Can i get in trouble for taking my son AMA out of a hospital to a different hospital?

Question

I had my son in an ER in michigan for severe vomiting and possible dehydration. They left us in the waiting room for an hour and a half with my son lethargic and only waking to vomit, then dozing back off. When i finally got upset enough and yelled at the nurses, they took him into the trauma room, where we waited another 20 minutes before being seen by a Dr, who only performed a strep test and left the room. Another 15 minutes went by with no one checking on him, until he vomited again all over himself and the sheets. I asked the nurse for a new sheet for his bed and she said they were too busy and gave me a pad to put down on top of the vomit and left. I was very angry and got my son dressed and went to leave...The Dr said i had to sign him out AMA and that he would report me via a 3200 to child protective services...My son is now fine, not sick anymore...but can CPS do anything for me taking him out of there when they werent doing anything anyway?

Ok to the person who said it wasnt an emergency...i called his pediatricians office because he couldnt even hold down a sip of water for more than 5 minutes before he vomited, they said take him to the ER because he will need IV fluids having gone more than 8 hours with no fluid intake.

Answer 1

I would have to told them to take that AMA paper and shove it up their a**. I would file a complaint and then when CPS gets involved you can show them that they didn't not take care of your son at all that is why you left.

Answer 2

CPS can cause you a world of grief. Your son was apparently sick enough that you took him to the ER. When you didn't like the way you were being treated, you decided to go to another hospital. An emergency room is usually pretty busy, and they have to treat patients based on how serious their wounds or illness is, not on how loud or mad the kid's mother gets. I'll bet that they checked your son and did a quick but thorough exam, and only mentioned the strep test to you - not that they checked his vital signs, his appearance, his responsiveness, and 4-5 more things that you and I don't know the first thing about. They probably didn't have time to educate you on all of this - they had other, more severe cases to deal with.

When you decided to leave, you were doing so because YOU were inconvenienced, not that your son wasn't being saved from death's door right there in front of you. If he was in immediate danger of dying, they would have been treating him very, very fast.

Did it occur to you that what you were doing wasn't in the best interest of your son? If you were going to take him to another ER, how much longer would it delay his treatment? By the time you drive there, get parked, find the entrance, go through triage (again), and probably harass the staff at that ER too, you could have had him treated at the first one, and been home.

Or you could have gone to a doc-in-the-box (aka ready care) somewhere, spent a little money, and had him treated even faster. Yeah, it's not cheap that way, but guess what - when you get the bill from the ER, I bet it will be about triple what it would have been for the ready care.

Answer 3

Like one other person said if you took him to another hosp there is nothing really they can do. You were unsatisfied with their service. I mean come on, you didnt ask them for something out of the ordinary. If they could get you a pad to put over the vomit they could have given you the sheet even if you changed it yourself would have been ok. If in fact you did take him to another hosp it looks bad on the first hosp because there had to be some reason you went to the other hosp especially if you were in the room already and not just in the waiting room. Be happy the wait was that short. Here the usual wait is about 4 - 6 hours. That just to get into a room.

Answer 4

How do you know what their plan was for him? When you think about people coming in with heart attacks, strokes and severe auto accidents, your son's case was not an emergency. They looked at him and determined that he did not need to be treated stat. That means you need to wait while sicker patients are attended to. If your son was seizing, if he was involved in a severe accident, would you think it ok that they take care of a child who was simply vomiting first?
If your son's doctor told you to take him to emergency, then you decided he didn't need to be there, I can understand why CPS might have a case against you. If you're going to take your son to an ER for something, you need to be patient; at least he was in a controlled environment should his condition get worse.

Answer 5

If you actually took the child to another hospital and can verify this, then likely nothing will occur. Especially if your regular doctor has no concerns and you have no other "issues". But if not, yes CPS can validate you for medical neglect if the hospital you left goes on record indicating that they felt that your child needed immediate medical attention and you failed to stick around to receive it. There really are alot of other factors that could impact this such as your child's medical background and their age. If more than 10 days have passed and CPS has not come knocking on your door, you are likely fine.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

As long as you can prove the time you were first seen until you signed the AMA, I think not. I can't believe you weren't seen immediately with all that vomiting and the part where you were expected to have your child lay on sheets he had vomited on with just a pad to lay over it is inexcusable. I'm glad your little one is feeling better.

Answer 8

leaving AMA with a child causes alot of problems. insurance companies won't pay the bill and taking a minor child out of the facility leaves you open to legal problems. vomiting and a tired child are often signs of strep throat. this was a good treatment. was the child unarousable, unconcious, not producing urine or tears? this would mean "emergency".
otherwise, your child was more appropriate for a pediatrician's office or urgent care. in the future, call the pediatrician before going to the ER, give your son lots of fluids -any kind he wants, don't worry about feeding him, and monitor a fever.
Emergency room RNs and MDs are there to treat life threatening problems like heart attacks, strokes, and seizure. they are overcrowded in every city because of well-meaning parents who clog the rooms with non-emergent patients.

Answer 9

If you took him to another hospital, I don't see how CPS could have an argument with you. They will probably check into it, because they have to follow up, but I don't think you need worry.

Just tell them your story and back it up with the bill from the other hospital.

You may have a problem getting your insurance company to pay. They frown on signing out against medical advice.

You can always appeal it though. I think you have a strong argument.

Good luck. Glad the little fellow is feeling better mom.

Answer 10

I would file a complaint against the hospital. Did you take your son to another professional...like your family doc the next day?? I doubt you will get in any trouble...if they do visit they will probably just find the report unfounded. If it makes you feel better my son once drank gasoline (long story but lesson learned don't let your husband put gas in a soda bottle while working on a car!!) and I just knew they would come and investigate us..but they never even showed up or called.

Answer 11

Report the ENTIRE hospital staff to Michigan's version of what we here in CA call the Medical Disciplinary Board...

and if the State Police threaten you, call up HQ in Lansing, and try to explain the gory details...maybe then they'll back off!

Good luck!