Medical Malpractice

[Jaime Miner]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
I miscarried in December, since then I've been going to a certain clinic for my medical needs. The first time I saw my new doctor, I asked for a pregnancy test, and they told me that I was pregnant without even testing my specimine, it was in the room right in front of me. The next time I visited, I asked for another one, they told me it was negative. And they were fairly rude. I knew I was PG at the time, but waited another week before I took 2 HPT's, both came up positive. I called and asked for a prenatal visit and they would not give me one, so, yesterday, I went in for a regular checkup and asked for another PG test so that they could confirm it. They mixed it up with another test and told me that I was not PG, and were very rude about showing the test to me. I asked them to do a blood test, because according to my calculations (we are trying to conceive), I am 6 weeks and 3 days along. Which is how far along I was when I miscarried. I wanted to be seen for the pregnancy asap because I am considered high risk. They refused to give me a blood test and told me to come back around June 1st, which would make me about 3 months along before I can get proper prenatal care. Anyway, I came home and took another HPT and once again, it came out positive. If I don't get the proper care, I'm afriad I'll end up losing this baby too, and this Doctor is the one the State of Tennessee appointed to me. Do I have grounds for a medical malpractice suit? I'm afraid they are endangering the life of my unborn child by not giving me proper medical attention.

 

[kathrynne]

Hate to tell you this ...

state: infertility

But, high-risk or not, the standard is to pretty much ignore the situation until/unless you've had your THIRD miscarriage. Yes, I agree it sucks.

This isn't a LEGAL opinion, but the advice of one who has BEEN THERE--for nearly six years. Nope, never miscarried. Never even conceived, thanks to a bit of malpractice courtesy of our first Reproductive Endocrinologist--he never bothered reading the final paragraph of my husband's first semen analysis and treated us as "undiagnosed female infertility" for several years while lauding my hubby as a super stud (high numbers, but swimmers who could never impregnate without IVF/ICSI).

All that aside, one of your best bets for saving your baby at this point is to Google "infertility miscarriage" and learn from a few excellent websites and support boards. There's one in particular I'd recommend that's a nonprofit which offered great support and info--the InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemintation, www.inciid.org (pronounced INSIDE).

With any luck at all, you'll have no problems and be showing off a gorgeous baby in a few months. Let's hope that's the case.

Maybe someone here knows a legal option or three for you, but my concern is for your baby and your peace of mind. Please remember that ONE miscarriage doesn't mean you will always m/c! Good luck!

 

[rmet4nzkx]

At this point you don't have anything because you have no proof that you are pregnant or that they gave the Wrong test or that you haven't had another miscarriage or false positive. Having had a miscarriage doesn't make you high risk between 20&40 % of pregnancies of women in child bearing years miscarry and if it happens in early pregnancy, there is nothing to do to stop it because it is usually because the pregnancy is not viable. If you have any unusal symptoms or bleeding go to the clinic or ER. Limit stress, put your feet up and listen to soothing music that will help to control cortisol.
Things to do:
1. Call the clinic and ask to speak to their director, explain about what you thought was the wrong test and that you have other positive tests and that they refused to give you bHCG.

If you used a HPT for early response it might read HCG as low as 15, where as the climic might have used one that measured @ 200, so it could take a week more for the other test to come out positive. You could have had a false positive caused by medications, antibodies and or contamination.

2. Call the state medicaid office and complain ask for assistance.
3. Get an appointment with Planned Parenthood and or one of the pregnancy counseling groups, they will do a test and write a letter confirming the results.

4. Go to a private OB.

 

[ellencee]

There is no negligence and no one is going to provide any prenatal care at this stage of pregnancy. The first appointment after confirmation of pregnancy is usually at the end or near the end of the third month.

A high risk pregnancy is a pregnancy with a viable fetus or a fetus very close to survivability; this poster's pregnancy is no where near that stage. It will be in June.

EC

 

[ablessin]

Do you think you're high risk because you've miscarried once, or is there something else factoring this? Many women miscarry once and go on to have several successful pregnancies.

