Question: OK it isn't malpractice, but they still misdiagnosed a stroke. Why can't we do anything about it?
Let's say a doctor makes a negligent mistake. This mistake does not cause the death of the patient or there is no proof that there was an impact their quality of life, should their be consequences? I'm not talking about monetary consequences (malpractice law would never allow for that). If they make a mistake, should they have to pay for it in some fashion?
I ask this as the daughter of a man who was misdiagnosed (and sent home once) by 2 different ER doctors on the same day. Neither of them would listen to my father or my family. Their failure to care for my father may not have had any baring on his stroke, but their choices were obviously negligent. Simply checking his medical background or calling his PCP could have changed what happened June 4-5. Instead, they didn't properly diagnose my father. They didn't admit my father. Our PCP had to have him transported to another hospital in the middle of the night and that is where things get worse. The following night, my sister and I were following our mother home from the hospital when we were hit by an EF4 tornado. Our mother was killed, and we were lucky to survive.
Am I angry? Yes. Will I always think that if those doctors would have properly cared for my father my mother would still be alive? Yes. Still take that out of the equation, we still have 2 doctors at 1 ER that both failed to recognize my father was having a stroke. A look at his medical history would show he has had strokes before. That is unacceptable. What if my mother hadn't fought with the doctor? What if they just would have sent him home...again?
I guess we have kept our silence long enough. Again, there are no legal grounds here. We do not think we are entitled to anything. However, the question remains, why shouldn't there be consequences for making a wrong diagnoses when the patient history would have made what was going on very clear? If two doctors in the same ER make the same mistake, shouldn't that be an issue worth looking in to?
Maybe it is time to tell our whole story.
I ask this as the daughter of a man who was misdiagnosed (and sent home once) by 2 different ER doctors on the same day. Neither of them would listen to my father or my family. Their failure to care for my father may not have had any baring on his stroke, but their choices were obviously negligent. Simply checking his medical background or calling his PCP could have changed what happened June 4-5. Instead, they didn't properly diagnose my father. They didn't admit my father. Our PCP had to have him transported to another hospital in the middle of the night and that is where things get worse. The following night, my sister and I were following our mother home from the hospital when we were hit by an EF4 tornado. Our mother was killed, and we were lucky to survive.
Am I angry? Yes. Will I always think that if those doctors would have properly cared for my father my mother would still be alive? Yes. Still take that out of the equation, we still have 2 doctors at 1 ER that both failed to recognize my father was having a stroke. A look at his medical history would show he has had strokes before. That is unacceptable. What if my mother hadn't fought with the doctor? What if they just would have sent him home...again?
I guess we have kept our silence long enough. Again, there are no legal grounds here. We do not think we are entitled to anything. However, the question remains, why shouldn't there be consequences for making a wrong diagnoses when the patient history would have made what was going on very clear? If two doctors in the same ER make the same mistake, shouldn't that be an issue worth looking in to?
Maybe it is time to tell our whole story.
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