Recently, my father was complaining about abdominal pain he went to the hospital and was sent home with the diagnosis that he had liver inflammation due to alcohol, and he should make an appointment with his doctor. He was sent home with some prescriptions. Again the next day he was complaining of the pain and decided to go back to the hospital it turnes out the previous diagnosis was wrong and his appendix burst open and was spreading toxic into him, he was immediately rushed into surgery. They told him that had he not shown up he could have died. Thankfully, he is doing good and recovering at the moment.
So my question is can i file a suit against the hospital?
2006-10-24 19:31:38 · 12 answers · asked by jj 1 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
Possibly. It would take a medical malpractice attorney to look over all the medical records to give you a good answer.
It is a good idea for him to request copies of the medical records from both visits himself (they are legally required to give him them). Then make an appointment with an attorney and take in the records.
2006-10-24 19:35:23 · answer #1 · answered by spiritualjourneyseeker 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can file suit against anyone. Its as simple as that. The question now is are you ready for what your getting into? Not only will the hospital have substantial paperwork to back them up, they will also have attorneys to support them. If you can get a lawyer that has won suits against the medical field before you might have a chance. That's a huge if on even getting to speak with that type of attorney.
Did your father take the hospitals recommendation of making the appointment with his Primary care doctor? If he didn't take the advice that is a considerable shift in their favor.
I know everyone out there thinks that anyone in the medical field should be able to diagnose and fix whatever ales them but it's just not conceivable. They are not God. They are honestly doing the best they can in the amount of time given. Take for example if more people were educated on how to take care of a simple fever of a child and not bring him/her to the ER then the doctors would have more time to prepare and diagnose those who are in dire need of actual medical help.
The ER is there for Emergencies, hence ER.
Also they are so used to seeing the abuse of alcohol and drugs that they sometimes make the wrong diagnosis. Most ERs would swear that my little brother is an addict. If a family member isn't available when he goes into the hospital to offer education on his past, the hospital discharges him without any help. He then ends up vomiting for several days until he is so dehydrated that he can barely stand. He was in the childrens hospital for over 4 months when he was only 15 with a stomach disorder that the doctors to this day can still not completly diagnose. He is now almost 21 and already had his appendix removed and an extensive exploratory surgery that had no end results.
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I'm not saying that the condition of your father wasn't critical, just that the doctors and nurses are trying their best to make so many people better at one time that at some times there are those who may be looked over when in reality they are in serious need of medical attention.
My advice is that when anyone goes to an ER, hospital, or doctor to not stop until they get the answer they want. It is your right as a patient. You don't have to take the first diagnosis that they spill out at you. Don't settle for anything that you don't see as being right.
Hopefully you don't live in Florida. They are a no fault state, Good luck on anything medically going wrong there. I guess their malpractice insurance is cheep.
2006-10-24 19:59:55 · answer #2 · answered by ~brigit~ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
oh yes you can..but will this help in any way at all? i mean lawsuites can take a lot of your time and a lot of other people's time. Why not talk to whoever is incharge of the hospital first...air out whatever you have in mind. If your main reason for the lawsuit suit is to be compensated financially for what happened or for what could have happened to your dad, then go file one...but if your main reason is to correct the mistake done in the previous diagnosis, file a complaint with the hospital first, the complaint should include the diagnosing doctor, when the diagnosis was made, what were the chief complaints of your father upon admission and all other important data..then take it from there, the hospital administrators will and should act upon your complaint...if they don't, then i guess this is when lawsuit can do you good..and perhaps some other will benefit from it too.
GOODLUCK!!!
2006-10-24 20:27:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends.
First of all, they did not CAUSE his appendix to burst, which is a key element in many law suits.
However, if they were negligent in how they treated him, then you may have a cause for action. It depends upon things such as what tests did they run when he went in the first night? Did they do an abdominal x-ray or CAT scan?
It also depends upon what your father told them. Many patients make it difficult to correctly diagnose a problem initially by the things they do or do not say. You need to get ahold of the medical record and have a Legal Nurse Consultant look at it. They can tell you for sure if there was negligence on the part of the hospital.
In order to file a negligence or malpractice suit you must have 4 elements: Duty, Breach of Duty, Causation, and Damages
2006-10-24 19:52:07 · answer #4 · answered by bambi 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
u can file i suit against the hospital if u have the previous diagnosis & the prescription of the concerned doctor. infact u should sue them. so that they will not do this mistake again & play with others lives. u should file a criminal case against them. u should publish in the papers also naming the hospital so that those who go there will be careful .it is a social obligation for u. u will be doing a great service to the society. unless we wake up & raose our voices agaist these things the things will be moving in the same way which is dangerous to the society.
2006-10-24 19:38:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Antibiotics and other meds can mask appendicitis....so it depends on the individual. Myself, I would not sue if he is ok now but that is just me. Perhaps appendicitis did not show up in the blood work at that time. Also some people have what is called chronic appendicitis. Doesn't show up in blood work but there are small tears in appendix and local fat absorbs the toxin; could happen many times before there is a full blown appendicitis and rupture.
2006-10-24 23:31:30 · answer #6 · answered by rachel_waves 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can file a law suit but it takes forever to get results. You can find lawyers that take some of the money you get if you win your case. Yet the hospital more than likely will never let you back again.
2006-10-24 20:20:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you probably can however since you father is fine and suffered no permanant or long term ill effects, you may not get much money.
2006-10-24 19:41:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You cannot file a lawsuit because you are not the injured party. Your dad would have to file the lawsuit.
2006-10-24 19:38:46 · answer #9 · answered by happydawg 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well if he is ok then is it ethical that you sue them? im sure it caused your dad alot of pain but can there just be overlookings in a hospital?
2006-10-24 19:33:29 · answer #10 · answered by Elizabeth M 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