If you're over 35, you should be considered high risk, or if you have chronic health problems, such as diabetes, kidney problems, etc.

Many providers, unfortunately, treat Medicaid/State funded patients with lesser respect than patients with traditional HMO plans. It is the same way at many grocery stores when people pay with food stamps.

There are many people out there - and I am NOT saying that you are one of them - who take advantage to the Medicaid/State programs, so I think recipients are often looked down upon.

In New York, there are some facilites that supposedly not supposed to obtain patient insurance information until the visit is completed, so that it is not known before hand what insurance- if any - the patient has so that their quality of care is not compromised. I am not sure how legit this is, a friend of mine who works at a different hospital was telling me about this upcoming policy a few months ago. I have no idea what happened with it, or how far it went. But that is besides the point.

Good luck, I hope this pregnany is a success for you!

 

[purple2]

In New York, there are some facilites that supposedly not supposed to obtain patient insurance information until the visit is completed, so that it is not known before hand what insurance- if any - the patient has so that their quality of care is not compromised. I am not sure how legit this is, a friend of mine who works at a different hospital was telling me about this upcoming policy a few months ago. I have no idea what happened with it, or how far it went.

Some facilities may have internal policies requiring collection of insurance information after the service has been rendered, but it is not a law. In fact, it is a risky policy IMO. For example, it would put the facility at risk of writing off all services considered not medically necessary to a Medicare beneficiary because no ABN was administered. Routinely giving Medicare beneficiaries free services=bad idea. Just one example.

NY Medicaid does not require Medicaid approved providers to accept any particular number of Medicaid patients, either. Refusing to accept a Medicaid beneficiary (of course, excluding EDs) is not considered discrimnatory. Therefore, there is little purpose in instituting the policy you described, unless there's something I'm missing.

 

[ablessin]

Apparently, patients - Medicaid recipients - were complaining that they were receiving sub-standard care, OR that they were being treated differently because they had Medicaid-.
I can say, from personal experience, when I was in my early 20's - -I worked, but I also received food stamps - and I remember being at the grocery store and the cashier was super nice - until checkout...... when I got my food stamps out, her attitude toward me was very cold..... I actually complained to the manager - at the time, I was also a grocery store cashier and I never, ever treated anyone the way she treated me.

So, I assume Medicaid patients can be treated the same nasty way.
It could be an internal policy - and I know what you mean about the MCR ABN's - - - so I have no idea how far the policy went.

It was not at the hospital where I work, because we'd never consider that - - man, once that patient has recieved care, they are OUT the door!!! They'd never stick around to provide insurance information after the visit! We're lucky to get it at time of visit! I swear

 

[rasbury]

On public assistance and having children

Was reading this post and found it quite interesting because my daughter and her husband had a difficult time conceiving.
I am a bit confused though. Is the initial poster saying she is on medicaid and trying to have a baby? If so, why? It's not the taxpayers responsibility to pay for the upbringing of other's children, period.
Public assistance was started for a reason, to assist those having unexpected and/or temporary problems, not so couples could plan families on the taxpayer's dime. When you are financially secure to pay for insurance for medical coverage to have children, have as many as you like. Until then, don't force others to foot your bill.
I know this will offend some, but I am offended by people who think my tax money should raise their children.

 

[kathrynne]

It's more common than you think, rasbury

When I dared mention the very same concerns on infertility forums I was chastised rather harshly for two reasons. The first was that I could possibly question ANYONE'S RIGHT to have as many children as they desired, no matter their circumstances, and the second for being stupid enough to wait until I met the right man AND was married to begin my attempts to reproduce (I was 33 when I met my husband, and we would have had PLENTY of time within my biological clock if that first VERY EXPENSIVE doctor had bothered to read and treat accordingly!). Apparently in the eyes of many I should've just never used precautions.

