antibiotics they failed to get enough mucus from my mom for the culture test to see if the MRSA was gone. The doctor ordered something to help produce the mucus. The next day my mom recieved papers from the director of the facility that she was to be released the next day. So, miraclously, later that afternoon, her doctor came in and told her the MRSA was gone, without the culture test.
This is just a few of the screw ups, there are more.
My mom continues to suffer everyday. Would she have any kind of a case for an attorney.

Thank You
Eva

 

[ellencee]

evamarie12345
It would be very difficult to "give" a patient MRSA by intubating the patient because the person doing the intubating wears gloves donned at the time of the intubation and removed immediately thereafter.

MRSA is commonly found in the nares (nose) and is present in the nares of a large percentage of the general population. All it takes for MRSA organisms to be come a MRSA infection is the opportunity, preferably an opportunity in a person whose health is compromised as was (is) your mother's health.

COPD and the treatment of COPD usually render the patient somewhat immunosuppressed and that prevents the patient from fighting off infections that non-immunosuppressed patients could fight off.

Intubating your mother saved her life. The MRSA already present in her body colonized into an infection as a direct result of her illness, her predisposition to superinfections, and the immediate and urgent need to intubate her.

There is no negligence or damage (much less the required significant damage) in any action by any healthcare provider as described in your post.

EC

 

[JusticeSeeker1]

To answer your question: Maybe. She might have a case for an attorney. Your best bet is to find a reputable attorney in your area who has experience with MRSA based litigation or Hospital negligence. Not to undermine Doctor EC but, if the facts show that the hospital has negligently cared for your mother and others in a similar fashion. You may have a case. However, it needs to be looked at more closely.

 

[ellencee]

JusticeSeeker1
You are no more an attorney than I am the Queen of England. Have you never noticed that attorneys are proficient in English grammar?
EC

 

[panzertanker]

evamarie12345
It would be very difficult to "give" a patient MRSA by intubating the patient because the person doing the intubating wears gloves donned at the time of the intubation and removed immediately thereafter.

MRSA is commonly found in the nares (nose) and is present in the nares of a large percentage of the general population. All it takes for MRSA organisms to be come a MRSA infection is the opportunity, preferably an opportunity in a person whose health is compromised as was (is) your mother's health.

COPD and the treatment of COPD usually render the patient somewhat immunosuppressed and that prevents the patient from fighting off infections that non-immunosuppressed patients could fight off.

Intubating your mother saved her life. The MRSA already present in her body colonized into an infection as a direct result of her illness, her predisposition to superinfections, and the immediate and urgent need to intubate her.

There is no negligence or damage (much less the required significant damage) in any action by any healthcare provider as described in your post.

EC

OP, re-read what ellen has written, it is correct.

 

[JusticeSeeker1]

EC
I am an attorney. Nice to meet you Queen. I stand by my original post, faulty grammar included. (it was a fleeting moment of weakness I suppose )Whether or not the OP has a case involves much more than a cursory view of the facts.

 

[panzertanker]

EC
I am an attorney. Nice to meet you Queen. I stand by my original post, faulty grammar included. (it was a fleeting moment of weakness I suppose )Whether or not the OP has a case involves much more than a cursory view of the facts.

Welcome justice.

As is always true with a free advice site, the advice can only be given on what is posted. In the OP's case, ellen is correct. However, every single OP should try to get a free consultation with a local attorney to present their findings so that a more informed decision can be made. With that said, ellen stated:

There is no negligence or damage (much less the required significant damage) in any action by any healthcare provider as described in your post.

I agree with that 100%.
P.S. call her "Your Highness". It is founded upon correct decorum.

 

[JusticeSeeker1]

Thanks for the welcome Panzer. Highness... You are right about the post as well. No negligence apparent.

 

[ongoingvoni]

? of medical test ordered

If several medical test were ordered and never done, and you could prove they were never done but your mother's insurance paid for them anyway, the insurance company can sue and recover those costs. If medicare was billed for those test they could offer up a medicare review of the doctor and the health care facility your mother was in and recover costs. but I don't know if a claim for your mother was winnable. I have not seen this from a patients point of view but have seen it in a nursing facility.

voni

 

[ellencee]

P.S. call her "Your Highness". It is founded upon correct decorum.

Off with your head! Address me as "Her Majesty".
EC

 

[panzertanker]

If several medical test were ordered and never done, and you could prove they were never done but your mother's insurance paid for them anyway, the insurance company can sue and recover those costs. If medicare was billed for those test they could offer up a medicare review of the doctor and the health care facility your mother was in and recover costs. but I don't know if a claim for your mother was winnable. I have not seen this from a patients point of view but have seen it in a nursing facility.

voni

Nice to look to make sure there was no incorrect billing, but OP is asking if they have a case for malpractice for intubation and subsequent MRSA infection........

 

[panzertanker]

Off with your head! Address me as "Her Majesty".
EC

"Let them eat cake!!!!!"

I ain't afraid 'o you!

 

[ellencee]

(panzertanker) I ain't afraid 'o you!

I know! That's why I like you!

evamarie12345
Just because the dye (contrast) was not used does not mean the CT scan was not done without contrast and the lack of contrast does not mean the results were incorrectly interpreted as "negative". Just because the culture and sensitivity was not ready by the time of discharge does not mean the lab had not verified the absence of staph organisms in the sputum and just because the sputum had no MRSA present does not mean that MRSA was not present in the body elsewhere or present in an active infection status somewhere else in the body or that MRSA could not recur and become the serious infection it apparently did. The hospital did not have anyone to insert a PICC line and someone came in and inserted the PICC line; obviously the facility could not remove it.

There is no obvious malpractice or negligence in your described scenario. Your mother can consult with a medmal attorney, usually for no initial consultation fee; or, your mother can appoint you as her representative and you can consult with a medmal attorney.

Remember, medical malpractice requires significant damages that would not otherwise have occurred and in your mother's situation that will most easy to defend against and most difficult to prove.

EC

 

[evamarie12345]

the sputum test was unsuccessful

the sputem test was unsuccessful because my mom couldn't produce enough, so they never ran the test. On one day the doctor says that the culture test is the only way to be sure the mrsa is gone. Then the next day(after recieving word that medicare wouldn't pay any longer} he says that the only way to be sure if the mrsa was gone is through x-rays (not performed by them} performed by her primary care doctor in 2 weeks. The whole reason she was sent to the facility was to rid her of the mrsa

 

[ellencee]

evamarie12345
The answer to your question remains unchanged. More likely than not, your mother has no valid claim of malpractice but please consult with a medmal attorney in your area or 5,000 medical malpractice attorneys in your area, which ever makes you happy.

If your mother has a billing dispute, take it up with the hospital's billing department.

If you want to make sure Medicare and Medicaid patients are allowed to stay in the hospital longer, then become politically active and lobby for changes.

EC