I'd love to agree that EVERYONE has the right to all the kids they desire. We'd have been ecstatic with one HUMAN child, though I can wholeheartedly recommend a parrot for any couple dealing with IF. At least we have somebody who says "I love you!" to us and kisses us g'bye when we leave.

If I ever get back to a reasonably near-normal activity level after two cspine surgeries and a whole slew of pain-management procedures, we hope to adopt older kids out of foster care. But for now this little green guy must suffice--and carrying his 4-year-old human equivalent on my shoulder would probably infuriate my neurosurgeons!

Hope your daughter and her husband had better luck, Rasbury. I wouldn't wish those struggles on anyone.

 

[rasbury]

I do know how common the abuse of the system is. I've seen it firsthand for years. I know of one woman who is closer to 40 than to 30 who keeps having children, getting WIC, foodstamps, her children are on the free lunch program at school, they get to "shop with a cop" at Christmastime (although the grandparents buy them tons of expensive gifts), etc, etc. And to top it all off, while she's adamant that this is her and her husband's "right" to have all these kids, every year when they get their absolutely huge earned income credit tax return check (because they have so many children they can't afford), they go on a big family vacation to Disneyland! Ludicrous.

I had one child because she was all I could afford. I never even considered having a second child because I knew I'd have to go on public assistance to raise it. I saved money to put the one child I had thru college. I thought that was the way it was supposed to work.

Kathrynne, I do pray God will bless you with a beautiful child. It took my daughter two years and I now have an almost 2 yr old grandson. My daughter, who is the college grad I hoped for, says he's all she'll ever be able to afford and doesn't plan to have another.

 

[kathrynne]

Just being off that rollercoaster has been a huge life improvement for us, Rasbury! We incurred so much debt, though, trying to make every reasonable effort that unless we hit a lottery HARD we'll be paying it off until the day we retire.

As hard as IF is under most circumstances, it's even worse when you're stuck on an HMO that doesn't "get it." We had a whopping $7,500 available in insurance coverage, and I earned every penny of it! While some HMOs authorize a month's treatment in one phone call, mine insisted we get EVERY PROCEDURE authorized separately. Each authorization took about a dozen phone calls and, of course, they made errors on at least 1/5 of the paperwork. I took great offense when they blew my doc's ID number once and authorized an IUI with a proctologist! Not that it would have been any less successful than with the correct doc, but still ....

Even with all the red tape, foster-adoption HAS to be easier!

 

[ablessin]

agree

I agree 100% with rasbury - - -But I don't think it's a right to have kids, just like it is NOT a RIGHT to DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!! It is a privelege, and needs to be earned!!!!!!
I probably will get loads of crap replies for saying that BUT - - - LOOK at all the women who have kids, then don't take care of them, abuse them, and on and on I could go! It makes me SICK.

I agree - - -One should not have children until THEY can afford to pay all related expenses. I am sorry if IF has caused whopping medical bills, however - that is NOT for everyone else to pay for !!!!!!!!!! Also, it is not your HMO's responsibilty to provide you with a child....... I know people who save their own cash to pay for IVF or whatever because their insurance won't.

And I also know people who have kid after kid to stay on food stamps, etc. You're right Ras, it is "assistance" - MEANT to help people in a time of need, Yet - - somehow it has become A WAY OF LIFE for many.

It pains me - and now I am pissed off and my blood is boiling

Just like that lady who took fertility pills and had what 6 or 7 kids all at once, and yeah at first she got all kinds of help, she got a van donated to her, Pampers dontated diapers to her, etc...... Did you freaking hear her balking when the support ended???? Man, I almost went thru the roof!!! How DARE she --- it is NO ONE fault that her husband works two jobs to pay for a large family, and she has no right to expect Pampers - etc.... to keep donations coming!!!! The rest of us pay for that in the long run!!!!

I have one child because one is all I can afford, too!

 

[kathrynne]

Did I ASK anyone to take on our financial responsibilities? I think not. Did I say the HMO owed me a child? Nope. Not at all.

What I DID say was that the HMO's employees were inept, as were its methods. I think its customers deserve better, and it's my right to think so--and since many people who've been stuck on bad HMOs agree, I don't see where your problem is with my statement, ablessin.

As a matter of fact we DID spend our own money for over 90% of our treatment, which is WHY we're so far in debt. Many would have declared bankruptcy and gotten that debt written off, but for US that was never an option. Just how far do you think $7500 in coverage goes, ablessin? Consider, please, that for ONE CYCLE I used more than $4500 in injectible meds--plus blood draws and dildocam every other day for three weeks and the IUI itself, which was a few hundred bucks more. Then consider that we were in active treatment for YEARS--and had been misdiagnosed in the first place so NONE of those efforts ever had a chance! While I don't regret our having tried so hard and spent so much, I do wish we'd been properly diagnosed in the first place so the time and cash could have been spent doing some actual good.

I also didn't say I feel having children is a right. I said I'd LIKE to see it as such, but that it's NOT a right. Nor is health insurance that covers infertility, though it IS mandated in several states--up to a certain point--for employers that meet specific criteria. But if you HAVE insurance that covers a condition, it should do so without a constant FIGHT for every penny of paid coverage. If it's in the policy, it should be COVERED.

I actually did find a job with far better IF coverage as we neared the end of our battle. We knew IVF/ICSI (our only hope of conception) would run us between $15k and $20k per attempt and that we had less than 18% odds of success per attempt. My new insurance would cover up to 4 attempts, but we never used it. We knew how devastating failed attempts would be and had lost our emotional strength to endure any more of them after more than 5 years trying.

You think the quads and quints and other high-order multiple births bother YOU, ablessin? They're one of the main reasons IFers get little sympathy and support during the rollercoaster ride of treatment. Someone hears you have a Clomid prescription and the first thing out of their mouths is, "you'll have a LITTER." Not with proper medical supervision. Not with common sense.

Often when you hear of these HOM births, what you DON'T hear is that they used leftover or black market fertility meds because they ran out of money for treatment and, out of desperation, decided it was worth taking a chance. Or that they were totally against selective reduction in the instance of a HOM pregnancy and shouldn't have accepted the method of AR they were using (if you have too many mature follicles in an IUI cycle, these people should be moved to IVF, with only a couple that have fertilized transferred and the rest frozen for future use). Or in a certain otherwise highly publicized case where the doctor scrapped the cycle when the couple refused IVF but did not give an injection that would have made conception impossible--and against his orders they went at it like rabbits.

They all give IFers a bad name, when most of us don't deserve it at all.

As for parents who don't take care of their kids? A woman in Colorado Springs murdered her two sons and committed suicide this past weekend. I'd have raised her sons in a hot second, if given half a chance. It should be fairly obvious that we who want kids badly enough to go into massive debt SOB every time we hear of parents who don't appreciate what they have.

Nope, I've never felt ANYONE had a RIGHT to have children, and I've been pretty vocal about it--as well as (as I stated in the other post) chastised pretty harshly for feeling that way.

 

[rasbury]

Kathrynne, please understand that my initial post was directed toward the first poster on this thread, who seems to be, if I'm understanding correctly, a young lady with Medicaid coverage who seems upset with the doctor appointed to her by the state. She seems oblivious to the fact that the taxpayers are paying for her care while she's trying to conceive, and she obviously intends the taxpayers to pay for her pregnancy, etc., while looking for a reason to sue the state-funded clinic she's sent to.

I am very sympathic with your problem. It took my daughter only two years to conceive, but I well remember those sad, tearful phone calls every month, until I finally got the tearful, happy phone call.

I do hope God blesses you with a child one day. I just wanted to clarify that my post was not directed toward you in any way.

 

[kathrynne]

Thanks, Rasbury! None of my soapbox rant was directed at you, either, but at ablessin, who apparently misconstrued some of what I'd said.

Nope, it's pretty clear you and I aren't arguing. Wanna fight about it?